Thursday, January 22, 2009

Fifth roundup of best comics and graphic novels of 2008 lists

I strongly suspect that this is just about it. There are undoubtedly a few lists yet to come--like mine!--and I'll publish a final list of sources when the final meta-list is tallied. But I'm guessing that's fewer than 10 lists we're talking about.

Remember, if you know of a list not included below, please email me or leave a comment pointing me in the right direction. And please, don't rush getting your lists in on my account. I wouldn't want anyone to do this in this in the first place, but it's totally unnecessary besides. The Comics Journal won't publish their best of 2008 issue until February (I think), and I won't be doing one anytime soon either. I've got about 8-10 books I want to consider that haven't come in the mail yet. Among them: Kramers Ergot 7. Anyone know what's going on with Amazon's distribution of this book?

Criteria for inclusion in the Meta-List:

-list must contain no fewer than five items and no more than fifty
-list must be a general best-of list, not a series of categorical awards like "best superhero book," "best children's book," etc.
-list must not be limited to superhero comics, manga, major publishers, etc.
-I don't include votes for things like "everything Warren Ellis wrote in 2008"
-when a list includes a vote for a title which came out in a year prior to 2008, I usually tally everything like I normally would; it's rare that there are enough votes for an out-of-date item for it to crack the top 100
-no overt sleaziness (like voting for your own work; will be determined on a case-by-case basis)

New lists are in green.

GENERAL INTEREST LISTS
:


Amazon

Contra Costa Times/Inside Bay Area

Daily Vanguard (Portland State University)

New York Magazine

OC Weekly (OC Weekly is not the periodical for me--anyone other than my brother likely to get that joke?)

Oklahoman: Part 1 (graphic novels); Part 2 (periodicals)

Oregonian

Patriot News/Chris Mautner (As per Chris' request, I'm using this instead of his Robot 6 list.)

Playback STL: Part 1 (graphic novels); Part 2 (periodicals)

Publishers Weekly

USA Today

Village Voice (RC Baker)

Village Voice
(a different list, this one by Richard Gehr; notable for stretching the definition of "comics" to include an animated film)

Washington Post


COMICS-FOCUSED LISTS:

Bacardi, Johnny

Badman, Derik

Bilus, Sandy

Borden, Carol

Brady, Matthew

Callahan, Timothy: Part one (collected editions); Part two (original material 11-20); Part three (original material 1-10)

Cederlund, Scott


Cass, Evan Harrison

Collins, Sean


Cronin, Brian


Doane, Alan David

Gordon, Joe

Graphic Novel Reporter

Gravett, Paul

Harbin, Dustin

Heer, Jeet

Hickey, Andrew

Horsten, Toon

Jog

Largehearted Boy
(not sure if he always goes by Guided By Voices song titles, or if there's a more conventional name I could put in this place)

Lockefeer, Wim

Lorah, Michael

Meehan, Bram

Mozzocco, J. Caleb


Neal, Andrew

Ostrander, Ben

Paggi, David

Robot 6 folks (Not all will count; see criteria above. BTW, since I haven't said it yet, welcome back, dudes.

Sobel, Marc

Steinke, Aron Nels

Stone, Tucker: Part 1; Part 2

Tomio, Jay

Wolk, Douglas (cross-reference with his list of single issues here)


COMICS PROFESSIONALS:

Kaczynski, Tom

Reynolds, Eric

Santoro, Frank


Smith, Jeff

Soto, Zack

Various (not all will be used, as some fail to meet the standards enumerated above; also, this includes what seems like the 217th Dan Goldman list I've seen, and, if my memory is holding up, there's less overlap than you might expect among the lists)


QUESTIONABLE/INCOMPLETE:

Amazon.jp (The Japanese branch of Amazon's best comics and "light novels." Interesting, but I'm not sure what to do with it since much (most?) of this is not available in English yet, and the light novels are definitely not comics. On the other hand, those aren't necessarily good reasons to exclude this list. Any thoughts?)

Boyd, Robert (Boyd admits this is a "best of things I read this year, but which were not necessarily published in 2008." But most of this list does consist of 2008 releases, so I'll almost certainly count it when the time comes. UPDATED: I've included it.)

