Year in Review: 2014

This is a very strange moment for me. I started this blog in 2014. So to go back and review it now feels a bit like a snake eating its tail. But looking back at this year helps puts things in perspective. It was an absolutely terrible year for Bart Allen. No TV shows, no actual appearances of the original Bart, and only seven major appearances of two alternate versions of Bart. It was quite the famine! There was no Bart anywhere to be found and nobody was talking about him, so I started this blog. Now it seems like I'll finally catch up to current time — in a few months (if my baby due in March doesn't completely derail this).

But while 2014 was terrible for Bart, it was actually pretty good for other superheroes in the mainstream. Transformers: Age of Extinction was the only film to cross the billion-dollar mark, but four superhero films earned a spot in the top 10 box office totals. Guardians of the Galaxy, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and The Amazing Spider-Man 2. The first three are still some of my favorite movies, and they all received an Oscar nomination for best visual effects (Interstellar was the winner). Guardians also earned a second nomination for best makeup and hairstyling, but lost to The Grand Budapest Hotel. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was awful and rightfully killed that franchise.

Superheroes also received critical accolades in some unexpected ways. Birdman, starring former Batman Michael Keaton, won Best Picture and three other Oscars. It's not really a superhero movie, but it is about an actor who used to be a big-budget superhero star. Also, the Best Animated Film award went to Big Hero 6, the first theatrically released animated film based on a Marvel comic. On the small screen, DC's experiment with Green Lantern and Young Justice on Cartoon Network sadly crashed and burned, leaving so many creative ideas in its wake. I'm most sad about the delightful shorts of Supergirl, Batgirl and Wonder Girl. Young Justice eventually was resurrected, but nothing else was. On the bright side, Arrow did well enough on The CW to launch The Flash, with a couple of more shows to follow in the subsequent years.

Best Story: The Multiversity: The Just #1

I know, I know, Impulse was a complete non-factor in this story. He only appeared in one panel and didn't even speak. But that one panel was the most exciting Bart Allen moment of the year. Those five Teen Titans issues were nothing but pain and frustration. So I have to give this award to the only good issue Bart appeared in. It was a fascinating and unique story filled with tons of Easter eggs and cameos, as well as some incredibly deep ideas to ponder over.

Best Writer: Scott Lobdell

I hate to reward somebody for failing this badly, but my hands were tied. Grant Morrison wasn't responsible for Impulse's inclusion in Multiversity — that was Ben Oliver. Even if Morrison did say, "Make sure to put Impulse here," he didn't do anything with him through the rest of the issue. Lobdell, to his credit, did make Kid Flash the focus of an entire story arc. He tried to tackle the complex topic of justified violence in war, but he failed to present both sides equally or keep the tone consistent from issue to issue. Lobdell also attempted to wrap up all the hints and clues he sprinkled throughout the series, but he couldn't keep track of what he was doing. So I guess I'm mostly giving him this award by default, but I think I can also give him a little credit for having some ambition.

Best Artist: Tyler Kirkham

Yes, Oliver did draw the most exciting Impulse moment of the year, but he only drew him once. Kirkham handled the bulk of the art for the year, and actually did a decent job — ironically excelling most when Lobdell decided to make Bar Torr evil. Of course, it's a little difficult to know exactly how much credit Kirkham deserves, since Scott McDaniel did all his breakdowns. So I guess McDaniel will receive an honorary mention as co-Best Artist.

Best Supporting Character: Solstice

The Kid Flash/Solstice romance was unbearable and completely came out of nowhere. But it was there, all the same, culminating in the most bizarre way imaginable. During Bar's trial, all the Titans couldn't bear to look at him, including the secretly evil Raven and Fake Superboy. Even Solstice had to turn her back on Bar and actively opposed him during his attack on the Functionary. But when Bar was exiled to the prison planet, Solstice abruptly changed her mind and made the certifiably insane decision to murder a judge so she could be imprisoned with Bar. Yeah, that's pure insanity, but it is a level of dedication we've never seen before. Of all the girlfriends all the Barts have had, this horrific act surpasses them all. Even the future Rose Wilson wasn't this crazy and inconsistent.

Best Villain: Shira Torr

When Shira was just a year old, the Functionary brutally murdered her parents for simply believing in religion. Shira barely survived thanks to her 8-year-old brother, who was forced to murder a man to prevent her from being raped. Bar eventually dropped her off at a convent, but she rejected the nuns' teachings and joined the Functionary army as soon as possible, believing her parents were foolish idiots to believe in a god. Shira fought against her brother's rebellion and was injured in battle. Later, she somehow was put in command of an impossibly large and powerful warship and used it to threaten to kill every sentient being in a 100,000-mile radius if Bar didn't surrender. I can't think of anyone more disgusting and despicable. And what's worse, is Lobdell didn't try to write her as a villain. That's how bad his writing was — an intended sympathetic character accidentally came off as the biggest villain of the story. Also, can anyone explain to me why she is a full-grown adult when her brother, who is seven years older than her, is still just 16? Did Bar stop aging when he got his powers?

Well, that's it for the worst year of Bart Allen's career. Next time, we'll begin 2015, which won't be much better. It all kicks off with Bar Torr's unexpected and unexplained return to the Teen Titans.