My favorite comics of 2018 and 2019

Posting my best of the year lists a year late has been par for the course for me. Now I’m taking it to new heights by not only posting my best of 2019 list a year late, but posting my 2018 list a full 2 years late alongside it! So here, all at once, are my favorite comics of 2018 and 2019.

I want to pay a little tribute to Tom Spurgeon, who we lost last year. A whole part of comics went away forever the day he died. His end of the year call for everyone’s favorite comics as a part of his Five For Friday feature is what got me started compiling these lists. I posted a couple quick thoughts about his passing on Twitter. I submitted my cream-of-the-crop 2019 list to Bubbles instead.

To see some more recent reads, check my Instagram Stories where earlier this year I was posting many of the comics I read, sometimes with a little commentary.

I’ll be following my 2017 list‘s formatting for this--author name for single author works, titles for multiple author works, all mixed together alphabetically. 

As always, comics I particularly liked are marked with an *

2019

* Albert, Lala; Costume Play (self-published), Seasonal Shift (Breakdown Press). 

Ankeny, Kurt; “Between December and March” from Now #7 (Fantagraphics). 

Bayer, Josh; Black Star (Tinto Press). I love when Bayer makes comics about giant ugly goons wandering around, overflowing with pathos. 

Bell, Gabrielle; My Dog Ivy (Uncivilized Books). Bell’s comics have such weight I can feel my chest start to swell up when I open to the first page. 

Ben; Cool Sports Stories For Kids (self-published). Very funny book!

Black Stars Above #1 - #5 by Jenna Cha, Lonnie Nadler, et al. (Vault Comics).  

Buck, Haleigh; I Feel Weird #4 (Atomic Book Company).

* CF; Pierrot Alterations (Anthology Editions). 

Carroll, Emily; When I Arrived at the Castle (Koyama Press). Carroll’s illustration style is a little… slick? nice? for me personally, but whenever I push past that to read one of her comics I’m reminded she’s one of the most sophisticated and impactful storytellers in horror comics. 

Columbia, Al; AMNESIA: The Lost Films of Francis D. Longfellow (Floating World).

* The Cursed Hermit by Kris Bertin and Alexander Forbes (Conundrum Press). How they managed to put two of the densely crosshatched Hobtown Mysteries books out in consecutive years I’ll never know, but they’re one of my favorite things in comics.

Dark Knight Returns: The Golden Child #1 (DC Comics). The first DKR comic I’ve read lmao. I liked it!

Fiffe, Michel; Copra #1 (Image Comics). 

Garaizar, Jon X.; Death Projector and Enchanting Stranger #2 (self-published).

The Garden by Lane Yates and Garrett Young (self-published).

Genet, Pris; Penetration of the Skin (Organ Bank).

* Gfrorer, Julia; Vision, Vision vol. 1 and Vision vol. 2 (Thuban Press). 

* gg; Constantly (Koyama Press).

* Happiness Comix #5, edited by Leah Wishnia (Perfectly Acceptable Press). A stunning object housing some stunning comics. I would have expected to hear more about this one.

* Hanselmann, Simon; Bad Gateway, Silk Road (Fantagraphics), Decade, Knife Crime, Megg Mogg & Penguins with Nick Thorburn, WWJ & Sons "Talent Show" with HTMLflowers, Werewolf Jones & Sons #3 with HTMLflowers (self-published). For all the hooplah about it being a turning point for the series, I didn’t find Bad Gateway to be that different from the Megg & Mogg stories that came before. Maybe there was some sort of shift quantity-wise, but the melancholy and pain of these characters has always been the central element of these stories to me. Hanselmann says similarly in his big TCJ interview. (Which frankly is something I actually would have expected a little more hooplah about, and not the good kind. It being in print was probably a big help there.)

Howard The Duck Facsimile Edition #1 by Frank Brunner, Steve Gerber, et al. (Marvel Comics).

* Ito, Junji; Frankenstein: Junji Ito Story Collection, Smashed: Junji Ito Story Collection (Viz Media).