Drawn!, part one (Matt Forsythe) (This contains one comic which is definitely not 2008 (Tekkon Kinkreet) and one which is either a 2007 entry if you consider it a book or a 2008 entry if you consider it a webcomic (Fart Party). My Brain is Hanging Upside Down and Cul de Sac are definite 2008 comic releases. I'm not sure what you would consider the Nicholas series. The rest are things which not everyone would agree are comics. My inclination is to count this list anyway, since (a) the non-comics stuff won't accumulate enough other votes to place, and (b) I'll disqualify any non-2008 titles when I finalize the meta-list. Do note that I'm not trying to denigrate the list because it doesn't fit into this project; I like seeing unconventional lists, and it's not like Drawn! is a comics-only blog. UPDATE: I have included this list.)

Drawn, part two (John Martz) (See comments above, except that this list a greater number of 2008 titles that most would classify as unambiguously comics. UPDATE: I have included this list.)

The Independent (Seems to have an awful lot of books from before 2008--Sleepwalk? Embroideries?--which might reflect new British editions, but I'm skeptical. Comics and Sequential Art seriously never came out in the UK before 2008? Just seems like a lazy list.)

Nicholson, Brian (I don't have any problem with it, but Brian suggests he doesn't "read enough to be considered a serious critic." I'm inclined to include it, unless Brian asks me not to.)

St. Louis Today (Includes one from 2007, which reduces the list down to a total of four, below the minimum threshold. I'll probably include it in the final tally, and ignore the votes for Laika. UPDATE: I've included it.)

Douglas Wolk (It's a gift guide, not a best-of list)

WILL NOT USE:

Clough, Rob (Too many entries--lumping Huizenga's work together pushes it over 50. Sorry, Rob. Good list, though.)

Comic Book Resources (too many entries; on a qualitative level, I do share Marc-Oliver Frisch's bemusement over the whole thing, but I certainly would have counted it, had it been slightly less gargantuan)

Comics Should Be Good/Danielle Leigh Readers' Choice (too short, categorical, and delimited to manga)

DCBS blog (self-described as "a semi-random list")

Ferraro, Dave (Delimited to superheroes; Ferraro plans to make an overall best-of list which will include some of these titles. Didn't know that Echo was a sci-fi/fantasy comic.)

Kethylia (delimited to manga)

NPR: Part one (graphic novels) and Part two (superhero books) (UPDATED: I decided not to use it after all. It's unclear if the superhero books are equal to the non-superhero books as some kind of separate but equal thing, or if this is just laziness (ie, not taking the time to determine if the best superhero books of 2008 do, in fact, stand up to the best non-superhero books), or pandering. If the graphic novel list was 10 items long, would any of the superhero books appear on it? I don't know, so I'm not counting this.)

Pop Culture Shock (delimited to manga)

Publishers Weekly (Kai Ming Cha) (delimited to manga)

School Library Journal (I think this is limited to comics for kids. If that isn't the case, please let me know and I'll include it in the project.)

Sequential Tart (Two lists, but neither meets the minimum number of entries for inclusion.)

Smith, Shannon (specifically delimited to mini-comics and web comics; well worth your time, though)

Various cartoonists at Forbidden Planet (Forbidden Planet is conducting a series of interviews with cartoonists, asking for a top three list from each. This is below the minimum threshold for this project, but you should check out this link, which should take you to all of the interviews conducted so far. Bryan Talbot is the most prominent interviewee to date.)

Wizard (Not the official list, at least not yet. This is a categorical awards list, and thus ineligible. What a strange list--a bunch of superhero comics, plus Kramers Ergot 7.)

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Marvel: the penis outside your window

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN: Everyone's favorite penis that can't catch a break is really in for it now: a date with Mary Jane, a battle with the Vulture, and Aunt May on her deathbed in the hospital. Will Peter Parker's penis make a stunning decision? Spider-Man's penis no more! Note to retailers: this issue will ship with a special 1 in 10 variant cover depicting the historic meeting between Spider-Man's penis and Barack Obama's penis.

IRON MAN: Part one of the yearlong epic PENIS WARS. It's Tony Stark's darkest secret: when those Red Chinese shot him full of shrapnel, they took out his penis in the process. For years, Stark has pleasured a wide array of beautiful women with a realistic prosthetic, code-named Iron Penis. But now Iron Penis has maybe fallen into potentially wrong hands, and could theoretically be used for evil. The Penis Wars have begun! Guest starring the ghost of Captain America.

THOR: Tricked by Loki, Thor is forced to sacrifice his testicles to save Midgard. Faced with this empty scrotum, Lady Sif weeps for days. Nourished by her tears, two enchanted holly berries grow in the place of the missing testicles. Tragically, Baldur has no choice but to eat these poisonous berries (long story), and his death signals the beginning of Ragnarok. Lo, what hath thou wrought, Thor's penis?

