Here goes (in no particular order):<\/p>\n
The Hilda<\/em> Books by Luke Pearson – Nobrow Press (Graphic Novels, All-Ages)<\/strong><\/p>\n I saw a few pages posted from Hilda and the Midnight Giant<\/em> a while back and made a mental note to pick up the book–which I indeed did at SPX last year. I read the book that night in my hotel room–and loved it! More important: it received raves from our home’s toughest critic, my five year-old daughter. She had me read her the second book in the series, Hilda and the Bird Parade<\/em> and then immediately requested Midnight Giant<\/em>. This book is so beautifully-drawn it’s downright depressing. Like most Nobrow-published books, the production values are incredible, and I love the big “Tintin-size” format.<\/p>\n Trubble Club<\/em> #5 by Various Artists (Broadsheet Jam Comic)<\/strong><\/p>\n Jam comics are a lot of fun to make<\/em>… but not usually much fun to read<\/em>. Trubble Club<\/em> #5, though, is–as TCJ.com put it–“The Sistine Chapel of jam comics.” It’s hard to pick out who’s doing what, but there’s a pretty amazing lineup of folks working on this. Just to cherry-pick a few from the credits page: Nate Beaty, Erin Renier, Laura Park, Lilly Care, Jeffrey Brown, Lucy Knisley, Josh Cotter, Craig Thompson, Erika Moan, and Alex Longstreth.<\/p>\n Like most jam comics, there’s a tendency here for the strips to veer off into non sequitur or go for a gross-out and\/or sex gag, but the incredible creativity and level of craft here usually saves it. Brian Moore’s “30 Days of Comics” Project (Blog\/Online Project)<\/strong><\/p>\n I’m not sure where\/how the “30 Days of Comics” project originated, but there were several people I follow on Twitter participating in the event using the #30DaysComics hashtag. While there were several artists who were cranking out some pretty amazing stuff on a daily basis (it starts on November 1st and runs through the month), Brian Moore’s comic was one of my favorites.\u00a0 Here’s the final result<\/a>, and here’s a post-mortem blog post<\/a> he did. It’s really beautiful stuff! \u00a0Balderdash<\/em>, by Victoria Grace Elliott (Webcomic)<\/strong><\/p>\n I love this beautiful webcomic from Victoria Grace Elliott about a young witch who leaves her home (on an elk ranch!) to seek out a famous baker to whom she wants to apprentice herself. The story is charming–so far anyway; we’re only two chapters in–the character designs are amazing, and the art is refreshingly different than the usual “black outline” style that dominates most comics.<\/p>\n Pierre Alary’s Blog (Blog)<\/strong><\/p>\n This one makes my list via quality rather than quantity. Pierre Alary–the amazing French cartoonist who did the Belladone<\/em> series–has been intermittently posting some absolutely jaw-dropping sample pages and pages in-progress from Silas Corey<\/em>. Why Alary remains un-published\/translated in North America is beyond me. Also: he seems to be working on a comics adaptation of Moby Dick<\/em> and is posting occasional pages from that as well.<\/p>\n Nimona<\/em> by Noelle Stevenson (Webcomic)<\/strong><\/p>\n Nimona<\/em> is a beautifully-drawn webcomic about a girl shape-shifter who becomes the assistant to her favorite supervillain, Lord Ballister Blackheart. It just got picked up for eventual publication by Harper-Collins… with good reason.<\/p>\n Read it here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mattias Adolfsson’s Moleskine Drawings – (Google+ Account)<\/strong><\/p>\n Mattias Adolfsson recently collected a ton of his amazing Moleskine illustrations into a great-looking book<\/a> which I’m planning on picking up for sure. You can see each of the artist’s new drawings posted as they’re completed by circling him on Google+. His stream is pretty much “all business”–nothing but art.<\/p>\n \u00a0Girl Apocalypse<\/em> by Angie Wang (Mini-comic)<\/strong><\/p>\n Hopefully we’ll see more of this creepy (but gorgeous) post-apocalypse story from Angie Wang in the future. You can read the whole thing online<\/a>, but I’d rather read it in mini-comic form… plus, the hard copy comes signed and with a sketch!