When
I first saw your name, sir, it had been attached to one of the best
“young” Batman books to ever hit my shelf. Then you delivered to me a Superman For All Seasons. And to find your run on the Challengers of the Unknown?
Oy, how awesome it was! When friends would name drop their favorite
creators, I was quick to say your name. I mean, for Rao’s sake… you
helped create Teen Wolf, and to a much lesser degree, Teen Wolf Too!
And as the decade began, you gave us Dark Victory. I remember finishing
the series with just the slightest hint of bitter aftertaste in my
throat. Had you “gone to the well” too quickly, to deliver something
too much like The Long Halloween? Nay. Nay I said.Without fail, the hype machine forced my young and malleable mind to commit to Batman: Hush.
And why not? It had Jim Lee! Drawing every Bat Villain! Superman and
Batman Fighting!  A possible Jason Todd resurrection! Catwoman’s boobs!
Man, you sure got me. I bought every issue with mindless fervor. One
year later… the mystery ended, and there it was again, Jeph. That
strange… bitter taste… telling me something didn’t sit quite right
in my gut. But hey, the sales figures said otherwise, right?

Not long after that, the hype machine whispered in my ear again.

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And then one day you find ten years (and two weeks) have got behind you…

Since everybody thinks it’s the end of the decade, we’ll do a recap of the decade to go along with our recaps of 2009. This is
by no means a definitive list of “the best of the decade”, just our disparate takes
on what stuck out in the minds of everybody here at the Mix as to what happened in the last ten years. Backwards ho!

Best Ethnic Replacement for Milquetoast Hero of the Decade: Jaime Reyes, Blue BeetleTed Kord fans (yes, all 28 of you…) slow your roll! I am one of you! Need proof? I totally own the original Ted Kord action figure from back in the mid 90s! But let’s face it guys, Ted wasn’t doing much since his Justice League Extreme days now, was he? So, leave it to DC Architects Geoff Johns, Greg Rucka, and Judd Winick (ok, one architect, one great noir writer, and that guy from MTV) to give Ted a swansong, and smear his boring white-guy-noggin all over a castle wall. A short time later, yet-another-space-bound-artifact came crashing down into the DCU, at the feet of second generation Mexican immigrant Jaime Reyes. Poof! The DCU has this generation’s Vibe! Jaime is the perfect addition to DC’s general melange of milquetoast major leaugers. Jamie’s got “Benetton Ad” written all over him, as he lives in the southwest (El Paso, Texas, I tell ya whut.), is best friends with a slacker named Pedro, and all but spews Spanglish in between beetle battles. Jaime’s Blue Beetle is a far more marketable sort, trading Kord’s wits and a powerfully dorky light/air gun for slick alien techno-armor with a disposition for deadly demolition by way of any number of fun action-figure accessories. Jaime enjoyed an ongoing series for a few years, but has seen his stock rise with recent appearances on Batman: The Brave and the Bold cartoon series. And just to kick sand in our collective Ted-loving-faces? They gave Jaime Ted’s old ride. Ay, dios mio. –Marc Alan Fishman

Favorite Idea Wasted of the Decade: The Illinois Spaceknights, Civil War

We know the story well enough, don’t we? Nitro done blowed up Stamford, and Tony Stark done led ole’ congress to pass the Superhuman Registration Act. What with a plethora of newly discovered super-powered people… something had to be done with the excess. Welcome to The Initiative! Marvel opted to train every Tom, Dick, and Butterball with powers in a military style bootcamp. After graduation came placement into any one of 50+ super teams, each to be covered under the Fifty State Initiative. Now, it’s no secret I’m a loyal native son of the Chicagoland area… So, imagine my surprise that the state housing the nation’s third largest city would be protected by… The Spaceknights?