SILVER SURFER: For the past 20 years, the greatest mystery of the Marvel Universe has been: where does the Silver Surfer keep his penis? He used to wear silver underwear, but now he apparently doesn't. Why? To find the answer, the Silver Surfer take his penis to the far ends of the universe to convene with the Elder Phalli of the Marvel Universe. Does Norrin Radd dare gaze upon the fearsome penis of the mighty Galactus?

THE THING: For generations, fans have wondered about the Thing's penis. Is it orange? Is it made out of rocks? What they've never considered, however, is that the Thing is, you know, Jewish. You know. What happens when Ben Grimm decides he wants to restore his foreskin? And what key does Paste Pot Pete hold to this phallolithic foreskin reclamation process?

THE VISION: Why do female robots (to the extent that such a term is meaningful for artificial life) always have breasts, but male robots only rarely have penises? The Vision wants to know, and he's going to kill as many Hydra agents as it takes until he gets some answers. But he won't know the real truth until he gets a look at Wonder-Man's penis, which is being held hostage by Baron von Strucker himself. Can these two "brothers" put aside their differences long enough to rescue the kidnapped genitalia?

WOLVERINE: Now that his memory is back, Wolverine is finally starting to remember all the unconventional places his penis has been. But one memory still haunts him: that magical winter he spent with a Sasquatch during the Klondike gold rush. Logan never would have left that musky cave had he not sworn a blood oath of loyalty to Grover Cleveland. Now Wolverine has heard rumors that he left that Sasquatch with more than just memories. And if that mutant-Sasquatch hybrid can't be convinced to use his powers for good, what hope does mankind have?

THE HULK: You've probably always assumed the Hulk's penis was green (or gray or red, as the case may be). You were wrong, and you'll be shocked to learn why the color of the Hulk's penis will determine the fate of Atlantis! Can the fury of the Hulk's penis stand up to the graceful power of Namor's penis, which can breathe underwater and has little wings attached to it?

Monday, January 19, 2009

Re: This weekend's sports events

NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Also, what's up with Shogun Rua? Is it inadequate recovery from injuries, American drug testing, a bad camp, poor work ethic, or what?

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

At last, MMA comics

It's taken a while, but finally the two of the great concerns of this blog (and blogger) have come together: MMA and comics. Yes, there is that MMA manga you occasionally see posted on blogs or message boards, but that's not available in North America, plus it appears to be kind of outdated (been a long time since Mirko Cro Cop was a serious heavyweight threat) and maybe not-good. What I've really been wanting is fictional (or quasi-fictional) MMA comics. I got two of them in 2008.

The most MMA-centric of the two is the second issue of Jeffrey Brown's Sulk (preview here). Sulk is, as I understand it, sort of like Brown's catch-all title for his non-autobiographical work, or at least the stuff which is a bit more genre-ish. Top Shelf's website describes it as "a showcase for a variety of Jeffrey Brown's all-new experimental comics," but the first two issues aren't exactly what I picture when I think "avant garde comics." The first issue (preview) marks the return of Brown's Bighead character, a kind of gentle superhero parody. It's some of my favorite work by Brown to date, charming, funny, and surprisingly inventive. It's also a good showcase for Brown's sketchy line and rubbery figures, highlighting the silliness of superheroes like Cyclotopus and the Brit.

It's a very cute comic, which is not usually my thing, and I have to say that I've read enough superhero parodies for multiple lifetimes. But Brown is never cloyingly cute; the humor always comes first. More importantly, he's well-attuned to the conventions and rhythms of superhero comics, and thus better equipped to exploit them. His gags are frequently surprising and successful. Bighead encounters "The Author" in one story, much in same way that Animal Man met Grant Morrison. Rather than lecturing him on the nature of fiction and creation, however, the Author's instead torments Bighead by summoning an army of 7-year-olds to follow him around and ask him to save the world. In another story, Bighead fights a clone (?) of himself, summoned by the police angry with Bighead for breaking up an undercover operation to arrest drug addicts (you know, rather than drug dealers). The fight ends with a caption declaring Bighead the winner, but not specifying which Bighead won.

Sulk #1 is a comic with potentially very wide appeal. It's certainly better than most superhero parodies, partly because Brown sends up the tropes of superhero comics/cartoons/etc. rather than specific characters or stories. In other words, there's no Batman analogue here. However, there is a story about Bighead's heroic death and subsequent resurrection. It's not absolutely essential stuff, but it's the sort of thing that many current and former superhero readers will enjoy.