<\/p>\n Panel Patter<\/em> Covers SPX – (Blog)<\/strong><\/p>\n There were some pretty high-caliber guests at SPX 2012<\/a>. But, seriously, though, does anyone considering attending SPX really need to know more information about Chris Ware or Dan Clowes?\u00a0Rob McMonigal’s blog, Panel Patter<\/a>, offered great pre-show coverage via its “SPX Spotlight” series, focusing on a ton of interesting–if non-headling–folks. (Full disclosure: I was spotlighted.)<\/p>\n Patrick Dean’s Revamped Website (Blog\/Portfolio)<\/strong><\/p>\n You don’t hear Patrick Dean’s comics discussed nearly enough for my taste. Partly that’s because they’ve been kinda hard to come by unless you bought minis off him in person at a con. In 2012, though, he revamped his website and posted a ton of his great comics there.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Tel-Tales<\/em> #1 by Dan Zettwoch (Mini-comic) Tel-Tales<\/em> is a beautifully put-together mini (~3×5 inches) that relates an anecdote that took place at the Old South Central Bell building in Louisville, Kentucky in the early 1970s.As you can expect from any Dan Zettwoch book, there are some really neat things going on in the packaging department. It has a silk-screened cover with matching red endpapers. Fully over the top, though, is the giant fold-out gatefold that introduces the story\u2019s main character, the rooky \u201c8-board\u201doperator. The cover of the book is (unbelievably!) made from an old phone company analog punch card.<\/p>\n Get it here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Prophet: Book I, Remission<\/em> by Simon Roy, Farel Dalrymple, Giannis Milogiannis & Brandon Graham – Image Comics (Trade Paperback, Collected Serialized Comics)<\/strong><\/p>\n One of my most frequent grouses in years-past comics-wise has been the relative paucity of solid science fiction genre comics from the big publishers. 2012’s Prophet<\/em>‘s a big step in the right direction. Graham, the writer, pulls of the amazing feat of making a book with multiple visually identical characters work–and work in a way that smooths out the usually jarring practice of switching artists with each installment.<\/p>\n Little Art Reference Things<\/em> (Tumblr Blog)<\/strong><\/p>\n OK, so this is probably only of interest to you if you make<\/em> comics, but I picked up a bunch of good drawing tips in 2012 from this Tumblr account that reblogs drawing tutorials. It’s not comics-specific, but most of what’s there is applicable to comics-making.<\/p>\n Blacklung<\/em> by Chris Wright – Fantagraphics (Graphic Novel)<\/strong><\/p>\n Wright’s cartooning style is pretty idiosyncratic; you either love it or you don’t. For me it’s the former by a long shot. This is a really really amazing book. If I had to pick a few comparable books as signposts, I’d grab maybe Melville’s Moby Dick<\/em> and Christophe Blain’s Isaac the Pirate<\/em> series. The prose writing–the actual use of words and language–in Black Lung really stands out unlike anything I’ve read comics-wise in a while.<\/p>\n Battle Zoo<\/em> by Brad McGinty (Webcomic)<\/strong><\/p>\n In a post-apocalyptic world ruled by cats and dogs, humans slave in kitty litter mines. That should give you an idea of the general tone of this comic. Brad McGinty’s background in animation is really shines this strip’s many, many (many!) action sequences. Also: features more drawings of entrails than the vast majority of comics being made today.<\/p>\n Read it here<\/a>.<\/p>\n A Parent’s Guide to the Best Kids’ Comics: Choosing Titles Your Children Will Love<\/em> by Scott Robins and Snow Wildsmith – Krause Publications (Comics Reading Guide)<\/strong><\/p>\n Comics has needed a book like this for a long time. Best Kids Comics<\/em> is a wonderful guide to the vast world of great kids comics (a world that’s largely invisible to much of the adult comics-reading population, as far as I can tell), assembled by two librarians who specialize in exactly that, and arranged sensibly by age\/reading level then subdivided by genre.<\/p>\n Nausica\u00e4 of the Valley of the Wind<\/em> by Hayao Miyazaki – VIZ (Box Set, Manga)<\/strong><\/p>\n Until 2012 Hayao Miyazaki’s epic manga masterpiece had never been presented in the U.S. in a satisfying format. This beautiful two-volume hardback box set from VIZ corrects that. I sincerely love Miyazaki’s film work, but this book makes me wish he’d done a few more comics along the way.