Jo, Hellen; A Bleeding Cut (self-published).

* Kramers Ergot 10, edited by Sammy Harkam (Fantagraphics).

Loup, Celine; The Man Who Came Down the Attic Stairs (Archaia).

Love and Rockets Comics Vol. IV #7 by Gilbert Hernandez and Jaime Hernandez (Fantagraphics).

* Mignolaverse; B.P.R.D.: The Devil You Know #15 by Mike Mignola et al., Hellboy and the BPRD: The Beast of the Vargu by Duncan Fegredo, Mike Mignola, et al., Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: Long Night at Goloski Station by Mike Mignola, Matt Smith, et al. (Dark Horse Comics). The Mignolaverse is over! Well, the story ended, but they’ll continue releasing interstitial material forever possibly, and there’s always the possibility they’ll do something set after the ending… but the main thrust of this story I’ve been reading since I was 13 has ended. The final cycle of stories, “The Devil You Know,” had long been talked about as the final third of the overarching story. It turned out to be much shorter. We can only speculate why that is, and it’s fair to wonder how big of a part behind the scenes scandal bubbling up into the public sphere had to do with it. (Point of interest there--essential Mignolaverse writer John Arcudi’s as-of-now final work on the property, Crimson Lotus, is the only Mignolaverse book I know of not to feature Mignola’s name in the list of authors.) But what we’re left with is something that feels like it’s rotely fulfilling the prophecies of the mythology in a sprint to get to the finish line as quickly as possible. Which was even more funny due to it being released at the same time as Game of Thrones’ conclusion, which similar criticism was leveled at. (But for the record, I’m an ardent Thrones conclusion defender. Please @ me!) But still, it couldn’t completely diminish the power of seeing the ending of a 25 year narrative experienced in real time, and the very final issue had some moving twists (likely long-planned) and an unexpected sequence drawn by Mignola himself.

Nilsen, Anders; Tongues 2 and Tongues 3 (self-published). Maybe gauche to say this publicly (but I think it’s okay because I was wrong), but I had always avoided Nilsen’s work because it looked to me to be kind of… Bright Eyes-y? But I’m a sucker for a lavishly designed comic, so Tongues 3 had me in the palm of its hand the moment I saw it on the shelf. And I was happy to discover that I liked the comic too! Dry ambitious horror? That’s my bread and butter!

Oasis of Hate; Kolekcja (self-published), Parasitus (Sad Biscuit Studio).

Paqaru; Occult Presence (Floating World Comics).

Pope, Richie; The Box We Sit On (self-published). Great comic, the first page is perfect comics.

Price, Erika; Disorder ⅓ (Diskette Press). 

Professor Dark Issue 2 by Chris Anderson and Kang Le (Sonatina Press). 

Roberts, Keiler; Rat Time (Koyama Press).

Saki, Stan; Usagi Yojimbo #4, Usagi Yojimbo #5, Usagi Yojimbo #6 (Dark Horse Comics). Before reading these issues, Usagi Yojimbo was a total blind spot for me. I knew its reputation, but had never taken the plunge. It’s so unassuming it needs a little time to take hold, but people are right about it!

Sakumoto, K; Procyon II (Floating World Comics).

Shaw, Dash; Clue: Candlestick #1 - #3 (IDW). Surprise hit of the whenever-it-came-out. Really fun!

Skelly, Katie; Maids no. 1 and Maids no. 2 (self-published).

The Soccer Mom Killer #2 by Stephen Hines and Nela Vohenska  (self-published). 

Turbitt, Megan; Laughter Birth (self-published).

Vogel, Morgan; Nightcore Energy (Organ Bank).

Weinstein, Lauren; Frontier #17 (Youth in Decline). Instant classic.

* Willumsen, Connor; Bradley of Him (Koyama Press). Willumsen packages his stories up in a complex way, almost like puzzles, that I find super pleasing and rewarding. I’m not sure the complexity adds anything to what he’s saying, but it does get me thinking harder about it.