I'm a little less certain what Brown's goals are in the second issue, devoted entirety to depicting a fight between two mixed martial artists. There are a lot of jokes that only mixed martial arts fans will get. Sulk #2 is loaded with thinly disguised references to real-life MMA personalities. "Jesse Rouge" seems like a pretty clear reference to UFC color commentator Joe Rogan. Even more obvious is his partner "Rass Buten," whose name inverts the consonants in Bas Rutten's name (and otherwise bears little resemblance to the Dutch fighter/broadcaster). One of the two fighters is named (Haruki) Rakasabu, an anagram for legendary Japanese fighter (Kazushi) Sakuraba. The other fighter, Eldark Garprub, is the hardest to place. I'm assuming Brown is nodding toward Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, based on the cadential and alphabetical similarities of the names (assuming you remove the "Quinton" and concentrate on "Rampage" and "Jackson").

The other tip-off of
Garprub's identity is his frequent invocations of God. The real-life Quinton Jackson underwent a spiritual rebirth a few years ago (one which may have contributed to his reckless driving arrest last year--he was fasting at the time). As for Raksabu, his feud with Garprub originates from a vicious KO of the latter's training partner. This could be an allusion to Tito Ortiz' feud with Ken Shamrock and the Lion's Den, but it's probably more like a reference to Sakuraba's string of victories against members of the Gracie family (earning him the nickname "The Gracie Hunter").

Can you enjoy Sulk #2 without getting these references? Absolutely. Besides, I think the names are less important as references to specific fighters and more important as signifiers of different approaches to MMA. Rakasabu seems to represent a more traditional MMA approach to fighting, relying on technique and determination rather than size and athleticism (Rakasabu is outweighed by about 20 pounds, a huge disadvantage in modern MMA). Eldark Garprub seems to represent the opposite approach.

Moreover, there are cultural associations with each approach that you could reductively assign to Japan and the United States, respectively. If you were to try to determine the essence of American MMA (not that I'd recommend such a thing, but just play along for a moment), you'd probably look towards amateur wrestling. Technique is obviously important in wrestling, but raw athleticism is also crucial, and can easily overwhelm experience and skills. What's more, amateur wrestlers tend to cut weight in order to press size advantages. (For those unfamiliar with weight cutting, it goes something like this: (1) dehydrate in a sauna or rubber suit, possibly while exercising; (2) sweat off a few pounds; (3) weigh in; (4) rehydrate and gain back the weight over the next day or two; (5) come in to fight up to 20 pounds heavier than you were at the weigh-in.) Japanese fighters have a reputation for being reluctant to cut weight or even diet down to a more advantageous weight class. As a result, they have tended to be a fair bit smaller than opponents from other countries, particularly the United States. Sakuraba, for instance, basically ruined his career by fighting and losing badly to men much larger than him. Not that it was entirely his idea, but that's another story.

The size differential question also has a historical component. In the earliest MMA competitions, there were no weight classes; Royce Gracie frequently fought men who substantially outweighed him. Again, this is tied into the idea of traditional martial arts, which stipulates that a fighter with superior skill should be able to beat a less skilled, bigger man. In Sulk #2, Rakasabu has almost twice as many fights as Garprub, and he's nine years older. So in addition to a cultural clash, Brown seems to be establishing a generational clash.

Unlike the references to the specific careers of Quinton Jackson and Kazushi Sakuraba, you probably do need to figure out at least some of this stuff. Fortunately, Brown makes this easy enough that anyone can make out the broad strokes. The weight difference is one clue. The tale of the tape provides another: among his "likes," Rakasabu lists "mind games" and "subtlety." Garprub cites "power (and displays of power)." It's pretty clear that the story of the fight will be wily old technician vs. young powerhouse.

Having said that, Brown complicates this story in his depiction of the actual fight. Brown takes us inside the head of each fighter, revealing their thought process as they plan their actions. Rather than blindly rushing in, hoping to overwhelm Rakasabu with his power, Garprub considers the situation and looks for openings. He's as strategic a fighter as Rakasabu, who, for his part, has to rely on both power and strategy in order to survive against his much larger opponent.

In a sense, then, Brown is offering an alternative to the rather tired trope of the brainless big lug vs. the crafty, smaller man. That makes the comic more realistic, certainly, and it also does quite a bit to promote the sport of mixed martial arts as more than mere brutality. Which is good, but something I kind of take for granted as a fan of MMA; I know that elite fighters have to be able to make lightning quick decisions, and that one misstep can end a fight suddenly. I know that the mythical "cage fighter" (who looks a lot like this) can't come in swinging wildly and expect to last more than a minute against a skilled opponent. I know these aren't bar fights. But other people don't know this, and Sulk #2 might educate them on these points.

