Better late than never! Here’s my usual annual run-down of what comics I read in 2022–with some commentary here and there:

Anaîs Nin: sur la mer des mensonges – Léonie Bischoff (FR)

This beautiful comic about Anaîs Nin’s early years in Paris in the 1930’s is currently available only in French, but the word on the street is that a U.S. publisher has licensed the book and is readying an English translation. The book’s unique art is done, I believe, with those multi-colored colored pencils. I was lucky enough to see some originals from this at Angoulême this January–they’re truly beautiful!

How we Read – Daryl Seitchik

The Comics Journal #305 – Ed. R.J. Casey & Kristy Valenti

Les Cahiers de la BD #16, #17 – ed. Vincent Bernière (FR)

Cahiers is for my money the absolute best magazine about comics being published today (and yeah, I know there’s not a huge field of things to choose from). Obviously it leans heavily on Franco-Belgian work, but there’s a fair amount of writing on Manga and English language work as well.

King-Kat Comix & Stories #81 – John Porcellino

Caniffer #3 – Frank Santoro

I’m still really enjoying Frank Santoro’s deep dive into Milt Caniff and the surprisingly rich history of 20th century cartooning in Ohio. Santoro’s keeping it pretty old school here. I had to stick cash in an envelope and mail it off to get the first three issues. I hear tell you can now order them online somehow–but I sure can’t find where, or else I’d have the next issue of this!

Epileptic – David B.

Real Friends – Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham

Gender Queer – Maia Kobabe

My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness – Nagata Kabi

The X-Cellent #1 – Peter Milligan, Mike Allred, and Laura Allred

Valérian: The Complete Collection Vol. 3 – Pierre Christin & Jean-Claude Mézières

All of the Marvels – Douglas Wolk

This book, which documents the author’s read of every Marvel comic (with a few excepted categories) consists of two quite different sections. The first section of the book I found absolutely fascinating: Wolk begins by making the argument that the whole of Marvel continuity is the longest and most robust work of fiction ever created. The latter part of the book–which I found less engaging–is a series of highlights/capsule summaries of what Wolk considers some of the best parts of this continuity. Likely the root of my reservations about this section are solely because I’m generally not up on–nor do I really care about–much superhero stuff post about 1990 or so, not  any fault of the book itself.

Big Man – David Mazzucchelli (IT)

I don’t read Italian, so I guess I looked at this rather than read it. But seeing this–arguably one of the best single issue length stories ever done in comics–in a single volume by itself with beautiful high-end production values really hammers in how much we need an English language version of this hard-to-track-down story. (And really, for that matter, a collected English language Rubber Blanket.)

Barbarella – Tome 1 (Le Terrain Vague) -Jean-Claude Forrest (FR) 

Herman the Manatee Gets Hit by a Boat – Volume 1 – Jason Viola

L’agê d’or – Tome 2 – Cyril Pedrosa and Roxanne Moreil (FR)

The Reading Gaze, “My” Comics – Domingos Isabelinho

Domingos Isabelinho is a name that will be familiar to anyone who’s in or adjacent to comics academia–or was active at the old TCJ message board. This–a collection of essays–is an odd read. First off, the “My” in the title references the fact that none of the artists written about in the book are actually cartoonists. It’s an odd read and I wonder if the essays are not current works, but rather old writings collected for the first time. The tone is very reminiscent of the early 2000’s when comics had a real chip on its shoulder re. its “legitimacy” as an art form and a common strategy was to argue that things that are highly regarded in the art world but are not actually comics (the Bayeux Tapestry, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, etc.) are really comics. Whatever the case, there’s no debating that Isabelinho is an insightful and very smart writer-about-art.  

Walter Simonson’s Manhunter & Other Stories: Artist’s Edition – Walter Simonson

Birth of the Bat – Josh Simmons

Wolverine Weapon X (Gallery Edition) – Barry Windsor-Smith

This is the only reprinting of The Greatest Wolverine Story of All Time (don’t @ me) with passable color. It’s still slightly too bright and oversaturated to my eye–I’m used to, and will never get rid of, the individual issues–but it’s pretty damn good. Bonus: it includes a small handful of scanned original pages–probably the closest we’ll get to a Weapon X Artists Edition. 

Corto Maltese – In Siberia – Hugo Prat

Sexe et Amour – Shary Flenniken (FR)

This is a French language collection of a bunch of Shary Flenniken’s strips from (I believe) National Lampoon–all non Trots and Bonnie stuff. I don’t think any of this material has ever been collected in English… which is too bad. There’s some really great stuff here, including an amazing strip that’s entirely told with panels of peoples’ feet/shoes.