People talked about Bradley of Him being surreal or opaque. I saw what seemed to me to be some pretty far out interpretations of it in reviews, so I guess they were right, but it honestly seemed pretty straightforward to me. Bradley Cooper is in Las Vegas, training for a role as Lance Armstrong. He hopes to win an Oscar for it, and throughout the book he’s practicing his hypothetical acceptance speech. As far as plot goes, that’s pretty much it! (Other than a few little side quests.) Winning an Oscar represents an ascendency to a new level for Cooper. He negs someone already at that level (Robert DeNiro) via letter, as a jealous act of passive-aggression. He dreams of surpassing DeNiro by winning an Oscar they’re both nominated for. Cooper already considers himself above the common people, the workers and tourists of Las Vegas, as shown by his refusal to acknowledge their existence beyond the bare minimum. But in the end, we’re to infer, he isn’t any better than them--he’s playing the same game of chance they are. In fact, he’s playing a worse one by virtue of its own pretension. This is underscored by Armstrong’s real-life doping scandal--unaddressed in the book, but certainly one of the first things in anyone’s mind when they’re reminded of him.

It’s a book that doesn’t think highly of competition. But then again, neither do I, so maybe I’m just projecting. And I certainly don’t mean to imply I have the thing entirely figured out. One of the things that makes a great puzzle, as far as art goes, is the ability to continue to unfold new pieces of it forever. With that in mind, here are some of my open questions about Bradley of Him; Lance Armstrong is more of a bike guy, why is Cooper running in this? (I guess running is a stronger metaphor.) Who is the strange protector character who pops up a few times (the police show Cooper a photo of him, he appears nude at the swimming hole, and he drops Cooper off at the hotel where he tells the hotel valet he’s on a stakeout), and how does Cooper’s sister and nephew taking care of his home fit into this? (Perhaps they’re meant to show that Cooper isn’t capable of ascending without the support of others.)

X-Men; Giant Size X-Statix by Mike Allred, Peter Milligan, et al., House of X #1 - #6 by Jonathan Hickman, Pepe Larraz, et al., Powers of X #1 - #6 by Jonathan Hickman, R.B. Silva, et al. (Marvel Comics). I had never read a Hickman comic before. House of X and Powers of X was like reading the densest Wikipedia article shoehorning the X-Men into absurdly high-concept sci-fi. And I liked it! But once the regular series branching off the concept came out and they had, like, jokes and shit? Yeeeech, I deboarded immediately. (Although I have been dipping my toes back in the water lately for the X of Swords crossover, which so far has been an improvement.) Also, new X-Statix! Remember when Allred and Milligan fully updated the mutant metaphor for our modern landscape and the mainline X-Men books just stuck to their tired, outdated routine?

Yata, Xiang; Captivity (Paradise Systems).

* Yoshikazu, Ebisu; Pits of Hell (Breakdown Press). This comic blew off the top of my head, and then my head top was like stuck to the ceiling, but then it like sluuurped off the ceiling and fell onto the ground, and then these, like, little dudes came out of the cracks in the floor and started eating caviar out of it, and then

Zerosis Deathscape #3 by Josh Bayer, Trevor Von Eeden, Josh Simmons, Tom Toye, et al. (Floating World Comics). I adore the Toye pages in this.

Stuff that came out in 2019 that I still haven't read yet but I’m sure woulda made the list:

2018

All Time Comics: Blind Justice #2; by Josh Bayer, Al Milgrom, Noah Van Sciver, et al. (Fantagraphics). I thought this was the only issue of the first run of Bayer’s All-Time Comics project that fulfilled its potential. It’s a meandering, id-driven fever dream centering on the line’s best character (or the one most suited to Bayer’s voice anyway) that delivers a unique style of emotionally wrought, grisly action instead of just goofing on the comics of yore.

Antonowicz, Carl; Büer’s Kiss I and II (self-published).

Ben; 100 Life Hacks (self-published).

Booth, Tara; Nocturne (2dcloud).

Buck, Haleigh; I Feel Weird number 3 (Atomic Book Company).

