Fellow Team Manga members, I implore you to let this one slide.

And either way, that list has some pretty decent comics! Sure, you might debate some selections, bring up your own selections, or say how some segments of comics are “underrepresented,” but I do not think that’s important here. I doubt that any non-comic reader would be offended by reading any of these books, given the oft chance that they were to use this list as a reading guide. There are books here that even I hadn’t heard of, and I appreciate that they went to the trouble of mentioning them. (That James Sturm book? And the Lynda Barry one? Those sound pretty interesting!)

The objection to this list seems to be that it doesn’t take itself seriously enough. Can I just put it out there, that maybe we’re the ones taking this list too seriously?

(None of this is to discredit the A.V. Club or their writers’ opinions; I just think it’s unfair to place all this responsibility on their relatively low-profile list.)

Maybe a lot of manga isn’t as good as people in this country think? Kind of like a lot of people think most superhero comics stink. I’m sure a couple of people here hold that sentiment.

A lot of manga IS shit.

So is a lot of superhero comics and so are a lot of alt comics. Sturgeons Law and all that.

But the topic is the best comics. The ones not covered by that law. This non American works being mostly ignored is a problem.

I agree that alphabetical doesn’t do much, however. It’d be a better list if the books were listed so that they thematically flow together (or show contrast between two books).

I mean, instead of complaining, it seems like the best way to respond would be to make your own list as, well, it’s all just a matter of opinion anyways.

But then I thought about that interview Tom Spurgeon did with Abhay Khosla where Abhay compared people that are really into these types of art comics to foodies. And I thought about being further down the rabbit hole than the AV Club reviewers. Their best music list is fine with me, even though I am more of a dork and can think of all sorts of great records that were not as high-profile as what they’re discussing. I bemoan the lack of Home Movies in their best tv of the decade list.

It’s this sort of general interest list that reaffirms the canon they spent the decade building. It’s a victory lap, not looking at anything new or obscure. Part of this is due to the way it compiles the taste of multiple people. Tom Spurgeon’s list will be a lot cooler.

But I think what you or I want out of a list is things that we missed. The same way that the Comics Comics blog is exciting because of references to Slash Maraud from 1987, or Jog’s My Life Is Choked With Comics column makes me want to buy Igor Kordey issues of Soldier X. In an age of Netflix, if I go to an honest-to-God video store, I want to get things that are only available on VHS, that I can’t find. This is like wanting an overview of David Lynch’s career that talks about On The Air as much as it talks about Mulholland Drive. Sure, Mulholland Drive is better, but it’s also well-known for being good, and we’re just further down the path of wanting obscurities than that. We want a best-of-the-decade list that finds things from 2002 and says they were ahead of their time, even if no one noticed them when they were initially published. We don’t want a list with Persepolis and Blankets on it. But that’s what a best-of list, for a general interest magazine, compiled by a group of writers is going to include.

As far as Kramers Ergot stuff goes, think about how Jimbo In Purgatory- an insanely ambitious comic that’s not really a lot of fun to deal with- got dissed by Andrew Arnold in Time back when it was first published.

As for manga, you know, I loved Phoenix and Tekkon Kinkreet, but these are a very specific type of critics pick.

However, it’s certainly reasonable, and necessary given the sheer volume of work, to limit consideration to comics released in North America during a specified time — manga, manhwa, BD, what have you.

For example, Sky Doll, while not technically complete, was first released in 2000, and would make a good candidate for a ‘best of decade’ title, but, as its from Europe, is excluded in most cases, despite a recent translation by Marvel (and earlier Heavy Metal imports).

If manga were included on the list, there would be a good chance you could find 25 manga better than every comic released in the past decade if we go with the numerous non-Narutos and Bleaches that dont get translations in North America. Manga is a huge market that dwarfs the North American one.

Hell, the European market, ignoring Marvel and DC imports, is sizeable in its own right. Restricting, intentional or not, a best of decade list to mostly the standard American comic is not a bad idea in my opinion, though there was probably room for the odd mention of a manga or other titles.

Whats particularly noteworthy about the AV Club list is that, while I don’t agree with every book as the top 25, they were all at least of an acceptable quality level to warrant a mention or recommendation (though there are a few I haven’t personally read).

At the least, the list has sparked some good discussions, especially at our site, where we’re almost to 600 comments. And if it’s revealed that we tend to range too narrow in our scope, that’s valuable criticism to hear.

I do take issue with the idea that lists like this don’t “help anybody” though. I go back to my earlier comment: It depends on who you think lists like this are designed for. If you’re deeply into comics, you’re right, our list probably just confirms what you already know. If you read comics casually, you’re likely to find some new things to check out. And if you’re a complete novice… well, I offer a variation on what I asked Sean earlier: Do you not feel that the books on this list are, generally speaking, well-worth a reader’s time?

Basically when you say “we don’t know” what you mean is “we don’t care.”

And, yeah, you don’t have to care. But just admit it up front. The bobbing and weaving is silly.

Also…your point about overlaps and individual idiosyncracies — that’s why doing this stuff by committee is such a poor idea. I know that everyone does it that way — but it produces blandness and ends up claiming an authority that doesn’t help anybody.

Noel: I see what you’re saying with “classical,” but manga is not the equivalent of classical music, or contemporary choral music, or things of that nature. It’s pop.

Also, yeah, I’m definitely holding you guys to the same standard I’d hold a dedicated comics-blogger to, same as I’d do with your music or TV or film or book lists. If I disagree with your music selections, for example, I’m not gonna go, “Well, they also write about Lost, so that’s okay.”

Thanks for weighing in!

You’re essentially taking The Onion to task for a disagreement about semantics.

Looking forward to CBR’s “Best Sequential Art of 2009″ article later this year. Yeah, right….