I do appreciate the subtle way that Brown undermines the brains vs. brawn argument. And the art is very nice, marked by dynamic compositions and moody shading. I do think it falls a bit short of epic, though; one doesn't feel that Rakasabu is in danger of anything more than losing the fight. Compare this to an extended fight scene from your favorite boys' manga. Or hell, not even necessarily a fight scene--any competition will do, whether it involves cooking or chess or whatever. Brown never really establishes a "oh, shit, what next?" factor. To be fair, he probably would have needed double the pages to do that. Brown does build up tension and releases it with depictions of violence, but he doesn't do it on a scale which would make this fight truly memorable.

This is not to say that such an approach is the only way to portray a fight, but Brown doesn't leave himself a lot of alternatives. He shows us almost nothing about these characters other than their fighting styles, so it's not like we have any emotional investment in who wins or loses the fight. It's a good, realistic (definitely photo referenced, and I mean that as a compliment), depiction of MMA, probably not any less dramatic than a real-life fight. But as a work of fiction, Brown seems to be working in almost a minor key.

Sulk #2 is a good book, certainly entertaining and worthy of your time. It's probably best for those interested in MMA, but not especially well-versed in its intricacies. I know some hardcore fans of both MMA and comics who would be delighted in seeing their favorite sport translated to comics, and others who would question its value when real fights with real people are easily available. I'm not sure how those with no interest in MMA would judge Sulk #2. It doesn't really succeed as a snapshot of a foreign world, because its scope is limited to the fight itself. Aside from a very brief epilogue, it's exactly like watching a fight on TV, right down to the segment where fighters talk trash at each other. You can almost hear the operatic gladiator music.

In a totally different style is Yusaku Hanakuma's Tokyo Zombie, which begins with factory employees grappling at work. Mitsuo is instructing protagonist Fujio on how to break a body triangle when a co-worker intrudes into their makeshift ring without taking his shoes off. Then he suggests that rolling around on the floor together might indicate something about the pair's sexual orientation (an insinuation MMA fans have heard time and time again, even from some fighters). Fujio responds by killing the naysayer with a baseball bat to the back of the head. The pair then drive to Dark Fuji, a mountain made of garbage where quite a few corpses have been dumped. Having done their work ("Our code says we gotta bury him with his toupee on"), they drive away, unaware that all the corpses have mysteriously returned to life. Fujio's old gym teacher, on hand to bury a student who he punished too vigorously, finds out the hard way (PUN INTENDED!) not to accept oral sex from zombies.

As they become aware that zombies have overwhelmed the town, Fujio and Mitsuo try to escape. Mitsuo seemingly dies in the process, his final words an instruction to Fujio to seek out further training in Russia (presumably with Fedor Emilianenko--Yusaka Hanuakuma is clearly a serious MMA fan). Believe it or not, it's only at this point where I feel comfortable saying "now the book gets weird." We jump five years into the future, where wealthy survivors have created a walled city to protect themselves from the zombies. The poor work as slaves; dissidents are forced outside the walls to fend for themselves. The pastime of choice for the wealthy is watching fights between humans and zombies. Fujio, as you may have guessed, has taken up work as a professional zombie fighter.

Okay, so far so good; the in-jokes about MMA aside, this is the sort of thing anyone can enjoy. But at this point, Hanakuma turns Tokyo Zombie into a commentary upon the Japanese fight industry. Seriously, you will not fully appreciate everything which happens from this point forward if you don't have some knowledge of Japanese MMA--not just MMA in general, but MMA as it is in Japan. Fujio is shocked to learn that the most popular fighter of zombies (Gaira) only fights in works, not shoots; in other words, he's more pro wrestler than mixed martial artist. The pits regular humans dress as zombies against Gaira, who, assured of victory, seeks to entertain rather than survive. When Fujio expresses dismay at this, the promoter chides him: "You need to stop and think about what the goddamn point of zombie fight really is."

The crowd loves Gaira because he's a charismatic entertainer, and they hate Fujio because he's a no-nonsense technician. (BTW, this kind of underscores Mitsuo's "go to Russia" comment. The average Japanese fan is not especially interested in Fedor Emilianenko; they prefer cartoonish characters like Bob Sapp (or at least they did, back when MMA was at the peak of its popularity in Japan). Mitsuo, however, knows what's really up and tells Fujio to seek out the best training possible.) HOWEVER, pure professional wrestling is not enough: the crowd demands bloody spectacle as well. The promoter mixes in real fights with the fake, sending actual zombies in to square off against occasionally unsuspecting human fighters.