* The Case of the Missing Men by Kris Bertin and Alexander Forbes (Conundrum Press). I’ll adapt a joke I use about my wife and the Netflix show Grace & Frankie to describe how I feel about the Hobtown Mysteries series of books--if they were somehow able to release new ones of these nonstop, I would starve to death in my reading chair.

Chandler, Jon; John’s Worth 4 (Breakdown Press).

Foster Dimino, Sophia; Did You See Me? (ShortBox).

Engraver, Lawrence; Drippin’ (Hollow Press).

* Estrada, Ines; Cherry (Kilgore Books).

Garazier, Jon X.; Enchanting Stranger #1 (self-published). 

Gfrorer, Julia; Good Night Seattle (Thuban Press).

Gordon, Xia, Kindling (2dcloud). Another moving surprise from 2dcloud. I bought 2dcloud’s seasonal lines of comics whenever I could, and as a result would be exposed to lots of formally experimental work the sort of which I otherwise wouldn’t have seen. (In fact, if you dig through these lists you can find me making similar remarks in just about every one.) Once per line or so, a book unlike anything I had seen before would move me in ways I didn’t know comics could. Dan Clowes has a famous quote about comics not being a moving, operatic medium, but Kindling and much of 2dcoud’s other output proves him wrong.

Fiffe, Michel; Bloodstrike #0, Bloodstrike #23, Bloodstrike #24 (Image Comics). I don’t know whether the original Bloodstrike comics were this dense and horrific, but those qualities are what made me love Fiffe’s revival. I also don’t know how intricately these are weaved within the plot of the originals, but I’m willing to bet the answer is extremely, and I almost (almost) want to read the originals to find out.

Hanselmann, Simon; Apartments, Entertainment, Romance (self-published).

Haven, Eric; Compulsive Comics (Fantagraphics). 

* JFK; Townie (self-published). What happened to JFK? Not the president (we all know exactly what went down there), the comics artist who (from my view) popped up online out of nowhere, dropped some of my favorite horror comics of the past few years, and then disappeared a few months later.

Koshchei The Deathless #1 - #6 by Mike Mignola, Ben Stenbeck, et al. (Dark Horse Comics). This was the most authentic feeling Hellboy comic in a long while.

Lando; Crescent Loop (Decadence University Press).

Lannes, Laura; By Monday I’ll Be Floating in the Hudson With the Other Garbage (2dcloud), Halloween 2017 (Diskette Press), John Dear (Retrofit).

Leong, Sloane; Prism Stalker #1 - #5 (Image Comics). 

Love and Rockets Comics Vol. IV #5, Love and Rockets Comics Vol. IV #6 by Gilbert Hernandez and Jaime Hernandez (Fantagraphics). 

Lovers Only #2: Love Triangle, edited by Mickey Zacchilli (Price Tapes/ Youth in Decline).

Musturi, Tommi; Future #2 (Boing Being).

Milburn, Lane; Visualizing (self-published).

Now: The New Comics Anthology #3 and #4, edited by Eric Reynolds (Fantagraphics Books). #3 has an Al Columbia cover, and flipping back through it I remember being struck by the Anne Simon, Roberta Scompars, aand José Ja Ja Ja stories. In #4 it was the Tommi Parsh and Rebecca W. Kirby pieces.

Pallasvuo, Jaakko; Retreat (2dcloud). Another delightful 2dcloud surprise! 

She Could Fly #1 - #4, by Christopher Cantwell, Martin Morazzo, et al. (Dark Horse Comics) 

Shintaro, Kago; Day of the Flying Head #4 (Hollow Press).

Skin Deep by Gretchen Felker-Martin and Garett Young (self-published).

Snotgirl #9 and #10 by Leslie Hung, Bryan Lee O’Malley, et al. (Image Comics). I like Snotgirl because it’s been running for a few years now and it’s never settled on an identity. It flirts with being a Sex in the City-style romp and a murder mystery, bobing and weaving between both but never commiting to either. After keeping that up for a while it was fun, in this two issue “Weekend” storyline, to get another identity thrown into the mix--supernatural thriller.

