I thought if I'am to write about Marvel's annuals I'll write about both the best and the worst. If you haven't already figured out what the best is, I'll tell you. One of the most interesting and best annuals of the past year was Iron Man and Captain America '98. Not only did it feature the writing talents of Mark Waid and Kurt Busiek, the regular writers of the Captain America and Iron Man comics, respectivly, but artist Patrick Zircher had also recently become quite popular for his work on Iron Man, along side Busiek. Not only did those factors amount to a great read, but the story elements were also done in a realistic manner. Accompanying Waid and Busiek was Roger Stern, and despite slight problems with Zircher's colorist, the Iron Man and Captain America '98 was a welcome addition to the annual stable

The story itself revolved around a battle between Captain America, Iron Man and the telepath Mentallo, with desasterous results. The focus of the story falls on Cap and Iron Man's thoughts in regardence to that, and throughout it Waid's diologue shines. Both Iron Man and Captain America are very much in character, and while the colours are a tad, well, bland, the book made for a great read. The next annual I'll move onto is another Busiek written piece. Namely the Avengers and Squadron Surpreme '98 annual. Not only did this tie directly into the core Avengers book, and featured the artwork of former X-Men artist Carlos Pacheco, but Busiek has a grasp on the characters that is such that you can't think of anyone else that would be able to have written this annual.

The plot continued from the sixth issue of the recent Avengers series, where it was revealed that the Squadron Surpreme had been manipulated by the Corruptor, who was under the employ of the thought-dead Imus Champion. Throughout the annual itself the two teams confront Champion and are put in teams to try to stop the madman before setting off a bomb that would kill millions. And while that may seem to be a very mundane plot, it's through Busiek's grasp of the characters and his knowledge of their backstories that makes that story that much more enjoyable. And in the end it resolves a long running plot thread by having both the Squadron Surpreme return to their home dimension, and having former Avengers Swordsman and Magdalene search for their home world.

Now before I go on, I'm certain that if you're a newcomer to the Marvel stable th inpression that you're getting from this article that all annuals prior to 1998 were, well, lousy. Not true. In fact during the 1960's, when all annuals were written under the pen of Stan Lee, the annuals were used as ways for Stan to tell stories he couldn't fit in the regular books otherwise. Some of the early Fantastic Four annuals saw Reed Richards marry Sue Storm, the first solo Silver Surfer story, and the birth of Franklin Richards. Early Amazing Spider-Man annuals provided the first appearences of the long time supervillain team, The Sinister Six, and the first appearences of Peter Parker's late parents. Other books, including Captain America and The Avengers have also told key stories through annuals. That penchant for telling incontinuity stories is something that has been nearly lost over the years, only to return of late.

There have been annuals in recent memory that have continued to tell stories that have impacts of their core books. Particularly, Amazing Spider-Man annual #21, which featured the wedding of Peter and Mary Jane. Another annual which featured good characterization, in addition to fitting art, was X-Men annual #2. But as I wrote that I began to remember that while a lot of longtime readers have come to rely upon the numbering as a way of catologuing, it was in 1995 that after a year without published annuals, Marvel began re-catologuing them by year. The first example of that that I can recall off hand was with X-Men '95. Actually, just to be off topic, X-Men '95 was a pretty good read, I recommend it. But less than two years after that, change struck the Marvel annuals again. This time in the form of changing annual formats into a team-up style, the first of which I think was Daredevil and Deadpool '97.

Now to get back to the main topic, which now takes us to Deadpool and Death '98. Picking up from the pages of the main Deadpool comic, where Deadpool had been, well, killed. Upon his demise, however, Wade Wilson runs into Death herself. And after featuring the edgy humor Joe Kelly has become famous for Deadpool as reinstated into the land of the living. But without appearing to seem as if I'm running through things rather quickly, Deadpool and Death '98 made for a good read, and for anybody who are fans of the book, this is strongly recommended. Without having to go into great detail about the book, as not to spoil anything, one can only wonder what Thanos must be thinking after the events that had transpired.

Of course for every good annual, there's always something that you could kick yourself for having bought. My canditate is the obvious choice for anyone whos have the chance to of read it. I'm refering to Amazing Spider-Man and Devil Dinosaur '98, a poor team up to begin with. Not that I object particularly, Devil Dinosaur and his partner Moon Boy are both light characters, and if written right Spidey can be light also. However, my main problem lies in the use of the Circus of Crime as villians. I think that they're not only weak characters, but it's always obvious that their plan to brainwash people will never win. Perhaps the best Circus of Crime story was their preceeding appearence in Generation X, where they gave up crime. Sadly Tom DeFalco, who had penned that tale also, had them return to crime again, to lose again, and again. Maybe if theres a Scourge II, he'll get the job done.

To end this look at some of Marvel's 1998 annuals I'd like to leave and wish all of you happy holidays. But as the new year approaches one can only wonder what Marvel has in store for it's 1999 annuals. And while I've only commented on a few of 1998's offerings, it can be assured that the annuals to come for the following year will be as interesting and diverse as the books of 98. But as long as the annuals, for the coming year, feature solid writing, art and coloring, they'll truly be worth the three bucks they cost.