Best of 2011: Larry Reid

A short, subjective list of the best comix of 2011 What follows is a list of my “favorite” comix of 2011, as opposed the “best.”  More important to me than any single title was the increasing profile of self-published comix in the Pacific Northwest and beyond.  These handcrafted books are appearing in greater numbers and with higher production values than at any time in recent memory. The contents are delightfully uneven, but the level...

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Best of 2011: Ed Luce

Ed Luce 1. The Wolf by Tom Neely - A natural progression from his Ignatz winning The Blot, Tom's intensely personal and horrific vision spills across the pages of this graphic novel like so much gore and seed. It's not without its gorgeous side, as the delicately rendered last act balances out the carnage.   All without a single word balloon in sight.  http://www.iwilldestroyyou.com/ Prison Pit #3 2. Prison...

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Best of 2011: Malachi Ward

There have been many best-of lists in the last few weeks. Comics is a relatively small world, so there's also been quite a bit of overlap. The second part of "The Love Bunglers" by Jaime Hernandez was fantastic, we seem to agree. On the superhero side of the fence Waid/Martin/Rivera's run on Daredevil was a favorite. You won't get any argument from me! Sure, I would've liked to see Marti's The Cabbie a little more and a little higher, but overall...

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Best of 2011: Iain Laurie

While I've thoroughly enjoyed Grant Morrison's take on Batman over the last few years, it's been Scott Snyder's phenomenal Black Mirror that has truly earned a place in my favourite ever Batman stories. Beautifully written and illustrated, its quiet, gripping horror never lets up and marks Snyder as the most exciting new writer to appear in some time. Iain Laurie is the unique talent behind Powwkipsie and All the Dead Superheroes.  He...

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Best of 2011: Steven Weissman

Here are some cartoonists I appreciated this year: Steven Weissman is a cartoonist based in Los Angeles.  He has written and drawn comics for Marvel Entertainment, Nickelodeon, and Fantagraphics.  His current weekly strip "Barack Hussein Obama" is gearing up for a physical release in 20...

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Best of 2011: Anders Nilsen

This year, Anders Nilsen released his enormous, career-spanning collection of Big Questions.  He followed it with a tour that took him across North America and Europe.  In September, he braved our Proust Questionnaire, so we invited him back to share his highlights of 2011.   Here are nine things he came across in his travels that he "really dug:" Viande de Chevet, various artists, (Stephane Blanquet, Editor)(UDA) Going Back,...

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Best of 2011: Metaphrog

This year has seen us reading and rereading for both work and pleasure: often travelling with a few books and the time and headspace just to read. Among many books, we have enjoyed Patricia Highsmith’s The Glass Cell, although “enjoy” is perhaps an odd word for such a bleak and at times harrowingly brutal and claustrophobic novel. Highsmith worked as a script writer for comics in the '40s and it is easy to see why Alfred Hitchcock was attracted...

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Best of 2011: Rob Miller

Thanks to the relative luxury of working at Hope Street Studios I have access to all sorts of comics and graphic novels that perhaps I wouldn't necessarily pick up, so with that in mind....Jeff Lemire's Essex County came with a heavyweight reputation, and although I greatly admired the structure, theme and could see what he was doing, I found the art just too raw, a bit too primitive overall for my liking. So I approached...

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Best of 2011: Craig Collins

It's been a busy year, and as ever I'm absolutely terrible at keeping up with new releases as they come out. As a result, this is nowhere close to a comprehensive look at comics in 2011. Instead I've decided to arbitrarily hand out some very special awards to their deserving creators, and in doing so highlight some comics that I've particularly enjoyed and admired in 2011. Best Use Of A Judas Priest Song: Here we see Cobraxe and Rondo...

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Feature: Best of 2011

2011 has been a double-edged year for comics.  On the one hand, it has been an incredibly dark year, with the world losing many great and important figures (some far too prematurely) — Bill Blackbeard, Dylan Williams, Dwayne McDuffie, Jerry Robinson, Bill Keane and, only recently, Joe Simon.  There have been the ongoing struggles with freedoms of expression — Syrian cartoonist Ali Ferzat having his hands broken by authorities, Charlie...

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