The Soccer Mom Killer #1 by Stephen Hines and Nela Vohenska (self-published). A true outlaw throwback released in the year 2018. I love the artwork.

Stechschulte, Connor; Generous Bosom 3 (Breakdown Press). 

Tawaraya, Tetsunori; Dimensional Flats, Grayworld (Hollow Press).

Turbitt, Meghan; Pregnant & Fired (self-published).

* Young, Garrett; Ganymede #1 - #8 (self-published). A huge discovery for me this year. More than anyone else, Garrett Young is out there fighting for my artistic values. I salute him.

* Zacchilli, Mickey; Space Academy 123 (Koyama Press). Pure delight.

Things I bought in 2018 that I suspect I’ll enjoy but I *still* haven’t read:

Things that came out in 2017 that I didn’t read until 2018 but enjoyed:

I made a big creative decision recently—the graphic novel I was working on is going to be a video game instead. Classic point and click adventure. I’ll post about it here sometimes, but follow (at)sesarigame on Twitter if you want to see everything. A major part of this decision was practicality. At this point in my life, I can imagine maybe actually finishing a video game. A 100+ page graphic novel is out of the question. Less cynically, these types of games have been a major lifelong love of mine. It somehow never occurred to me until now to try and make one. I looked into it and not only does it seem like I could handle it, but it seems like a good fit for me. And they have a lot of overlap with comics—they’re heavily reliant on image and text, and the audience (more or less) controls the pace. I’m really excited about this, it just keeps feeling more right. Wish me luck, and I hope you’ll join me! #gamedev #pixelart https://www.instagram.com/p/CD2qy0EjB1V/?igshid=g6mpv55ji3xm

Continuing our tour of my biggest crushes in comics, DY DY from @mfiffe ‘s #COPRAcomic https://www.instagram.com/p/CAJvlHEDBt3/?igshid=6eok1cdie9yt

Been reading Mat Brinkman for the first time. A couple of the recent @hollow_press rereleases, plus the TCJ Fort Thunder issue. This is a member of the Crud Club from Teratoid Heights. Loving these comics, but wish I could have read them when they came out and had my mind blown extra hard. Sounds like there had never been anything like this before. #matbrinkman #fortthunder Also, if you see me using color, I’m just futzing around with Photoshop apps on my phone. I always experiment for like an hour and then just go with whatever I did in the first 20 seconds. https://www.instagram.com/p/B50-KzLg3lM/?igshid=1j8lehfk5jmkh

@williamcardini said I should draw a bird monster https://www.instagram.com/p/B0zZ7PYDlDF/?igshid=1gqldmya96n9e

My piece “Toddy,” currently on display (and for sale!) at @atomicbooks for a few more days, as part of their BIG little Art Show. https://www.instagram.com/p/Bx7oj54AZYk/?igshid=kgcuesup1b05

My favorite comics of 2017

Keeping with my new tradition of posting this list super late, here, on the last day of 2018, is my best comics of 2017 list. I can offer excuses -- my wife and I remodeled our house and welcomed our first child into the world this year, and I’m also unfailingly lazy -- but 2017 was also a killer year for comics, making this a bit larger of an undertaking than usual. Both Koyama Press and co-publishers Retrofit Comics and Big Planet Comics had absolutely stacked lineups. You’ll see them listed as publisher for many entries below.

I always struggle with how to order this list. I got serious about organizing my comics collection in 2018, and am running into the same problem. There, I’m thinking of dividing it into two -- a single-author section organized by author name (which ends up being mostly minicomics and graphic novels), and a multiple-author section organized by title (which ends up being mostly traditional-sized comics). Here, I’m essentially doing that same thing, but mixing them together; some entries are by title, and some author name.

Comics I especially enjoyed are marked with an *.

Allison, Matthew; Cankor: Calamity of Challenge #2 and #3 (self-published).

Berserker 1, edited by edited by Tom Oldham and Jamie Sutcliffe (Breakdown Press). There was a lot of anticipation and very specific expectations placed on this book ahead of its release, but no one seemed to walk away from the finished product satisfied. But it’s got a killer cover, great production design, and strips by some of the best cartoonists going. I hope Breakdown does another one.

