As has become my tradition in the past few years, here’s a list of the comics and comics-related stuff I read this past year.

Steve Ditko in the 1960’s: In His Own Words, In His Interviews, In the Words of the Fans Who Knew Him
Edited by . J Ballmann

This is a fascinating compilation of ’60s fanzine writing on Steve Ditko. It’s self-published and (as far as I know) only available POD via Amazon. The Ditko stuff is interesting of course, but just as interesting to me was some of the stuff that’s just tangentially mentioned. Specifically ,it’s interesting to see in what high regard Carmine Infantino was held and how much grousing there was about Jack Kirby–of course, these days Kirby is highly revered and Infantino more of a “deep cut” artist. [link]

Gon – Complete three-volume set, Color Special
by Masashi Tanaka

Rebecca managed to track down this beautiful Italian slipcase edition of Gon. I’d read most of this before (I think I was maybe missing one of the old CMX volumes?) but it’s absolutely amazing stuff that’s worth a re-read.  If anything, I was more blown away by the jaw-dropping drawing this time than on my initial read. Also: the slipcase has a TAIL! 

I also read the old DC color special. The stories were solid… but such a big part of what I love about Gon is the B&W ink-work. I can’t say I enjoyed it a ton, but it’s interesting to see Tanaka work in color.

Eddie’s Week
by Patrick Dean

Sadly, this is Patrick’s first and only full-length comic he produced before he succumbed to ALS last year.  I’ve known and been a fan of Patrick’s for many years via the “Indie Island” gang of cartoonists who frequented Heroes Con annually. Reading this amazing, bizarre, and hilarious story–drawn in his manic, Jack Davis-turned-up-to-eleven style just further makes one realize what an amazing talent we’ve lost. 

Witch Hat Atelier – Vol 4
by Kamome Shirahama

True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee
by Abraham Riesman

Lost Popeye Vol I: Susie the Sea Nymph starring in Spinach Springs
by Tom Sims and Bella Zaboly

I’m not sure who’s behind the “Lost Dailies” account that’s been assembling these PDF zines of heretofore uncollected Popeye strips, but they’re really fantastic. There are now a ton of these collections, comprising the stories directly post-Segar, which–as far as I know–have neve been collected. I’m not sure if these are public domain or not at this point, so I’d grab them now just in case! [link]

Rubber Blanket – #1, #2
by David Mazzucchelli, others

Bubbles – #9, #10
Edited by Brian Baynes

Oh, Wicked Wanda!
by Frederic Mullally and Ron Embleton

OK, I admit I stopped actually reading this about a third of the way in, but man is it pretty gorgeous (and pretty bonkers generally). I tracked this collection down after watching a Cartoonist Kayfabe episode on Little Annie Fanny and it got me thinking about the very peculiar phenomenon of painted comics that ran in “men’s magazines” in the ’70s. It’s hard to wrap my brain around the time (and finances) involved in producing these on a monthly basis. I’ve not read much Little Annie Fanny, but from what I’ve seen, Wicked Wanda strikes me as more fun, less labored, and a whole lot crazier story-wise. 

Jack Kirby: The Epic Life of the King of Comics
by Tom Scioli

No Romance in Hell
by Hyena Hell

Jiro Taniguchi Art Work Book
by Jiro Taniguchi

Dope Dealer, Rotten
by M.S. Harkness

The Columbus Scribbler #5
Various

Peau d’homme
by Hubert and Zanzim

This was hands-down my favorite book of 2021. A young woman in Renaissance Italy is about to be wed in an arranged marriage to a man she doesn’t know. The women in her family, though, possess a magical “man skin” that, when put on, turns the wearer into “Lorenzo,” an attractive young man. Using this, she spies on her soon-to-be-husband and discovers he’s gay. The two (with her as Lorenzo) fall in love. 

It’s an amazing setup that explores gender, gender roles, love, sexuality, morality, hypocrisy, and more–and does so in a way that’s at times serious and harrowing and at other times abjectly hilarious. There’s–thankfully–now an English translation! (Although, I’m still glad I have/read the French edition, as the English version is a much smaller trim size and is on glossy paper stock–booooo!) [link]

Don’t Get Eaten by Anything: A Collection of the Dailies 2011-2013
by Dakota McFadzean

The Big Me Book
by Tom Van Deusen

X-Mag #1
Various

Son of Tomahawk: The Forgotten Masterpiece of American Comics
by Matt Seneca

I’m a big fan of Matt Seneca’s writing and will pick up his self-published collections of comics writing whenever I catch wind of them. This one’s particularly interesting, though. It’s an exploration of the 70’s Frank Thorne-drawn DC comics Western series, Son of Tomahawk–or as Seneca puts it, “the best comic you’ve never heard of.” I can’t vouch for whether that’s true or not until I’ve tracked down the issues and read them, but he sure makes a compelling case for it here.

Poison Flowers and Pandemonium
by Richard Sala

The Magic Whistle #15
by Sam Henderson

King Cat #79
by John Porcellino

Cosmic Be-ing #4
by Alex Graham

Chris Ware
by Daniel Raeburn

Caniffer #1, #2
by Frank Santoro

This is (so far) a five-part series of self-published zines taking a wholistic look at the “Ohio school” of cartooning. The aesthetic here–all lower case, typewriter-written, hand-corrections, etc. is fun, if a bit kayfabe-ish, but it’s the content that’s fascinating. The deep dive through Ohio’s rich cartooning tradition loops in all sorts of interesting figures–some well known and some not so much: Charles Landon (of the “Landon School of Cartooning” correspondence course), Roy Crane, Milt Caniff (obviously), Billy Ireland, Edwina Dumm, and more… 

That Ol’ English
by C.M. Campbell

Magical Beatdown #2
by Jenn Woodall

Orphan and the Five Beasts #1, #2
by James Stokoe

40 Days dans le Désert B
by Moebius

Drawing Fire: The Editorial Cartoons of Bill Mauldin
Edited by Todd DePastino

I picked this up at the amazing “Drawn to Combat” exhibit of Mauldin’s work at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library in Chicago. Its main draw is the pictures of some of the originals that were on display at the show, but its text content consists of essays about Mauldin from various notable figures such as Tom Brokaw, Jean Schulz, Tom Hanks, etc. There’s a bit of redundancy among the essays–and definitely more so if you’ve read editor Todd DePastino’s excellent Mauldin bio–but the book’s definitely worth picking up. [link]