2015 Comic Book Awards Pt 3: Best Stories, Arcs, Events, Collections, etc

Best Ongoing Series: Velvet (Image) by Bubaker, Epting and Breitweiser - The artistic synergy on this spy story is a wonder to behold. It's slick, sexy and smart... a true masterpiece from 3 masters of their craft. Nominees: The Fade Out, Trees, Lazarus, Catwoman, Pretty Deadly

Best Miniseries: Prez (DC) by Mark Russell and Ben Caldwell - What a great year for minis, and this hilarious, trenchant satire was my favorite. Nominees:Toil & Trouble, Nameless, The Multiversity, Master of Kung Fu, 1602: Witch Hunter Angela, Captain Marvel a/t Carol Corps, Convergence: Harley Quinn

Best New Series: Harrow County (Dark Horse) by Cullen Bunn and Tyler Crook - Harrow is rural horror that is poetic and drenched in eerie dread. The character work is exemplary as well. Nominees: Invisible Republic, Injection, We Can Never Go Home, Hex11, The Vision, All-New Wolverine

Best Weekly Series: Batman & Robin Eternal (DC) from James Tynion IV, Scott Snyder,Tim Seeley, Steve Orlando, Genevieve Valentine, Ed Brisson, Tony Daniel, Paul Pelletier and others. It's back, this time with a mystery that focuses on the Robin's and their relationship with Bruce.

Best Licensed Property Originally Created for Book, TV or Film: James Bond (Dynamite) from Warren Ellis and Jason Masters. Nominees: Godzilla in Hell (IDW), Edward Scissorhands (IDW) 

Best One Shot: Agents of Atlas (Marvel) by Tom Taylor and Steve Pugh - While Parker didn't write this one, I was not let down, as both the art and story were stellar and each member of the team had their moments to shine. Nominees: Hank Johnson: Agent of Hydra, Gregory Suicide, Agent Carter, Mockingbird, Quake

Best Animated Digital Comic: Batman ’66 #54-55 (DC Digital First) by Jeff Parker and Sandy Jarrell - The ailing series got a shot in the arm with this eerie tale, which went down a different story path and took Bruce and Barbara out of the safe confines of Gotham to the land of haunted Japan, where they faced Lord Death Man. The animated digital format made it all the more creepy and interesting.

Best Event or Crossover: Secret Wars (Marvel) from Johnathan Hickman and Esad Ribic - I've never liked well, any major company wide happening. So it’s not hyperbole when I say… “BEST, EVENT, EVER!” Everything Hickman has written for Marvel was leading to this. And while not every Tie-In was a knock-out, when they were good, they were so very good.

Best Arc: Inheritance (Catwoman) the final collected arc from Valentine & Messina

Best Backup Story: Tales of Harrow County by various, in Harrow County (Dark Horse)

Best Web Comic: Super Mutant Magic Academy by Jillian Tamaki - Funny and insightful mashup of Hogwarts with Xavier's School for Mutants.

Best Graphic Novel (Original Story): The Sculptor by Scott McCloud (First Second)
The piece spoke to me on a personal level as it touched upon the nature and relationship of the artist with their craft - and the need to leave something important behind. 

Best Collected Edition: Sandman Overture Deluxe (Vertigo) by Neil Gaiman and J.H. Williamson

Most Improved Series: Spider-Woman got out from under Spider-Verses thumb, donned a new costume and went from m’eh to marvelous.

Best All-Ages series: Gotham Academy (DC)

3 Important Individual Issues:  Action Comics #42, Wicked + The Divine #13, Prez #3 (though that includes every issue in this mini) - In the past this was for 3 Favorite Issues, this year I'm targeting significant stories, issues that said or did something powerful. Considerations from other series... Invisible Republic, Lazarus, Trees

Miscellaneous

Best Comic Book Movie: Ant-Man - Hilarious and intense heist film as superflick. Ant-Man might not have as big a name as his Avenging counterparts, but his was the better movie.

Best Actor: Paul Rudd as Scott Lang (Ant-Man)
Best Actress: Scarlett Johansson as Natalia Romanoff, the Black Widow (Avengers: Age of Ultron)
Best Supporting Actor: Michael Douglas as Dr. Hank Pym (Ant-Man... with a nod to Paul Bettany as Vision in Age of Ultron)
Best Supporting Actress: Elizabeth Olsen as  Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch  (Avengers: Age of Ultron)

Best Comic Book TV Series (Network):  iZombie - Gotham got too mean, Flash irritated, and SHEILD bored me. But with iZombie I FINALLY found a comic based show I could love completely. And I love it for it's drama, scares, it's great sense of humor and cute character interactions. McIver has proven to be a versatile actress with a likable screen presence. As with most shows that follow a pattern each week , I'll eventually tire of the routine. But that time is not now, now it's pure undead gold. Runner-Up: Supergirl, Agent Carter

Best Comic Book TV Series (Pay TV/Cable):  Jessica Jones - I was actually disappointed with Daredevil, I thought it was draggy and I didn't care for Foggy or Karen. But Jessica (aside from a few bumps, like Simpson) lived up to the hype. It's a well crafted, sharply scripted and acted show. It's dark as hell, has heartbreak, humor, and a damaged, hard nosed, wise cracking detective at its center. There's also a vicious yet charming sociopath for villain, and love interest Luke Cage, who is pretty darn cool. 

Krysten Ritter is remarkable in the title role, as she shows a lot of nuance. Jessica is impudent and tough but she's also haunted, there's vulnerability to her. She’s suffered greatly and is dealing with PTSD – so while she can be rude, your heart bleeds for her.

Best Actress: Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones (Jessica Jones) and Rose McIver as Olivia "Liv" Moore (iZombie)
Best Actor: David Tennant as Kilgrave (Jessica Jones) 
Best Supporting Actress: Rosario Dawson as Claire Temple (Daredevil, Jessica Jones) 
Best Supporting Actor: Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark (Agent Carter)

Best New Product: Southern Bastards T-Shirts! From Sweet Tea to Boss BBQ - you've seen 'em in the comics, now you can wear 'em on your body and be the envy of all. 

Links
Part 1: 2015 Best Comic Book Characters 
Part 2: 2015 Best Writing, Art, Designs 
Part 3: 2015 Best Stories, Arcs, Events, Misc