* Booth, Tara; How to be Alive (Retrofit Comics & Big Planet Comics). One of the funniest books I’ve ever read. Booth’s drawings are a riot to look at, that the gags are also great is pure gravy. About as big as crossover hits get in my house. (I.e., my wife also loved it.)

Cardini, William; Tales From the Hyperverse (Retrofit Comics and Big Planet Comics). Cardini’s sci-fi world is made bigger and more engaging by the rapid-fire pace of this short story collection. His wild experimentation with color is always an inspiration.

Corben, Richard; Shadows on the Grave #1 - #8 (Dark Horse Comics). Not my favorite of Corben’s late-period Dark Horse horror books, but there’s plenty to enjoy. I was stunned by the sheer efficiency of the storytelling -- there are entire stories told with a single image and a few word balloons. A lot of these books sport great covers, issue #1 here, seen at the link for this entry, is one of the best.

Darrow, Geoff; The Shaolin Cowboy: Who’ll Stop the Reign? #1 - #4 with Dave Stewart (Dark Horse Comics). I was so bowled over by the experience of buying Shemp Buffet monthly that I initially scoffed at Cowboy’s return to more traditional narrative, but it turned out to be no less wild and no loss at all.

Davis, Eleanor; Libby’s Dad (Retrofit Comics & Big Planet Comics) and You & a Bike & a Road (Koyama Press). You & a Bike & a Road does something that’s often attempted and rarely successful -- it beats the audience down so it can then lift them up higher. Its success is due in no small part from its origin as a real-life journal. The visceral and emotional pain Davis feels on her journey is sincerely felt, and the lack of cynicism the storytelling choices are made with allow the reader to feel it whole cloth. And listen; it certainly doesn’t hurt that Davis is an amazing narrative storyteller besides -- Libby’s Dad is no less affecting.

DeForge, Michael; mini kuš! #43 'Meat Locker' (kuš!). I sleep on DeForge. I take him for granted. I feel like I’m not the only one? I see some excitement when his books come out, but no discussion. Blame it on the high volume and opaque nature of his work, the dearth of comics reviewers, and me, obviously. Also obviously, whenever something of his does find its way to my hands, I’m never sorry.

Estrada, Inés; Alienation #3 - #6 (self-published). The bundled version of this series, seen at the link for this entry, has the coolest book packaging I’ve ever seen in my life.

Expansion by Matt Sheean and Malachi Ward (AdHouse Books). I didn’t like this nearly as much as this same team’s previous Ancestor (due no doubt to its earlier and improvised creation), but damn, what a cover.

* Forsman, Chuck; Slasher #1 - #4 (Floating World Comics). I’d say the majority of my interest in Forsman’s work is in seeing how he presents his it and steers his career -- he’s among the best there is at that. Slasher is his first work I strongly connected with. It digs deep and gets wilder and wilder.

Ferrick, Margot; Yours (2dcloud). I’m a simpleton, so I was surprised at how deeply I was able to be moved by something this abstract. As always, grabbing 2dcloud’s whole line on Kickstarter expands my horizons and makes me a better reader.

Foster-Dimino, Sophia; Sex Fantasy (Koyama Press). I’ve actually only read the minis of this. This collection has the one I’m missing, plus some new material, but I love Sex Fantasy. It’s like a perpetual motion machine for thought -- you can just think about it forever.

Fricas, Katie; Art Fan (self-published). One of those things you dream of happening at a show -- picked this up at MICE not knowing anything about it, and was delighted by the artwork and knocked out by the “reviews of trippy art events”; particularly the first, about Duke Riley’s Fly by Night.

* Friebert, Noel; WEIRD6 (self-published), SPINE: I’ll Still Watch (Bred Press), Old Ground (Koyama Press). Sometimes when I have a fever, I can’t break loose of a single, circular thought -- I have the same thought over and over, only to realize once the fever’s broken that it was barely coherent. Friebert’s newer, decompressed work is like that. You turn page after page, and nothing happens. It’s the same characters still doing and saying the same things, again and again. You turn the pages faster and faster, almost in a panic, hoping to break the cycle and resolve the unease before you. But it’s no use.

