Year in Review: 2013

This is our 20th Year in Review. Can you believe that? Twenty years of Bart Allen in one form or another — from Impulse to Kid Flash to the Flash and then back to Kid Flash ... it's been quite a journey. He's died (sort of) a couple of times, and has been reimagined for the live action Smallville show, the animated Young Justice series and the New 52 reboot. In 2013, we saw the end of Young Justice (for about five years), the death (sort of) of the Smallville Bart, and the revelation that the New 52 Bart Allen was actually a different character named Bar Torr. So ... it was kind of a rough year for our favorite speedster. Especially when you realize the essence of the real Bart spent the year trapped in his Flash ring in the Speed Force (and he's going to stay there for quite a while).

But 2013 wasn't all doom and gloom. In the world of film, Frozen claimed top spot in the box office at $1.3 billion, followed closely by Iron Man 3, which also was nominated for an Academy Award for best special effects (it lost to Gravity). The Best Picture Oscar went to 12 Years a Slave. Marvel's other offerings, Thor: The Dark World and The Wolverine, were moderate hits. But frankly, none of those three are movies I return to. They're all kind of bleak and mediocre. Same goes for DC's lone offering of the year, Man of Steel. It did barely edge Thor in the box office at $668 million, which I guess meant it made enough for DC to justify creating a shared universe around it. Personally, I think the failure of Green Lantern and the success of Marvel forced DC to move forward with Man of Steel despite its lukewarm reception. Maybe 2013 really was all doom and gloom.

Best Story: Intervention

All-time leaders:
Impulse – 5
Young Justice – 3
Teen Titans/Young Justice: Invasion – 2

For this category, the leaders list is looking at the source of the best story of the year. Naturally, the Impulse series is on top. And it's no surprise that Young Justice: Invasion won its second straight award here. It was a very well done show with a dense, but tightly written story. There wasn't any major competition for this award from the New 52 comics or Smallville: Season Eleven. I know, Bart did heroically sacrifice himself in Smallville, but that story was a bit too vague and scattered for my liking. This award was always going to Young Justice, it was just a matter of deciding which episode was most significant for Bart.

The episode "Intervention" might not have been the best episode of the season, if we're getting technical about it, but it was the most fulfilling for Impulse's arc. It brought everything together, answering all the questions we had about Bart's behavior and his relationship with Blue Beetle. Yeah, I wish the show didn't hide so much essential information off screen, but at the end of the day, this was a very satisfying conclusion to Bart's mission.

Best Writer: Peter David

All=time leaders:
Geoff Johns – 6
Mark Waid/Peter David – 4
Todd Dezago – 3

This is David's second straight award, bringing him into a tie with Impulse creator Mark Waid. And frankly, there wasn't any major competition. Bryan Q. Miller did kill Bart off in Smallville, but it was done in a sloppy, unsatisfying manner. He kept teasing to a larger Flash world, but never got around to actually exploring it. Scott Lobdell was unbearable with the Teen Titans. And Geoff Johns prevented himself from winning a seventh award for his contrived and worthless insertion of the Titans into Forever Evil.

So the award goes to David, writer of "Intervention." And by extension, this goes to all the showrunners and creators of Young Justice, who had a clear vision and nailed the execution. David was the chief architect of the bookends of the compelling Impulse/Blue Beetle dynamic. He set up everything perfectly, and it all paid off just about as well as you could hope. But most importantly, he helped bring the character Impulse to a much wider audience than any comic book ever could.

Best Artist: Jorge Jiménez

All-time leaders:
Todd Nauck – 4
Humberto Ramos – 3
Jorge Jiménez – 2

It's a little strange that only three artists have multiple awards, but I guess that just shows the transient nature of the business. Writers can and will stay entrenched on a title for years, but artists (especially these days) rarely stay on a project for more than six issues. The Teen Titans title is a perfect example of this — I don't think that series had more than two issues with the same art team in 2013.

Francis Manapul very nearly won his second award for his one beautiful issue of The Flash. And as solid as the animation on Young Justice was, I can't quite bring myself to hand this award out to an animation company. None of the rotating artists on Teen Titans did anything worth consideration. So the award goes to Jiménez for his solid work on Bart's death in Smallville: Season Eleven. Jiménez definitely grew more comfortable in his role on that series, finding ways to put in more of his dynamic, almost cartoony style that I loved so much in 2012. He found new and exciting ways to portray Bart's running, and managed to put in just enough emotion to make it an impactful death.

Best Supporting Character: Blue Beetle

All-time leaders:
Max Mercury – 4
Carol Bucklen/Superboy/Brainiac 5/Blue Beetle – 2

These last two categories are extremely fluid, following the ebbs and flows of Bart's career. Poor Superboy was so often the runner-up for this award, but only managed to win it twice. Same with Bart's first (and true) girlfriend, Carol. Bar Torr's current girlfriend is Solstice, but after two years of their relationship, I still have no idea what she sees in him, or what he sees in her — especially after she cheated on him with Red Robin and never apologized. Superman in Smallville was a strong candidate, as he fought side by side with Bart right up until his death.

But the obvious choice here is Blue Beetle for the second straight year. Bart and Jaime were so much fun together. They made a great combination on the battlefield and in the laid-back, goof-around moments. Plus, Blue Beetle's plight was Bart's entire motivation during the season. It was also fitting, and sweet, how Bart never blamed Jaime, even after his betrayal. He always knew what was going on, and managed to successfully keep everything a secret until he could save the world and his best friend. And for bonus measure, we can throw in all the little moments that so many fans used as evidence of a budding romantic relationship between these two.

Best Villain: Black Beetle

All-time leaders:
Inertia – 4
President Thaddeus Thawne/Bedlam/Deathstroke (Jericho)/Superboy-Prime – 2

I was actually very close to giving this award to Bar Torr. His troubled past was the main cause of all of Kid Flash's problems, so I thought I could be a little snarky and justify it. But at the end, I just couldn't resist the delightfully evil Black Beetle. Truthfully, I wish I could have put Trigon here — one of the best of the best — but Lobdell seemed too timid to do anything of consequence with him. Same goes for Psimon, the inaugural winner of this award. He showed up in both the New 52 and Young Justice, but only in minor roles, and never in direct conflict with Bart. I also feel a little bad for not putting in the villain who killed Smallville Bart. But he was so vague — I mean, the comic could never even decide on a name for him. Was he the Black Racer? Black Flash? Just a monstrous representation of the Speed Force itself? Yeah, that's not a very compelling villain.

Black Beetle was everything I want in a villain. Incredibly strong, but not invincible. Smart, confident, and able to provide an actual threat that can only be stopped with a high cost. As tough a fighter Black Beetle was, the most damage he caused was by trying to destroy Earth with all those devices. And Wally West had to die to stop it. That's some pretty effective villain work right there.

Next time, we begin the year 2014, and things are going to slow down for us in a hurry. Without Young Justice and Smallville, we'll have to rely almost exclusively on Bar Torr, and he's not going to be around for the whole year. I think we'll have one or two interesting moments. Hopefully.