<\/p>\n Marvel Comics: The Untold Story<\/em> by Sean Howe – Harper (Non-fiction Comics History)<\/strong><\/p>\n This book got mixed reviews in the comics intelligentsia blogosphere, but I really loved it. Among the common complaints was moving too quickly through the ’50s-’60s Marvel history, but honestly I’ve read about that stuff many times before from many other sources and I was glad it focused on later years. I was reading Marvel books in the ’80s, but had no idea what was going on behind the scenes. Now I do.<\/p>\n Mastering Comics: Drawing Words & Writing Pictures Continued<\/em> by Jessica Abel and Matt Madden – First Second (Studio Comics Textbook)<\/strong><\/p>\n This is the follow-up volume to Abel and Madden’s great Drawing Words and Writing Pictures<\/em>. As with that earlier Tumblr account on my list, this will only be of interest to you if you’re into making<\/em>–as well as reading–comics. If that’s the case, though, definitely pick this up. It expands on some things that were only touched upon in the earlier volume and introduces several more advanced techniques.<\/p>\n Sacred Heart<\/em> by Liz Suburbia (Webcomic)<\/strong><\/p>\n People make a lot of how adults are rarely shown in this teen\/high-school melodrama, but to me that just reflects the mindset one’s in at the age the characters in the story are–and it’s a testament to Liz Suburbia’s writing that I find this story so compelling, given that I’m so far removed<\/em> from that mindset age-wise. The artist here is obviously a Jamie Hernandez acolyte as you can see from her beautiful artwork and the presentation here is how I think we’ll be seeing a lot of comics from now on: continuous, vertically-scrolling “chapters” that work great with phones, tablets, Tumblr, etc.<\/p>\n Making a Living in Manga<\/em> by Deb Aoki (Online Article)<\/strong><\/p>\n This five-part article in the About.com Manga section is ostensibly a look at how\/if there’s a viable comics career path for North American Manga artists. It’s actually of much broader interest, though; it contrasts the very different comics cultures of North America and Japan and looks at why things that work well in one place may not work so well in the other.<\/p>\n “Corpse on the Imjin” and Other Stories (The EC Comics Library)<\/em> by Harvey Kurtzman – Fantagraphics (Collected Comics Stories) Prior to 2012, the only way you could get all of the Kurtzman-drawn stories from Two Fisted Tales<\/em> and Front Line Action<\/em> was to buy the full collections or track down the individual issues that had the stories in them. As of this year, though, Fantagraphics has started collecting the old E.C. war stories by artist, which to me makes a whole lot more sense–particularly since I’m more of a Kurtzman devotee than a full-fledged fan of those two series.<\/p>\n Shannon Smith Reads The Invisibles<\/em> (Blog\/Online Project)<\/strong><\/p>\n Late in 2012, comics-maker\/-blogger Shannon Smith stared re-reading Grant Morrison’s The Invisibles<\/em> issue-by-issue and blogging about it. Shannon’s writing is great and\u00a0The Invisibles<\/em> is one of of my favorite series. The only thing not<\/em> to like about this project is that I’m too darn busy to read along and join in.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Mutts<\/em> by Patrick McDonnell (Newspaper Strip)<\/strong><\/p>\n 2012 was another solid year of beautiful Sunday strips (I only get the Sunday paper) from Patrick McDonnell. Mutts<\/em> is one of the last bastions of gorgeous drawing and formal inventiveness in the newspaper comics realm and for some reason you almost never hear people talking about the strip.<\/p>\n Thunderpaw<\/em> by Jen Lee (Webcomic)<\/strong><\/p>\n Haters are gonna hate on the limited animation in this webcomic, but Thunderpaw<\/em> is one of the few examples of animated comics that I really dig. Warning: don’t let the little animal characters fool you; this strip gets pretty grim.