What you may not realize is that, in Japan, professional wrestling and MMA are inextricable. Remember Sakuraba from the discussion of Sulk #2 above? His background is not in judo, muay thai, or any traditional martial art; he's a pro wrestler by training. In Japan, professional wrestlers were taught legitimate holds, making them tough enough to survive (and often win) fights against experts in more traditional disciplines. The most accomplished of these pro wrestlers was Kazushi Sakuraba, who almost single-handedly built the Japanese MMA industry by beating all those Gracie brothers (and the occasional cousin) in the early 00s.

Unfortunately for Japanese professional wrestling promotions, the public now wanted all pro wrestlers to prove their toughness against "real" fighters. The results were disastrous, the worst probably being the destruction of pro wrestler Yuji Nagata by Croatian kickboxer Mirko Cro Cop. On the other hand, legitimate mixed martial artists like Kaz Fujita were promoted heavily, in hopes of adding (restoring?) legitimacy to their promotions.* In other cases, pro wrestlers like Yoshihiro Takayama advanced their career by participating in fights of dubious legitimacy in MMA. Most confusing of all was Naoya Ogawa, a legitimate judo gold medalist who parlayed his success into pro wrestling work, which he backed up with fake MMA fights. Yeah, it's all kind of confusing.

Hanakuma seems to hold pro wrestling in some degree of contempt. Gaira, a pudgy dude with long hair, meets a grisly end (both as human and zombie). And when the promoter unveils the most dangerous zombie of all time, the crowd unleashes a maelstrom of boos, denouncing the fight as fake. (There might be a subtle class inversion thing going on here--pro wrestling crowds are traditionally working class, and the stereotype is that they can't tell real from fake. Here it's the wealthy who can't tell the difference. But then again, I'm not sure if these stereotypes apply to Japan, so take my theory with a grain of salt.) Resolution comes in the form of an army of real fighters. And, uh, pigs.

It's that second thing--an army of pigs!--and things like it which makes Tokyo Zombie appealing for reasons beyond its commentary on Japanese fighting. Don't get me wrong: I really loved all the MMA stuff. For everyone else: this is not a typical zombie comic. I mean, the climactic scene involves an audience of wealthy slave owners booing a fight between a martial artist and his zombified instructor because it's too technical. And then the pigs.

I know this sounds like the WACKY SHIT kind of comic which we all should strive to avoid, but it's actually funny. It's not like Hanakuma wrote a bunch of words like "ninjas," "robots," "surfing," "grocery store," and "roller coaster" on slips of paper, put them in a hat, drew at random, and came up with Tokyo Zombie. And it's not like it's carefully calculated to merge the zombie demographic with the MMA and pig army demographics either. This is actually a pretty sophisticated satire--rather than facing the horrible reality of the zombie apocalypse, the wealthy turn to fake fights between pro wrestlers and mute slaves disguised as zombies. Or rather, mute slaves disguised as zombies wearing animal masks.

That's what separates Tokyo Zombie from the pack: it doesn't really pull any punches. There is violence and cruelty. The fake zombies are legitimately disturbing. The walled city is both ridiculous and appalling. Hanakuma's rather primitive cartooning adds to this effect, by forcing the reader to remain in the moment. Rather than allowing the reader to escape into beautifully drawn panels, the simple figures and austere backgrounds keep the event at the forefront. So when you see the pig army charging into the arena, it's not like the gorgeous mayhem of the Great Cow Race; it's ugly little pigs chasing ugly little people. It's hilarious and horrifying at the same time.

Honestly, I was initially so distracted by all the MMA stuff that I wasn't sure if Tokyo Zombie was actually as good as it seemed, or if it appealed to me in a special, particular way. Upon re-reading it, I'm confident that this is a very good comic, one which I would enthusiastically recommend.

* Yes, I know Cro Cop KOed Fujita before he fought Nagata; I also know that this is what catapulted Cro Cop to fame in Japan. I just don't want to get too bogged down in the history of all that here. Partly because I don't want to have to research it.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Fourth roundup of best comics and graphic novels of 2008 lists

This is a long time coming; sorry for the delay. I had planned to publish this roundup shortly before Christmas, but things just kind of got away from me. So instead, we have an extra-long list with entries from a variety of well-respected comics folk. This is strictly from my RSS feed; I'll be doing a Google search sometime soon to see what else I can turn up for the fifth roundup. And there are still a few notable internet-based lists outstanding, plus the Comics Journal's year in review. So there's plenty of time to get your lists in before I publish the final meta-list.

