Bad Guy of the Year: I see three choices here. Libra seems to be running the bad guys in the Crisis series, but we don’t know enough about him yet to make an informed decision. Darkseid seems to be the overriding influence of the bad guys, but he may or may not be dead. Every time I try to get an intelligent answer out of DC they only have one answer: It’s Grant Morrison. I guess that means that all will be clear in 2009. I’m holding my breath. So, in my humble opinion, Norman Osborn is the standout Bad Guy of the Year. From running the Thunderbolts to running everything, he provided a welcome surprise to the end of Secret Invasion. And he’s crazy, too.

Good Guy of the Year: Even though I didn’t like how they got there, I thought Spider-Man had a pretty good year story-wise. Now that Marvel has clarified things, a little, in that the only change was that Peter and MJ never got married so that all continuity remains the same things makes more sense. I thought Thor had a great year - kicking Tony Starks’ butt, having Asgard floating over Oklahoma, and beating the crap out of the Skrulls was neat. But old friend Bucky Barnes, The Winter Soldier, is the Good Guy of the Year. A beautifully drawn and written unending novel has the former Bucky picking up the reins of Captain America. Why soon we won’t even miss Mr. Rogers and as soon as that happens…

Good Girl of the Year: Supergirl is happy/sad, rebellious/obedient, heroic/whiny. In another era I would make a time of the month joke, but who knows about Kryptonian cycles anyway? We’d all like to know what MJ whispered in Mephisto’s ear before stupid Peter took the deal, but we have to wait. By default I make it She-Hulk who fights earth villains, Skrulls, and still finds time to sleep around all over the Marvel universe. And has a Skrull girlfriend too.

Bad Girl of the Year: The Skrull Queen was pretty bad, but then let herself get killed by Norman Osborn. Granny Goodness is not exactly a girl. So I go with Mary Marvel. Of course by next year she’ll be back to the Light Side but I love her in her new black costume. All she needs is a whip and mask and… I think I’ll stop right here before I really do get into trouble with my editor.