<\/p>\n The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum Blog (Blog)<\/strong><\/p>\n I’m not sure how long the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library (which is part of The University of Ohio) has had a blog, but it seems like it’s really ramped up activity since the arrival of Caitlin McGurk. Several times a week you can expect an interesting, well-written article about some bit of amazing comics arcana and\/or original art from the collection.<\/p>\n The Editorial Cartoons of Matt Bors (Political\/Editorial Cartoons)<\/strong><\/p>\n 2012 was a heck of a year for Matt Bors. He was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize and won the Herblock prize. Bors’ cartoons are biting but funny–and they’re thankfully not drawn in that annoying “stock” editorial cartoon style with heavy hatching, conte crayon, etc.<\/p>\n Megg, Mogg, and Owl<\/em> by Simon Hanselmann (Webcomic)<\/strong><\/p>\n Megg, Mogg, and Owl<\/em> is full of foul language, rampant drug use, and crude sexual humor. Also, you have to dig through a cluttered tumblr to find the actual strips. But, if you enjoy the former and don’t mind the latter, you may become a convert.<\/p>\n Box Brown (Cartoonist)<\/strong><\/p>\n OK, I know it’s “cheating” to pick a person rather than a particular work. but honestly, Box Brown is cranking out good comics at such a blinding pace–and via so many different delivery methods–that it’s hard to nail down just one. He’s running Retrofit Comics, helming the Garo<\/em> anthology, doing a regular strip for MAD Magazine<\/em>, publishing minis, running comics on his tumblr, and working on a graphic novel for First Second. Just typing that makes me tired.<\/p>\n John J. Boulet’s English Blog (Blog)<\/strong><\/p>\n Here’s yet another amazing French cartoonist who has nothing yet printed in North America. Don’t despair, though, Boulet publishes many of his short comics simultaneously in French and English at his blog. I can’t help but think that his unique Moebius-meets-Eiichiro Oda drawing style will eventually find it’s way into a big release in North America some time soon.<\/p>\n Comic Rocket (Website\/Webcomics Reader)<\/strong><\/p>\n Comic Rocket is a web-based webcomics reader that makes it really, really easy to keep track of what comics you’re reading, where you are in the story, when\/what comics have been updated, etc. I started using Comics Rocket to read webcomics this year, and my webcomics-reading has really picked up as a result. You don’t even need to set up an account; just log in via Twitter.<\/p>\n Pope Hats<\/em> #2 & #3 by Ethan Rilly- Adhouse Books (Serialized Comics)<\/strong><\/p>\n These two issues were a great late-year surprise for me. Admittedly, the 90s alt-comix vibe of Pope Hats<\/em> makes me the perfect target for this series. The main story arc here is a brilliantly-crafted “everyday people” story a la the Hernandez Brothers, drawn in an expert almost Clowes-esque style. (One issue features a back-up story that could have been right out of the pages of Eightball<\/em>.) Pope Hats<\/em> is its own animal, though, and one well worth checking out.<\/p>\n Crockett Johnson and Ruth Krauss: How an Unlikely Couple Found Love, Dodged the FBI, and Transformed Children\u2019s Literature<\/em> by Philip Nel –\u00a0University Press of Mississippi (Non-Fiction\/Biography) OK, I admit: I’m only half-way through this as of this writing. But I’m pretty confident this thorough and straightforward biography of Barnaby<\/em> cartoonist and children’s book illustrator Crockett Johnson and his wife, children’s book writer Ruth Kraus, is one of the year’s best. Johnson didn’t have nearly the story-ready rough and tumble life of Bill Mauldin, but tone-wise, Nel’s book reminds me a lot of that great DePastino bio from a few years back.<\/p>\n The Art of Daniel Clowes: Modern Cartoonist<\/em> by Alvin Buenaventura – Abrams ComicArts (Cartoonist Retrospective\/Art Book)<\/strong><\/p>\n If you’re a Dan Clowes obsessive like me, this beautiful volume of sketches, process information, and hard-to-find older strips was an early 2012 must-have.<\/p>\n BONUS! My Least<\/em> Favorite Things of 2012:<\/strong><\/p>\n The End of Richard Thompson’s Cul De Sac<\/em> (Newspaper Strip)<\/strong><\/p>\n Cartoonist Richard Thompson’s Cul De Sac<\/em> may prove to be the last great newspaper comic. It ended in 2012 when Thompson, struggling with Parkinson’s Disease, decided he would no longer be able to keep up with the gruelling demands of a daily strip.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2012\/12\/FinalCover-web.jpg\" "\\"FinalCover-web\\"")
