Year in Review: 2020

 I normally start these posts with a quick recap of the year in film, but 2020 really threw things for a loop. After the massive explosion of cinematic and superhero entertainment of 2019, the coronavirus pandemic slammed everything to a grinding halt the following year. Most movies were delayed for a whole year. Some were pushed directly to streaming services like Disney Plus or HBO Max. Theaters kept fluctuating between being closed or open at limited capacity. So, technically speaking, the highest grossing film of the year was the Japanese anime Demon Slayer. But does that really count? Nomadland won the Academy Award for Best Picture, but again, was that a fair competition?

There were three new superhero films in 2020. Marvel’s disastrous New Mutants was very quietly released after being stuck in development hell for years. DC’s Birds of Prey failed to garner much attention and Wonder Woman 1984 opted for an HBO Max release. That was the only of the three that had the potential to be a major blockbuster, and only the executives at Warner Brothers can determine if they made the financially prudent decision. I, for one, was happy to enjoy that movie from the comfort of my own home.

Of course, I’ve been burying the lead here. In 2020, I became a father! My wife gave birth to our son on March 20, just as all the shutdowns began (the hospital literally changed their rules for visitors while we were there). So, in light of all the challenges brought on by the pandemic, one silver lining was my ability to work from home and spend more time with my baby.

And luckily for us, the pandemic had a rather minimal effect on comic books. Apart from a brief hiatus at the beginning, DC continued to publish at a regular pace. And it was especially good for Impulse, since he became a regular in The Flash, as well as Young Justice. Granted, Young Justice took a major nosedive in 2020, ultimately leading to its cancellation in November, but that’s beside the point.

Best Story: The Flash #759

Brian Michael Bendis effectively held Impulse hostage for a full year, culminating in an empty, disappointing issue that focused entirely on Bart, but didn’t answer any questions or advance the plot in any way. Joshua Williamson finally reclaimed Bart and made the right decision in mostly ignoring whatever it was Bendis was trying, but failing to do. The Flash #759 unfortunately had a really stupid cover and not my favorite interior art, either, but the story was the best Impulse story we’ve had in years. I think the last time I was this excited was the debut of Bart in the Young Justice show way back in 2012. Williamson confirmed that Bart remembered being killed as the Flash, gave him an epic fight scene against the Reverse-Flash, and capped it all off with an emotional reunion with Grandma Iris. I couldn’t have asked for more in a single issue.

Best Writer: Joshua Williamson 

Williamson ended his Flash run on an unfortunately sour note by showing that the Reverse-Flash was single-handedly behind every mistake, argument and bad thing that ever happened to anyone in the Flash family. But everything up until that point was pretty good. And Bart’s explosive entrance into the story was more than enough for Williamson to earn this award for the third time. And, frankly, Bendis didn’t put up much of a competition. He got caught in the same pitfall of the Lost TV show, where the only thing he could do was allude to more mysteries and questions, but never answer them, trapped treading water until the series was mercifully taken from him.

Best Artist: John Timms

I was heartbroken when Patrick Gleason left Young Justice. Timms was nowhere near as brilliant, but a very serviceable replacement. Eventually, Timms left, too, and Scott Godlewski proved to be a serviceable replacement of Timms. But still, not quite as good, not nearly as dynamic as what we used to have. (Honestly, it mostly comes down to Timms drawing better Impulse hair than Godlewski.) The Flash books had a slew of artists, but none of them really got it done for me.

Best Supporting Character: Superboy

This is only the third time Superboy has won this award, as he’s almost always been the runner-up. But this year, he stood out head and shoulders above the rest. Part of that is due to Williamson’s failure to do anything meaningful with Impulse after that memorable entrance in issue #759. But part of it is also a credit to Bendis. (I know! I actually said something good about him!) As disappointing as Young Justice #16 was, I did appreciate how it showed that Superboy was hands-down Bart’s best friend on the team. Conner was the one Bart cared about the most and trusted the most. And more than anyone else in Bart’s life — including the Flash family — Conner had the ability to truly empathize with him. He’s the only one who has also experienced the trauma-inducing confusion of repeated deaths, rebirths and being stranded outside of his original reality.

Best Villain: Reverse-Flash

This is the first award for Eobard Thawne, although we have had other members of the Thawne family earn this honor — President Thaddeus Thawne and Inertia (who did reappear in 2020, but didn’t do anything). It’s true, I will never forgive the decision to blame Eobard on everything bad that ever happened to anyone in the Flash family (including keeping Bart away for a year). But I will credit him with orchestrating a large enough threat to warrant the inclusion of all our favorite speedsters. Taking over Barry Allen’s body and corrupting the Tornado Twins is a pretty big deal. Bart had to rescue both his father and his grandfather. And nothing remotely similar can be said about any of the “threats” from Young Justice. Seriously, Bendis, S.T.A.R. Labs is not evil!

Next time, we’ll begin 2021, which is odd because it’s currently July 2021 and I don’t know what the rest of the year holds. Sadly, I do know there are very few comic appearances, as the cancellation of Young Justice and the departure of Williamson has left DC without any creators who want to touch Impulse. But we will see a long overdue live-action version of Bart on the CW’s Flash. And the delayed fourth season of Young Justice is rumored to debut in October. It’s going to be strange catching up to real time on this blog. It all begins with Future State: The Flash #1.