* gg; I’m Not Here (Koyama Press), Valley (kuš!). I’m Not Here is one of a few books I recommended to people who were enjoying season 3 of Twin Peaks at the time. It doesn’t convey information so much as emotion, and rewards as much thought as you want to put into it.

* Hankiewicz, John; Education (Fantagraphics Books). I loved this so much I only read a few pages a night to make it last. Michael DeForge once called Noel Freibert an “astronaut” -- that applies to Hankiewicz also. No one’s ever done anything like this before, and if we didn’t have Hankiewicz I don’t think anyone ever would. Bringing poetry and modern dance (!!) into the language of comics, this was another book I recommended to watchers of season 3 of Twin Peaks -- you don’t understand the story by connecting facts, you understand it by connecting emotions.

* Hanselmann, Simon; Portrait, XMP-165 (self-published). XMP-165 was the first big payoff of the longform nature of Megg and Mogg, and it destroyed me. Also released this year was Doujinshi, Cold Cube Press’ gorgeous re-release of a Japanese Megg and Mogg fan comic.

Harkam, Sammy; Crickets #6 (The Commonwealth Comics Company). People talk about how good this book is, and I agree, but I’m not sure I could tell you why.

Haven, Eric; Vague Tales (Fantagraphics Books).

Hernandez, Gilbert and Jaime ; Love & Rockets Vol. IV #2, #3 (Fantagraphics). I made the terrible error after Love Bunglers to trade wait Locas, and for whatever reason they haven’t released one since. So I was way behind when this started coming out, but I bought and read it anyway. I initially found the story to be light, but I eventually realized I had a free ComiXology trial and caught up. It’s as great as ever.

Ito, Junji; Dissolving Classroom (Vertical, Inc.), Shiver: Junji Ito Selected Stories, and Tomie: Complete Deluxe Edition (Viz Media). Tomie may have come out in 2016 actually? I describe it to people as being about a beautiful woman who stands around until some total lech of a man inevitably murders her, then she comes back and annihilates him in the most unpleasant manner possible. Repeat ad infinitum. I don’t think the text 100% supports my reading, but that’s what it means to me.

Landry, Tyler; Shit and Piss (Retrofit Comics). The ephemeral, disjointed nature the single issue format served this story better, but it’s still extremely rad.

Loup, Celine; The Man Who Came Down the Attic Stairs (self-published).

Marcus, Ben; Crisis Zone 3rd Edition (Bred Press).

Mignolaverse and John Arcudi; Dead Inside #3 by Arcudi, Toni Fejzula, and Andre May, Lobster Johnson: The Pirate’s Ghost #1 - #3 by Arcudi and Tonci Zonjic, Hellboy: Into the Silent Sea by Gary Gianni, Mike Mignola, and Dave Stewart (Dark Horse Comics). Ignoring a few years in college when I was a lapsed comics reader, I’ve bought every Mignolaverse comic since I was about 13. That loyalty has slowly eroded over the last half decade about. I’m not alone in thinking the Arcudi-Davis run is one of the greatest of all time, and that the books started to go downhill after Guy Davis left. Beyond the departure of Davis, there are a few reasons for that, in my view.

First was the decision soon after to expand the line’s offerings. Doubling the line’s output and bringing in (inevitably) inferior creative teams was a no-win proposition for readers. Who wants more of something not as good?

Second, I think that Arcudi, a great writer, has shifted his focus from tightly-plotted five issue arcs to series-spanning character arcs. While I’m guessing this reads great in big chunks, it doesn’t spread out month to month, some months out of the year. I’m looking forward to a big re-read of everything after B.P.R.D. wraps in a few months, to see if this theory holds. Lobster Johnson: The Pirate’s Ghost came close to standing on its own, but was still rife with moments that I can only assume were big character payoffs because I didn’t remember enough to know. (Especially cool covers by Zonjic on these issues.) However, the non-Mignolaverse title Dead Inside offered the type of visceral, plot-based payoff his B.P.R.D. run with Davis hooked me with. I hadn’t been this thrilled by an Arcudi book since Killing Ground.

