So, that’s another Christmas over with then.

Good. I can put away my Grinch hat and get ready to party into the New Year. I’ve already told you that 2004 was a lousy year, speaking personally, and I’ve given you a couple of my high and low points, from the unbelievable high that was Malcolm Magic (go and buy a copy of the trade paperback now, and tell ‘em I sent you) to the unremitting depths that was Spider-Man: Sins Past.

But now, without further ado, the second annual FoolBritannia Awards! Let’s have no more negativity! Let’s take some positive vibes with us into the New Year! As ever, these are awarded by me with no reference to anybody else whatsoever, and reflect my own personal views.

Fortunately I’m always right, so don’t worry about it...

So, those results in digest form:

The FoolBritannia Small Press / Self Published Comic of the Year 2004 goes to Malcolm Magic, by the Etherington Brothers, published by Blink Twice productions.

The FoolBritannia Online Comic of the Year 2004 goes once again to Gun Street Girl by Barb Lien-Cooper and Ryan Howe, published by Graphic Smash.

The FoolBritannia Major Publisher Comic of the Year 2004 goes to The Originals by Dave Gibbons, published by DC/Vertigo.

Last Year you may remember the wonderful Rainbow Orchid, a TinTinesque adventure was the inaugural Small Press/Self Published Comic of the Year. The adventures have continued through 2004, with Garen Ewing’s characters popping up in several small press anthologies, but no new collected edition under the Rainbow Orchid banner has appeared, so the title is ineligible for the crown this year, although last time I spoke with Garen he assured me that there would be new collected edition out soon.

Mind you, although the competition was tough in this category this year readers who’ve been paying attention will already have a faint idea which comics takes the prize this year. Malcolm Magic takes it with a hop, skip and a jump for being the one thing that’s raised a genuine smile from me in 2004. Take a bow Malcolm Magic, the FoolBritannia Small Press/Self Published Comic of the Year 2004!

The second category, best online comic, was a hard one to judge. Last year Gun Street Girl, written by my old friend Barb Lien (of The Park and Barb Show here at SBC) and I worried that giving the award to the same book two years running looked like nepotism.

But the thing is, Gun Street Girl is still my favourite online comic. There are some truly nifty supernatural ideas running through the narrative, and some genuinely likeable characters. I’m a sucker for this kind of action/psycho-horror genre anyway (Witness my love of Buffy, Hellblazer, Lost Boys and even Charmed) but if Gun Street Girl retains her title for anything, it’s for Barb’s ability to pace a story.

Like many online serials, Gun Street Girl hits the ‘net one page at a time. Making the end of every page suspenseful enough to drag new readers back is a hard thing to do. Managing to do that and make the finished story flow smoothly is harder still and I have to say that Barb manages it beautifully.

What can I say? Well written, well drawn, well crafted stories with real characters and kick ass action. I can’t not give it to Gun Street Girl. If you haven’t yet tried it, get yourself over to Graphic Smash now and take a look. If you don’t like it, come back and tell me why I’m wrong, but if you do like it, tell everyone you know – this is a comic that deserves a wider audience!

The final category, best “Major Publisher” comic also caused me some anxiety. What, after all, constitutes a “Major Publisher”? Just so we’re clear, I’m employing the famous “Duck Test” on this one. If, in my opinion, it looks like a Major Publisher, then it is.

Last year the crown went to Marvel’s stunning NYX which mixed sharp stories with the most breathtakingly beautiful colour artwork I have ever seen. Sadly the comic disappeared almost immediately after receiving the award, leaving me waiting desperately for whatever it is that artist Joshua Middleton decides to do in the future.

This year I really didn’t know. There was nothing from the major publishers that really stood out in 2004 in the way NYX had in 2003. At least, not until the end of the year, when a copy of Dave Gibbons’ The Originals arrived in my monthly comics parcel.

The trouble with buying my comics mail order and getting them in monthly batches is that often, all my friends have read a comic before I ever see it. Such was the case with The Originals. Although the adulation wasn’t quite universal (one online acquaintance dismissing it as “Quadrophenia on hover bikes”) most of my friends raved about it.

I can see why.

Gibbons is of course a legend. His work for 2000AD, DC and Dark Horse stands as some of the best comics art ever produced, so my expectations were high. What can I say? They were exceeded.

We are presented with a beautiful monochrome hard back which tells us a love story set against the backdrop of a slightly alternate universe. This is the Britain of the late sixties, early seventies when “Mods” and “Rockers” fought each other in the seaside resorts of England’s south coast. But not quite. The world is still recognisable, but twisted enough to make anything possible.

In the end, it isn’t the setting that counts, it’s the story. A tale of love, loss, betrayal and revenge that could have been written by Shakespeare himself (indeed, there are some that might argue that in a sense it was…) with breathtaking art and an ending that doesn’t let you off the hook. Quite the best book (of any description) I read all year. If you haven’t read it already, then you should.

- Regie Rigby