Of note this time: I've changed around the "will not use" list, in that I'm not cataloging every unusable list anymore. It just sort of seems pointless, and maybe a bit petulant, to catalogue lists merely for the sake of saying I won't include them. I'll continue to provide links to lists which I think are worth your time, even though I don't feel like I can use them for the meta-list project. Yes, that includes Wizard's list. It's not an endorsement so much as an acknowledgment of their place in comics discourse. Er, maybe their historical place in comics discourse, given the way things are going there.

Also: at the request of Marc-Oliver Frisch, I now have labeled every post related to the meta-list project. (Actually, I had already labeled these posts, but hadn't figured out how to get labels back on the posts after I apparently removed them at some point. Don't ask me, I just type here.) There's a link on the sidebar for this year's project, as well as last year's. And I've also included my own best of 2007 list and my ongoing 2008 workbook posts.

Observation: is Kevin Huizenga the new Chris Ware, ie, the alt/whatever cartoonist most likely to show up on lists otherwise exclusively concerned with assembly line comics? If so, will he be facing a backlash similar to the one currently afflicting (if that's the right word) Chris Ware? I'm guessing that the less morose tone of his books will guard against such a reaction, but I'm keeping my eyes open for it in 2009. Not that it really matters on anything beyond a discursive level, but many of you know how I feel about discourse by now.

Remember, if you know of a list not included below, please email me or leave a comment pointing me in the right direction. And please, don't rush getting your lists in on my account. I wouldn't want anyone to do this in this in the first place, but it's totally unnecessary besides. The Comics Journal won't publish their best of 2008 issue until February (I think), and I won't be doing one anytime soon either. I've got about 8-10 books I want to consider that haven't come in the mail yet. Among them: Kramers Ergot 7. Anyone know what's going on with Amazon's distribution of this book?

Criteria for inclusion in the Meta-List:

-list must contain no fewer than five items and no more than fifty
-list must be a general best-of list, not a series of categorical awards like "best superhero book," "best children's book," etc.
-list must not be limited to superhero comics, manga, major publishers, etc.
-I don't include votes for things like "everything Warren Ellis wrote in 2008"
-when a list includes a vote for a title which came out in a year prior to 2008, I usually tally everything like I normally would; it's rare that there are enough votes for an out-of-date item for it to crack the top 100
-no overt sleaziness (like voting for your own work; will be determined on a case-by-case basis)

New lists are in green.

GENERAL INTEREST LISTS
:


Amazon

Daily Vanguard (Portland State University)

New York Magazine

OC Weekly (OC Weekly is not the periodical for me--anyone other than my brother likely to get that joke?)

Oklahoman: Part 1 (graphic novels); Part 2 (periodicals)

Publishers Weekly

USA Today

Village Voice (RC Baker)

Village Voice
(a different list, this one by Richard Gehr; notable for stretching the definition of "comics" to include an animated film)

Washington Post


COMICS-FOCUSED LISTS:

Bacardi, Johnny

Badman, Derik

Andrew Neal (Thanks, Leigh!)

Clough, Rob


Cronin, Brian

Doane, Alan David

Graphic Novel Reporter

Harbin, Dustin

Hickey, Andrew

Hipster Dad

Jog

Lockefeer, Wim

Lorah, Michael

Meehan, Bram

Mozzocco, J. Caleb
(Unless Caleb specifically asks me not to, I'm going to use his top 20 only, since that's what he posted at Blogorama. However, I'm linking to his more exhaustive post because, well, it's more exhaustive.)

Ostrander, Ben

Robot 6 folks (Not all will count; see criteria above. BTW, since I haven't said it yet, welcome back, dudes.

Sobel, Marc

Stone, Tucker: Part 1; Part 2

Tomio, Jay


COMICS PROFESSIONALS:

Reynolds, Eric


Smith, Jeff

Various (not all will be used, as some fail to meet the standards enumerated above; also, this includes what seems like the 217th Dan Goldman list I've seen, and, if my memory is holding up, there's less overlap than you might expect among the lists)


QUESTIONABLE/INCOMPLETE:

Amazon.jp (The Japanese branch of Amazon's best comics and "light novels." Interesting, but I'm not sure what to do with it since much (most?) of this is not available in English yet, and the light novels are definitely not comics. On the other hand, those aren't necessarily good reasons to exclude this list. Any thoughts?)