But third, and worst of all, has been the addition of writer Chris Roberson, whose books read like updates to the Mignolaverse Wiki. (The Visitor: How and Why He Stayed was okay, but pretty much solely due to Paul Grist’s fun art and layouts.)

I’m staying aboard the main B.P.R.D. book as it races to the finish line, and will continue to buy anything Arcudi writes, which seems to be mostly these Lobster Johnson comics. (Although even that’s looking increasingly, and sadly, unlikely to continue: https://twitter.com/ArcudiJohn/status/1075086925436874753) And I’ll certainly buy any more of these very sporadically-released Hellboy OGNs, like Into the Silent Sea, they decide to release -- the only real non-Mignola drawn Hellboy books anymore.

* Milburn, Lane; CORRIDORS (self-published). Sits comfortably next to Inflated Head Zone by Zach Hazard Vaupen, one of my favorite comics. They both forsake straightforward narrative in favor of theme-driven emotional impressionism, and do it with horror. This is catnip to me, and something I aspire to (although I’m far too boring to achieve it).

* Mirror Mirror II, edited by Sean T. Collins and Julia Gfrörer (2dcloud).

Now: The New Comics Anthology #1, edited by Eric Reynolds (Fantagraphics Books).

* Providence #12 by Jacen Burrows, Juan Rodriguez, and Alan Moore (Avatar Press). It came out months after, but it’s a safe bet Moore wrote this before Trump got elected, right? A more accurate depiction of the shell-shock of being thrust into a post-facts world I haven’t seen.

Roberts, Keiler; Sunburning (Koyama Press). Another big crossover hit in my house.

* Shiga, Jason; Demon Volumes 2, 3, and 4 (First Second). Demon became a book I wouldn’t stop showing to anyone who would listen. Like Gina Wynbrandt’s Someone Please Have Sex With Me, its hook transcends the normal comics reading audience -- you can show it to anyone and they get it right away. Specifically I would show people this amazing video https://youtu.be/NRxCTeM5pyU, which would clue them into what Shiga does enough to get them to read Demon. Demon has a story, but it’s more about rules -- establishing them and playfully subverting them with a level of inventiveness that regularly leaves you in awe.

* Terrell, Jake; Extended Play (2dcloud). This delightful book took me completely by surprise, an experience made possible by 2dcloud’s subscription model.

Tomasso, Rich; She Wolf: Black Baptism #1 - #4, Spy Seal: The Corten-Steel Phoenix #1 - #4 (Image Comics). The end of this second series of She Wolf approached the same hostile disregard for what came before as the end of Tomasso’s previous series, Dark Corridor. But where Dark Corridor acted on that impulse by simply burning it all down, She Wolf has enough respect at least to replace what came before by pivoting into a completely different comic. The freedom this affords the plot to dart in unpredictable directions is exhilarating. And it’s fun and beautifully laid out and designed, as always with Tomasso.

Tran, Thu; Dust Pam (Peow). Gorgeous!

Vaupen, Zach Hazard; Combed Clap of Thunder (Retrofit Comics and Big Planet Comics).

* Willumsen, Connor; Anti-Gone (Koyama Press). The part where the protagonists drive their boat past a window with a dog in it rewired my comics-making brain forever. This was another comic I only read a few pages of a night to make it last longer, and also recommended to friends of mine who were enjoying season three of Twin Peaks -- the plot is obfuscated in a similar way.

Yanow, Sophie; What is a Glacier? (Retrofit Comics and Big Planet Comics).

Yokoyama, Yuichi; Iceland (Retrofit Comics). Another comic I recommended to Twin Peaks season three fans. Similar to the residents of the Red Room, the characters seem truly of another world, their motivations and actions incomprehensible to us.