Polite Dissent

After looking at the Worst Comic Book Medicine of 2008 earlier, now I’m going to celebrate the Best Comic Book Medicine of 2008.

Best Depiction of Medicine:
The hospital scenes in Blue Beetle #31.link

Best Doctor:
Doctor Mid-Nite finally got the chance to strut his stuff as the preeminent physician of the DC universe, showing up not just in the Justice Society of America, but also having medical assistance roles in Detective Comics, Blue Beetle, and Terra.

Best Single Medical or Scientific Concept:
Slim pickings again this year, but I’d say the best and most realistic medically-driven storyline this year was Sadie’s marked personality changes after suffering brain damage, as seen in David Lapham’s Young Liars series. link

Best Imaginary Medicine or Treatment:
Warren Ellis’s fascination with super-heroes and polyploidy (additional sets of chromosomes), as seen in both Ultimate Human and his run on Astonishing X-Men. link

Special Mention:
Best New Doctor: Dr. Faiza Hussain, the Excalibur-wielding physician from Captain Britain and M.I. 13.
Best Medically Accurate Art: Rags Morales in Nightwing #148.
Best Technobabble: Mandarin’s scientist in Iron Man #24, when he tried to explain how Maya had disguised the Extremis code by hiding it binarily in protein complexes in the genetic structure..

Previous “Best of the Year”: The Best Comic Book Medicine of 2007 The Best Comic Book Medicine of 2006 The Best Comic Book Medicine of 2005 The Best Comic Book Medicine of 2004