Gail Simone’s Secret Six. It’s perverse, it’s creepy, and it’s brilliant. The Mad Hatter alone made this series worth the price of admission.

Experimentation. Sure, not everything is a monster hit (or even any good), but at least we’re getting things that TRY to show us something new.

Marvel being willing to change. I admit it, Civil War does nothing for me, but at least we’re not in the endless tapdance of “Peter Parker is still college age” holding pattern that we orbited from 1973 to about 1999…

Creators being important. Yeah, I hate the delays on books like “Ultimates 2″ and “Wildcats” as much as the next guy, but it’s good to see that the creator is now considered to be more than just work for hire.

Peter David. The big guy is back, and he’s brought his old sensibilities to what’s essentially a whole new world of comics. It’s good to see someone dealing with the gray areas of adulthood while maintaining that it doesn’t have to be all grim and gritty to do so. Old fellers are funny, too, y’know.

52. After Action Comics Weekly tanked back in the dark ages, the weekly comic book was considered to be a ridiculous idea, and nothing but a publicity stunt. Instead, we get something with depth, with bite, and with a really hot redhead kissing other girls. And something like three times out of five, the issues are stellar pieces of work, too.

Lying In The Gutters. Okay, this isn’t strictly comics, and in some mindsets, it could be considered “the competition” but you have to love ya some nice gossip. And when some of it turns out to be true, it’s even more entertaining.

Shadowpact. 60 years of DC all rolled up into a nicely packaged Bill Willingham story. Seeing Nightmaster as a force to be reckoned with (as befits a man of his costume and bizarre LSD Lord Of The Rings backstory) is one of the true pleasures of comics right now.

Agents of Atlas. Killer robot. Naked girl. Spaceman. Karate Man. Monkey with guns. It’s the comic we all wrote when we were seven, only this one doesn’t suck.

Jay Garrick. The man is 88 years old, and the source of his powers has been removed, everybody who follows in his footsteps bursts into flame dramatically at the end of a big crossover, but the man in the Packard hubcap keeps on steppin. If and when they finally decide that it’s Jay’s turn to ring down the curtain and join the bleedin’ choir invisibule, we can finally officially call the deathknell of the DC Universe, at least in the form we’ve known it. And we’ll all be a little poorer for the loss, whether we know it or not.

Also-rans: Checkmate. Brian Michael Bendis’ dialogue. Invincible. Two thirds of V For Vendetta, the movie. Jonah Hex’s shocking return. Heroes (with the exception of Mohinder, and Niki’s whining).

Now, if they can just get The Flash, Iron Man, Wonder Woman, The Martian Manhunter, and The Fantastic Four to click again, and maybe realize that Mark Guggenheim is the epitome of a hack then we’d be gettin’ someplace.

I’ve met Willingham a couple of times at conventions - first in Kansas City, then again in San Diego. It was at the time he was writing Robin and Fables, and I quizzed him on a possible Batman/Fables crossover (with Mad Hatter from both worlds being involved), but he and DC dodged the question (grin).

I’m really looking forward to what 2007 has to offer!

I saw Willingham in Baltimore last year and talked for a few minutes. He’s a really nice guy.

Keep up the good work.