by: Stephanie Shamblin Gray

'Tis the season to look back over the year and reflect on what worked well in our lives and what did not work so well. Of course, it's more fun to look back on what others have done and collect those successes or failures into a list. Once again, here is a year-end review prepared for the fans of horror comics with a few ComicMonsters.com flashbacks and notable moments thrown in for good measure.

Biggest Accomplishment: The Walking Dead Came to AMC, and Kicked its Ass!

After all the anticipation, speculation, and doubt, "The Walking Dead" premiered on AMC to record-breaking viewership for the network, critical acclaim, and salivating fans who do not know how they will manage to wait for the already announced Season Two.

Having waited years to see which network would eventually pick up the series and if that network would be willing to keep the spirit of the comic (meaning, a zombie drama with a healthy amount of gore and death), fans finally got a glimpse of "The Walking Dead" in July at San Diego Comic Con when the show's trailer premiered. Most doubts were assuaged right then, and any trepidation that remained fell away when the series premiered last October. Now nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Television Series Drama, horror fans will have something to root for during awards season and can be proud to say, "I knew them when…".

Biggest Spoiler: Angel is Twilight

How surprised were readers of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8" to see the April Dark Horse solicitation that had Buffy's former boyfriend on the cover revealed to be her "Big Bad" nemesis? Or moreover, that this early reveal was discussed openly on comic book websites? Despite the outrage, readers did not throw down their Buffy comics in fury. In fact, Dark Horse reported that "Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 Volume 7: Twilight" had "reached the top of Nielsen's Bookscan list", representing all point-of-sale purchases from most booksellers, such as Barnes & Noble, Borders, Amazon.com, and even Costco. This spoiler actually increased the number of books sold. While it may have worked for Buffy, here's hoping that other companies don't start trying this.

Most Disturbing: Crossed Family Values.

"Crossed" is back and clearly on a mission to be the most disturbing book ever made. As if they hadn't achieved that with the first arc, the new team is trying to out-do itself. Garth Ennis and Jacen Burrows pushed the boundaries of what we have seen in a comic before with the first ten issues of "Crossed". Now, David Lapham and Javier Barreno have taken it to the next level. It's as if they sit up at night researching taboos, thinking of the worst possible way to break them, and then writing and drawing them in the comic. Readers love it, and look forward to each deranged issue.

Most Over-Whelming: Adaptations

While many adaptations from books to comics are great, this year has seen more than its fair share, with some authors having multiple adaptations this year. Like Patricia Briggs? You can read "Moon Called" and "Alpha and Omega". Stephen King's "The Stand" and "N." were also on the shelves for fans to enjoy. Another story in "The Dresden Files" universe by Jim Butcher was available. Some other favorites that may have had some shelf space in the local comic shop were Dean Kootz's "Frankenstein: Prodigal Son Volume 2", George R.R. Martin's "Fevre Dream" and let's not forget the Anita Blake books. While we already know these stories and even their endings (because we've read them previously), the draw of seeing the story in print and watching it come to life through an artist is apparently too much to resist and the publishers will keep giving them to us as long as we keep buying.

Most Under-Whelming: The Release of True Blood #1

Fans of the HBO series could not wait to get their hands on a copy of the new "True Blood" comic from IDW. However, once they did, most were wondering what happened to all of the adult content that they have become so accustomed to in the show. Overall, the debut of the comic received mostly mediocre reviews and sadly isolated anyone who was not already watching the HBO show. This did not, however, slow down sales of the book. IDW has reported record-breaking sales and a second series has been announced.

Biggest Disappointment: Nick Simmons Debates Homage Versus Plagiarism

Radical Comics, the publisher of "Incarnate", announced in February that it would cease production of the comic based on allegations of plagiarism. This was following months of internet discussion and postings of panels from "Incarnate" in comparison to panels from "Bleach" and others. While Simmons stated that the similarities were "merely meant as an homage" to artists that he respects, most who have seen the comparisons of the panels side by side are not so convinced.

Biggest Upgrade: ComicMonsters.com Expands

Our little ComicMonsters.com baby is growing up so fast! In this past year, Comicmonsters.com has increased the staff, started adding original articles, and starting offering a bi-weekly podcast.

But, it wasn't enough just to have the largest horror comic website on the internet, ComicMonsters.com has expanded to become the Horror News Network and encompass horror video games, horror toys, and horrors movies. Big Bad Wolf has managed to link them brilliantly together so that it is easy to see your favorite news, and quickly access any other stories that may catch your eye. Horror News Network is intended to be your one-stop website for all the horror that we love, and we sincerely hope you love it right back!

And that concludes this year's "Horror-ble Moments" list here at ComicMonsters.com. While obviously not exhaustive, these are the moments that seemed to define our past year in horror comics.

May 2011 bring even more surprises, terror, and everyone's favorite, blood and gore!

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Published on: 2010-12-28 (623 reads)