Welcome to the 2019 ComicBook.com Golden Issue Awards, where we here at ComicBook.com take a look back at the year that was and choose the best of the best in comics and related media. We already revealed this year’s nominees, and now we’re ready to reveal the winners.
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Choosing winners was no easy task. The streaming wars have begun with the launch of Disney+ and Star Wars: The Mandalorian. Premium cable is alive and well, as proven by HBO and Damon Lindelof’s Watchmen series. Amazon’s Prime Video streaming service had its biggest year ever with the debut of The Boys and Good Omens. Netflix remains a force to be reckoned with thanks to shows like The Umbrella Academy, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Disenchantment, and BoJack Horseman.
The overabundance of great television is a boon for audiences but makes it tougher than ever to pick our favorites. The staff here at ComicBook.com whittled it down and chose our favorite shows, performers, and moments from throughout the year. Keep reading to see this year’s Golden Issues winners.
Best TV Series
- The Boys (Amazon Prime)
- Good Omens (Amazon Prime)
- The Mandalorianย (Disney+)
- The Umbrella Academy (Netflix)
- Watchmenย (HBO)
There was some trepidation among fans when HBO announced that Damon Lindelof would bring the seminal comic book series to prestige television, be it over the treatment of the comic’s creators or the question of whether anything new and worthwhile could be added to that world’s mythology. For those who watched the series, it’s hard to argue that Lindelof did anything but treat Watchmen with reverence and respect. Not only that, it achieved the rare feat of modernizing a story without rewriting its history, improving upon by expanding its themes to cover blind spots in the original text. HBO’s Watchmen proved to be a worthy successor to the comics that inspired it.
Best Animated TV Series
- BoJack Horsemanย (Netflix)
- Disenchantment (Netflix)
- Harley Quinnย (DC Universe)
- Rick and Morty (Adult Swim)
- She-Ra and the Princesses of Powerย (Netflix)
The DC Universe streaming service is proving to be a boon for fans of animation. It’s already got a library of classic DC Animated Universe shows and animated DC Universe Original Series. It brought back the beloved Young Justice for another season. Then, this year, it launched its first original animated series, a raucous and raunchy take on DC’s Harley Quinn. Thanks to a stellar voice cast featuring the likes of Kaley Cuoco, Lake Bell, Alan Tudyk, Ron Funches, Jason Alexander, Tony Hale, Christopher Meloni, and Diedrich Bader, and writing that doesn’t hold back, Harley Quinn has become one more strong reason to add DC Universe to your streaming catalog.
Best Ship
- Catradora (Catra & Adora) – She-Ra and the Princesses of Power
- Gendrya (Gendry & Arya Stark) – Game of Thrones
- The Ineffable Husband (Aziraphale & Crowley) – Good Omens
- Jaime x Brienne (Jaime Lannister & Brienne of Tarth) – Game of Thrones
- Supercorp (Kara Danvers & Lena Luthor) – Supergirl
The final season of Game of Thrones disappointed a lot of fans, but for a minute there it seemed like it had gotten one thing right for a certain group of shippers. Those fans were begging for Jaime Lannister to break off his incestuous relationship with Cersei and get with Brienne of Tarth, his one-time captor. It seemed like this is where things were headed when Jaime knighted Brienne ahead of the Battle of Winterfell in “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” and then when the two slept together following the battle in “The Last of the Starks.” Alas, it was not to be, and Jaime rode off to Cersei’s side so they could die together when Daenerys destroyed the city, one more sin to add to fans’ list of grievances with the once-beloved series.
Best Episode
- “Chapter 8: The Battle of Starcourt” – Stranger Things
- “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” – Game of Thrones
- “Number Five” – The Umbrella Academy
- “The Sin” – The Mandalorian
- “This Extraordinary Being” – Watchmen
Watchmen made a daring move in “This Extraordinary Being,” revealing this untold history of the universe’s first superhero vigilante, Hooded Justice. The way the episode gracefully weaves together his story with that of his granddaughter, Angela Abar, who unknowingly followed in his footsteps, is incredible. That it manages to add new angles to the character by revealing his history as a person of color without erasing the marginalization he suffers for his sexuality is laudable.
Most Shocking Moment
- Arya kills the Night King – Game of Thrones
- Cal is Doctor Manhatten –ย Watchmen
- Daenerys razes King’s Landing – Game of Thrones
- Oliver learns he’s going to die –ย Arrow
- Meeting Baby Yoda – The Mandalorian
The Mandalorian was easily one of the most anticipated television series of 2019. Fans were eager to see what, if any, connection this mysterious new character would have to Boba Fett. No one was expecting the show to turn into a Star Wars take on Lone Wolf and Cub with the surprise addition of “the Child,” affectionately dubbed “Baby Yoda” by fans.
Most Tragic Death
- Daenerys Targaryen – Game of Thrones
- The casualties of the Battle of Winterfell – Game of Thrones
- Enid, Henry, and Tara – The Walking Dead
- Jim Hopper – Stranger Things
- Oliver Queen – Arrow
Back in the first season of Stranger Things, Sheriff Jim Hopper was just a man who wanted to spend his mornings on coffee and contemplation. Over the course of the series, he’s become a father figure to his adopted daughter Eleven while harboring feelings for Joyce Byers. In the show’s third season, we saw Hopper make the ultimate sacrifice to save those he loves in the city of Hawkins, Indiana. Whether or not he’s really dead remains to be seen, but that would hardly nullify how powerful and shocking his death was.
Best TV Actor
- Aidan Gallagher as Number Five – The Umbrella Academy
- Jeremy Irons as Adrian Veidt – Watchmen
- Pedro Pascal as Din Djarin – The Mandalorian
- Antony Starr as The Homelander – The Boys
- David Tennant as Crowley – Good Omens
Jeremy Irons brought a dignified and eccentric spin to Watchmen‘s Ozymandias, the pinnacle of humanity as he sees it. At times chewing scenery while trapped in his surreal prison, and at others revealing with understated depth what an utter blowhard Adrian Veidt really is, Irons carried the mysterious interludes that were peppered throughout the series, making a risky structural decision pay off.
Best TV Actress
- Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen – Game of Thrones
- Rachel Keller as Sydney “Syd” Barrett – Legion
- Regina King as Angela Abar/Sister Night – Watchmen
- Jean Smart as Laurie Blake – Watchmen
- Maisie Williams as Arya Stark – Game of Thrones
Regina King showed how versatile an actress she is with her lead role in Watchmen. A vulnerable mother and wife, a badass vigilante, a woman of color that you don’t want to mess with, King is star material and deserves the deluge of new opportunities that should be coming her way after this.
Check out the rest of the winners from ComicBook.com’s 2019 Golden Issue Awards right here!