Associated Content (Written by Russell Burlingame of the new Blogorama crew. Framed as "the best and worst of 2008," I took this to be more of a year in review kind of list. Plus it might be too narrow (Echo is the only not-at-the-front-of-Diamond title listed). We'll see if Burlingame posts a best of 2008 list at Blogorama.)

Boyd, Robert (Boyd admits this is a "best of things I read this year, but which were not necessarily published in 2008." But most of this list does consist of 2008 releases, so I'll almost certainly count it when the time comes. UPDATED: I've included it.)

Callahan, Timothy (It's a list of the top 20 collected editions of 2008. Callahan has promised a separate list of the top 10 original comics of 2008, and I'll combine and tally the two lists once he publishes that list.)

Drawn!, part one (Matt Forsythe) (This contains one comic which is definitely not 2008 (Tekkon Kinkreet) and one which is either a 2007 entry if you consider it a book or a 2008 entry if you consider it a webcomic (Fart Party). My Brain is Hanging Upside Down and Cul de Sac are definite 2008 comic releases. I'm not sure what you would consider the Nicholas series. The rest are things which not everyone would agree are comics. My inclination is to count this list anyway, since (a) the non-comics stuff won't accumulate enough other votes to place, and (b) I'll disqualify any non-2008 titles when I finalize the meta-list. Do note that I'm not trying to denigrate the list because it doesn't fit into this project; I like seeing unconventional lists, and it's not like Drawn! is a comics-only blog. UPDATE: I have included this list.)

Drawn, part two (John Martz) (See comments above, except that this list a greater number of 2008 titles that most would classify as unambiguously comics. UPDATE: I have included this list.)

The Independent (Seems to have an awful lot of books from before 2008--Sleepwalk? Embroideries?--which might reflect new British editions, but I'm skeptical. Comics and Sequential Art seriously never came out in the UK before 2008? Just seems like a lazy list.)

Nicholson, Brian (I don't have any problem with it, but Brian suggests he doesn't "read enough to be considered a serious critic." I'm inclined to include it, unless Brian asks me not to.)

NPR (UPDATED: They've made two lists so far: one for "graphic novels" and one for superhero books. I'm not sure if there are any further lists coming or not; I'm holding off on distributing this vote until I'm reasonably sure there are no more lists forthcoming For now, I've removed all the points distributed for the original graphic novels list.)

Reed, Brian (Delimited to single issues; he says other categories will be coming later)

Some dude on Amazon (Do I really want to include Amazon lists? I mean, it's not a bad list, aside from being a little long, but really...)

St. Louis Today (Includes one from 2007, which reduces the list down to a total of four, below the minimum threshold. I'll probably include it in the final tally, and ignore the votes for Laika. UPDATE: I've included it.)

Douglas Wolk (I think this is a gift guide, not a best-of list?)

Various message board posters (Most of these fail to meet my minimal criteria (ie, they're all Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, and Image). And I haven't decided whether or not to include a bunch of hastily compiled message board lists. I mean, if this were Abhay Khosla or something, I would reconsider, but these are a bunch of basically anonymous dudes on a Hellblazer forum.)


WILL NOT USE:

Comic Book Resources (too many entries; on a qualitative level, I do share Marc-Oliver Frisch's bemusement over the whole thing, but I certainly would have counted it, had it been slightly less gargantuan)

Comics Should Be Good/Danielle Leigh Readers' Choice (too short, categorical, and delimited to manga)

DCBS blog (self-described as "a semi-random list")

Ferraro, Dave (Delimited to superheroes; Ferraro plans to make an overall best-of list which will include some of these titles. Didn't know that Echo was a sci-fi/fantasy comic.)

Kethylia (delimited to manga)

Patriot News/Chris Mautner (this is a an awards list, plus it's just easier to use Chris' list from Robot 6 (see above); I will change this, of course, at Chris' request)

Pop Culture Shock (delimited to manga)

School Library Journal (I think this is limited to comics for kids. If that isn't the case, please let me know and I'll include it in the project.)

Sequential Tart (Two lists, but neither meets the minimum number of entries for inclusion.)

Smith, Shannon (specifically delimited to mini-comics and web comics; well worth your time, though)

Various cartoonists at Forbidden Planet (Forbidden Planet is conducting a series of interviews with cartoonists, asking for a top three list from each. This is below the minimum threshold for this project, but you should check out this link, which should take you to all of the interviews conducted so far. Bryan Talbot is the most prominent interviewee to date.)

Wizard (Not the official list, at least not yet. This is a categorical awards list, and thus ineligible. What a strange list--a bunch of superhero comics, plus Kramers Ergot 7.)