Now, color me confused here folks. Illinois has no connection to NASA, where one might THINK a connection to “Spaceknights” might be relevant. Since the Civil War ended in 2007, nothing else has come of the aforementioned Illinois superteam. But I guess they’re not alone. Wikipedia lists no less than 25 other states not only in the dark… but without totally horrible team names like “the Spaceknights”… Hell, at this point, I’d sooner hope they are disbanded, and redubbed “the Windbags”. Epic Fail anyone? –Marc Alan Fishman

Most Forgotten Book of the Decade: 1602

Remember this book? Neil Gaiman, Andy Kubert, gorgeous colors by Richard Isanove, did gangbuster sales? Now, alomst completely forgotten. Didn’t make many people’s best of decade lists, wasn’t mentioned in sales material for Whatever Happened To The Caped Crusader (okay, competing publishers, but still, that doesn’t matter to booksellers) and it seems to have dropped off the radar. Which is a shame, because it seemed more like the Marvel Universe I knew and loved than anything else Marvel published in 2007. —Glenn Hauman

Most overlooked of the decade: Street Fighter (UDON/Image)

Yeah, we know. A comic based on a fighting game series? But here’s the thing: UDON’s team borrows the best elements of a kung fu movie, layers on the manga-esque melodrama and soap operatic intertwining ensemble cast storylines, glues it together with a heaping dose of love for the source material, and then polishes it until it shines with stylish and flashy artwork. I can’t speak to how well it works if you don’t know the game, having known how to pull a Hadoken my entire life, but if you like Street Fighter even a little bit, it’s a heck of a ride. —Matthew Weinberger

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The plight of Haiti in the wake of the recent earthquake has
captured the attention of the world. Whether you are following the latest news
online, through your TV or newspaper, or via your smartphone, it is
heartwarming to see the way so many people are reaching out and trying to do
whatever they can to help.

While a great many people immediately began researching ways
to help on their own right away, some people weren’t sure what to do, and it is
wonderful to see influential people stepping up to inspire and inform. Some of
the shining examples of how people have been making a difference are Scott
Hertzog (@hertzog on Twitter) of the SciFiDiner Podcast, who, in addition to
keeping the best Twitter tabs on the crisis, also had a live broadcast on
January 13^th to discuss what is happening; Alyssa Milano
(@Alyssa_Milano), who has donated $50,000 to UNICEF and is challenging
corporations to match her donation; Blink 182 has put out a special shirt for
which they will donate 100% of the proceeds to the Red Cross; celebrity
humanitarian couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, who donated an impressive one
million dollars to Doctors Without Borders while George Clooney organized a telethon on MTV; and President Barack Obama, who
continues to be far more tech-savvy than his predecessors in reaching the
public about important issues.

You can also donate art or collectibles to Heroes 4 Haiti,
a collective effort of comics creators who are pooling their resources
and talent to auction off items to benefit the people of Haiti.

While many other celebrities were donating funds
and lending their tweets to help in Haiti, one TV actor was experiencing the
tragedy on a very personal level. Heroes star Jimmy Jean-Louis, who was born in
Haiti, lost several family members when his childhood home collapsed during the
quake. He was able to confirm on Thursday, however, that his parents had
survived, and has stated that he is planning to return to Haiti to assist in
humanitarian aid.

In addition to individuals who are making a difference, many
corporations have stepped forward to assist. Google has taken over the person
location database, and many cell phone and credit card companies have decided
to waive fees on donations made to the efforts. (more…)

While everyone is getting excited at the prospect of Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths in just a few weeks, little has been revealed about the bonus feature.

Today, Warner Premiere revealed the first glimpse into the new line of DC Showcase shorts. Debuting with the Spectre, DC Showcase puts the spotlight on favorite characters from throughout the DC archives in short-form tales.

For those, just tuning in, the Spectre focuses on a detective story with an ethereal twist, featuring the otherworldly character originally introduced by DC Comics in 1940. The short is written by Steve Niles (30 Days of Night) and directed by Joaquim Dos Santos (G.I Joe: Resolute). The voice cast is led by Gary Cole (Entourage) as the title character and Alyssa Milano (Charmed) as Aimee Brenner. The Spectre was a creation Jerry Siegel and Bernard Baily and remains a major player throughout the DC Universe.

Future DC Showcase titles include, no surprise here, Jonah Hex (written by Joe Lansdale).

Special effects wizard Drew Flynn gets spooked inside his own personal house of horrors.

A bit of romantic history flows between Detective Corrigan and Aimee Brenner in The Spectre. Gary Cole and Alyssa Milano provide the voices of Detective Corrigan and Aimee Brenner, respectively.

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