This week, we’re handing out the Second Annual Comics Daily awards – one per day – between Christmas and New Year. Each award has been written up by a member of the Comics Daily team after a consensus was reached, and highlights what we feel have been the best of superhero comics this year.

Best Miniseries: Seaguy- The Slaves of Mickey Eye

Given that doing justice to Slaves of Mickey Eye in the space of four hundred words feels difficult, it’s hard to imagine what its creators felt during the book’s construction. Grant Morrison and Cameron Stewart manage to cram more into three issues than many writers manage in twelve parts of standard arc. The storytelling is so intricate, with metaphor layered on top of metaphor, that it’s a wonder that there’s space for a plot at all, yet Seaguy’s crusade against the dark heart of Comfort Zone Seven feels inevitable as the reader is driven forward.

Managing to continue Seaguy’s unique story would have been no mean feet, but Morrison actually manages to improve on his hero’s debut adventure. Where the second act of the original series felt like a slightly meandering traipse through quirkiness, every element of Slaves of Mickey Eye is integral to the plot. Unusually, the main source of bonding between the start of show and the reader is shared dissatisfaction with events, and helplessness in the face of the situation. At the story’s close, Seaguy has apparently succeeded in all his aims, with Seadog’s plan thwarted and the sinister Eye theme park burnt to the group. It soon becomes apparent, however, that this is not the revolution that had been hoped for, with the controlling force on the moon untouched by the drama on Earth, and Seaguy being co-opted into maintaining the status quo as the new ‘Comptoller’. For all the flying fish and fairytale romance, it’s an unusually mature book, featuring a world with problems more similar to our own than many more pseudo-realistic settings.

The most distinctive aspect of the book is its willingness to let humour and horror sit side-by-side. Mickey Eye in all his forms is easily the most disturbing creation that comics have seen for a while, and lacks the affection with which Matt Groening’s various parodies of children’s cartoons unfold. It’s important not to regard the corporate entity as simply a parody of the Disney organisation which is its most recognisable reference point, with Mickey’s fingers extending into the political religious and cultural areas of Seaguy’s world. Morrison captures the feelings of helplessness which most feel when presented with the various arms of western culture, with only a few cranks shown as being willing to step out of line. There are so many metaphors in each page that the first reading of the book introduces more bewilderment than comprehension. When Death is arrested for spoiling the party atmosphere, as a throwaway moment in a single panel, you know you’re entering deep waters.

With a reach that encompasses sociology, politics, feminism and capitalism, Slaves of Mickey Eye is a breathtaking masterpiece.

Runners-up: Phonogram: The Singles Club, Beasts of Burden, Ghostbusters: Displaced Aggression, The Umbrella Academy: Dallas
Previous winners: 2008 – Kick-Ass