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 giving a thoroughly boozed-up rendition of Judas Priest's "Painkiller" as the party at Triumph Mountain enters full swing, only to be suddenly attacked by the fearsome Midas Grub. This gives you some idea of Matthew Allison's unconventional take on costumed adventure. Calamity Of Challenge is a weird and uproarious space-heroes tale following our hideously deformed part-mechanical hero Cankorr as he faces his abrasive team mates, bizarre villains and his own future self. Raucous behaviour, unsettling pinups, characters full of self-loathing and biting criticism and some serious space violence are all on offer in Calamity Of Challenge and it's my favourite thing going right now. Matthew's collected the first volume together and the second is in progress online now.
A special mention also has to go to Matthew's contribution to 2011's Strange Kids Club anthology, taking the award for Best Wearing Of A Lacoste Shirt with this young man:
Best Use Of An Ossified Man:
As a sturdy club to defend yourself against the Midgets Of All Nations with, of course. The Goon has been a perennial favourite of mine going back to Eric Powell's self-published Exploding Albatross Funnybooks days, and it's worth noting in an age of reboots and remakes some titles simply continue to be great comics. Sticking to its strengths while occasionally introducing new ones, The Goon is that rare "horror action comedy" that actually contains some unnerving horror, delightfully madcap action and depending on your taste some outrageously funny comedy. Ossify 'em, baby!
Best Falling Down A Giant Hole:
It's clearly been a good year for Leeds based illustrator Kristyna Baczynski, being Artist In Residence at the increasingly popular Thought Bubble festival and with spots in the likes of Solipsistic Pop and Nelson, neither of which I've managed to read yet of course. However I did pick up her beautiful minicomic Ladder, concerning a bear who falls down a giant hole and endeavours to escape. Ladder is a great example of Kristyna's work, containing many of her hallmarks - the wonderment of nature, delight and melancholy coupled with innovative layouts and a confident style that suggest Chris Ware if he warmed up a bit. Ladder is easily the most charming comic I've read this year.
Best Homo-Lupine Sex Scene:
If you pick up Tom Neely's sumptuously painted The Wolf purely for explicit wolf sex, you'll get what you're after. But there's so much more to be appreciated in this surreal and haunting tale, which is why The Wolf is turning up in so many of these end of year lists. This raw and nakedly emotional exploration of love, commitment and man's nature sees Neely's wolf-headed man stalking the night in search of his mate only battle for their very lives. Beautiful and visceral and with very little in the way of comparable work, Neely has created a truly individual book that certainly sets a high bar for his next project.
Most Appropriate Parody:
There are no doubt several arguments for and against the Occupy Wall Street protests. Rather than intelligently engage with any of these, Frank Miller opted for a more abrasive (and sensational) approach of declaring them “a pack of louts, thieves, and rapists". Hey, he's got a book to sell. Missing the fact that the Occupy movement has nothing to do with terrorism and everything to do with economic equality, Miller urged the pond scum to WAKE UP and ENLIST against the enemy that is staring us in the face, "al-Qaeda and Islamicism."
Of the satirical responses that emerged, Richard Pace's was surely the best. Perfectly imitating the caption-heavy, tightening screw pace of Miller's signature work The Dark Knight Returns, Pace deftly hangs Miller with his own rope by simply setting Miller's frothing statements against some evidence to contrary, making his absurd darkened-room paranoia clear as day. The coup de grâce is delivered in Miller's own words by the Dark Knight himself, and Miller succumbs to a fatal brain aneurysm that leads to a remarkably funny final beat.
Some have suggested that Pace's parody is too harsh in the final panel. But if you're going to throw that kind of shit around, what can you expect?
Craig Collins writes comics and is the co-creator of Roachwell, Omniscient Zorgo and two live human beings. He will return to Graphic Eye in 2012.
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