<\/a>Buy here (Bird Parade<\/a>) (Midnight Giant<\/a>).<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2012\/12\/tru02-300x225.jpg\" "\\"tru02\\"")
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<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2012\/12\/page-121-200x300.png\" "\\"page-121\\"")
<\/a>Read it here<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2012\/12\/26SILA1C-221x300.jpg\" "\\"26SILA1C\\"")
<\/a>http:\/\/pierrealary.blogspot.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2012\/12\/nim57_1_0-231x300.jpg\" "\\"nim57_1_0\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2012\/12\/stockholms-300x233.jpg\" "\\"stockholms\\"")
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<\/a>Buy Girl Apocalypse here<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2012\/12\/panel-300x216.jpg\" "\\"panel\\"")
<\/a>Panel Patter SPX Spotlight<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2012\/12\/dean-300x203.jpg\" "\\"dean\\"")
<\/a>http:\/\/patrickdeancomics.blogspot.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2012\/12\/teltales1-300x258.jpg\" "\\"teltales1\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2012\/12\/prophet-v1-195x300.jpg\" "\\"prophet-v1\\"")
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<\/a>http:\/\/artiststoolbox.tumblr.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n![\"bookcover_blackl\"](\"http:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2012\/12\/bookcover_blackl-226x300.jpg\")
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<\/a>Buy it here<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"2012-11-06-VIZ-Media-Releases-Nausica\u00e4-of-the-Valley-of-the-Wind-Deluxe-Manga-Box-Set-Box-Set\"](\"http:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2012\/12\/2012-11-06-VIZ-Media-Releases-Nausica\u00e4-of-the-Valley-of-the-Wind-Deluxe-Manga-Box-Set-Box-Set-264x300.jpg\")
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<\/a>Buy it here<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"sub\"](\"http:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2012\/12\/sub-300x260.jpg\")
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<\/a>Start reading here<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"corpse\"](\"http:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2012\/12\/corpse-209x300.jpg\")
<\/a>Buy it here<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"shannon\"](\"http:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2012\/12\/shannon-300x255.jpg\")
<\/a>Read it here<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"mutts\"](\"http:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2012\/12\/mutts-300x99.jpg\")
<\/a>Strips archived here<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"thunderpaw\"](\"http:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2012\/12\/thunderpaw-221x300.jpg\")
<\/a>Read it here<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"billy\"](\"http:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2012\/12\/billy-300x219.jpg\")
<\/a>Find it here<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"bors\"](\"http:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2012\/12\/bors-300x217.png\")
<\/a>Matt Bors archive<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"megg\"](\"http:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2012\/12\/megg-300x220.jpg\")
<\/a>Read it here<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"box\"](\"http:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2012\/12\/box-231x300.jpg\")
<\/a>http:\/\/boxbrown.com<\/a><\/p>\n![\"boulet\"](\"http:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2012\/12\/boulet-216x300.jpg\")
<\/a>http:\/\/english.bouletcorp.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n![\"rocket\"](\"http:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2012\/12\/rocket-300x237.jpg\")
<\/a>Comic Rocket<\/a><\/p>\n![\"pope\"](\"http:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2012\/12\/pope-210x300.jpg\")
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