Comics that I am reading - Looking back at 2011

Since everyone who blogs or has a podcast has already gotten together their year-in-reviews for 2011, I decided to look at my current comic-reading habits and compare it to the same time last year. Since my blog is just over a year young, it should be pretty illuminating.
Here's a cross-section of my currently continuing comic conundrum:

Reading monthly:
DC
-Batwoman
-Animal Man
-Swamp Thing
-The Flash
-Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E.

Marvel
-Daredevil
-Uncanny X-Force
-X-Factor
-Invincible Iron Man
-The Mighty Thor
-Venom
-The Defenders
-Wolverine and The X-Men

Other Publishers
-Chew (Image)
-Sweet Tooth (Vertigo)
-The Unwritten (Vertigo)
-Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (IDW)

Considering reading in trade:
-Batman
-American Vampire
-Irredeemable
-Incorruptible
-The Boys
-Fables
-Amazing Spider-Man

On the chopping block:
-Uncanny X-Men
-Journey Into Mystery
-X-Men Legacy
-Wolverine
-Avengers
-Justice League Dark

 Flashback to a year ago. I was on the verge of completing my complete run of X-Men Vol 2 (Legacy) and now I'm about to drop the title unless something grand happens. I had recently subscribed to several Marvel comics, all of which are about to expire. I did not read any DC comics, and never thought that I would, but now I read several.. I pretty much exclusively read X-Men related books. I was ruthlessly opposed to digital comics and now I am starting to understand a place for them. I preferred to collect single back-issues as opposed to trades, and now I love buying trades. I blogged at least every other day, and now I save it for books that I really want to talk about.

I've read many comics this year, and I'd like to list a few things that made 2011 memorable for comics.

Writers of the Year:
Jeff Lemire - Sweet Tooth, Animal Man, Frankenstein
Matt Fraction - The Mighty Thor, Invincible Iron Man, Defenders, Fear Itself
Mike Carey - The Unwritten, X-Men Legacy
Rick Remender - Venom, X-Force (I know, I need to read Fear Agent)
Mark Waid - Daredevil (Haven't read Irredeemable/Incorruptible)
Jason Aaron - Wolverine, Wolverine and The X-Men (Haven't read Inc. Hulk)
Keiron Gillen - Journey Into Mystery, Generation Hope, Uncanny X-Men
Dan Slott: Amazing Spider-Man (I've missed the last 6 months)
Peter David - X-Factor

Winner: Gotta go with Rick Remender. His run on Uncanny X-Force has been unbelievable. The few Venom books I picked up were just as good. Gotta read Fear Agent, but I have a feeling that he(like Mike Carey) puts more into his creator-owned material than his Big Two work.

Artists of the Year:
Stuart Immonen - Fear Itself
Olivier Coipel - The Mighty Thor
Chris Bachalo - Wolverine and The X-Men
Jerome Opena/Esad Ribic - Uncanny X-Force
Daniel Acuna - Avengers, Wolverine

Marcos Martin - Daredevil
Stefano Caselli - Amazing Spider-Man, Venom
Humberto Ramos - Amazing Spider-Man
Francis Manapul - The Flash
Travel Foreman - Animal Man
J.H.Williams - Batwoman
Sal Larocca - Invincible Iron Man

Winner: A tough one. So many good artists, so many different styles. I'd say Jim Williams on Batwoman for realism and sense of compositional balance,  Trav Foreman Ramos for the abstract and gestural qualities of his work, and Marcos Martin and Francis Manapul are tied for incredible ingenuity and storytelling skill.

Best Series That I Started Reading This Year:
-Animal Man - Jeff Lemire and Travel Foreman
-Swamp Thing - Scott Snyder and Yanick Paquette
-The Mighty Thor - Matt Fraction and Olivier Coipel
-Wolverine and The X-Men - Jason Aaron and Chris Bachalo
-The Flash - Brian Buccalleto and Francis Manapul
-Daredevil - Mark Waid and Marcos Martin
-The Unwritten - Mike Carey and Peter Gross
-Uncanny X-Force - Rick Remender, Jerome Opena, Esad Ribic
-Invincible Iron Man - Matt Fraction and Sal Larocca
-Sweet Tooth - Jeff Lemire and Jeff Lemire
-Journey Into Mystery - Keiron Gillen and various artists

Winner: Another tough one. I'd say the series that surprised me the most was Animal Man. The series that I knew I'd have some vested interest in, but was completely blown away by was X-Force.

Worst Comics I Read This Year:
-Teen Titans #1 - Scott Lobdell and Brett Booth
-The Dark Knight #1 - Paul Jenkins, David Finch
-Uncanny X-Men #1 and #2 - Keiron Gillen and some generic asshole
-Prelude to Schism #1 - Paul Jenkins and Roberto De La Torre
-Wolverine #1-#13 and 15 - Jason Aaron and Renato Guedes
-Age of X Universe #1-#2 - Simon Spurrier and Khoi Pham
-Avengers #16-17 - Brian Bendis and John Romita Jr

Winner: I think all of these are equal losers. Teen Titans #1 was like reading a used piece of toilet paper. The Dark Knight #1 was  like reading an Image comic from 1994, or a used piece of toilet paper. Uncanny X-Men Reloaded is verily disappointing, even though Keiron Gillen, who I respect as a good writer, is in charge of this title. Prelude to Schism was entirely pointless and I don't know why it happened or what came of it. The first 13 issues of Wolverine were bad only because they were so melodramatic and it took way too long to redeem itself on issue 14 only to let me down again with that 'We love you Wolverine' story in #15. After that, the series started getting awesome. Also, the ones in which Nightcrawler was in were good, too, mostly because of Daniel Acuna. Age of X Universe was a bad 2-shot for an almost as bad crossover. Avengers #16 and 17 were too Brian Bendis-y with the 'interview style' of talking head storytelling. It's got its place, but I feel that Bendis is known for this and overuses it.

Best Trade I Read This Year:
-Vol 1-4 of the Unwritten
-Vol 1 of Fables
-Vol 1 of Chew
-Vol 2 of Runaways
-Batwoman Elegy
-Astonishing X-Men Vol 1-4

All of these were good, and I am continuing with every series.

That's the big stuff for my 2011. Hit me up with some of your favorites!