best of the year
Publishers Weekly rolls out its best books of 2012
Publishers Weekly is the first out of the gate with its best of 2012 lists, with Chris Ware’s Building Stories (Pantheon), described as “unabashedly rooted in the pre-digital age,” leading its overall Top 10. Ware also designed and lettered the magazine’s cover (at right).
The six titles in the comics category are:
• My Friend Dahmer, by Derf Backderf (Abrams Graphic Arts)
• Are You My Mother?, by Alison Bechdel (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
• The Voyeurs, by Gabrielle Bell (Uncivilized Books)
• Wizzywig, by Ed Piskor (Top Shelf)
• Dotter of Her Father’s Eyes, by Mary and Bryan Talbot (Dark Horse)
Two graphic novels also make an appearance on the children’s fiction list: Hilda and the Midnight Giant, by Luke Pearson (Nobrow), and Drama, by Raina Telgemeier (Scholastic/Graphix).
With PW breaking the ice, that means the best-of lists should begin arriving at a fast and furious pace.
The 50 best covers of 2011
The fourth annual rundown of the best covers of the year features 50 images representing the work of 42 different artists (plus colorists, inkers, letterers and designers) from eight publishers.
Returning creators like Jo Chen, Dave Johnson, Paolo Rivera and J.H. Williams III are joined on the list by such “newcomers” as Francesco Francavilla, Viktor Kalvachev, Tradd Moore and Steve Morris.
As with previous installments, I’ve attempted to explain the appeal of each entry; some covers get just a sentence, while others receive entire paragraphs. That doesn’t reflect the quality of the image, but merely what I have to say about it.
For those interested in the lists from previous years, they can be found here: the best covers of 2010; the best covers of 2009; and the best covers of 2008.
With that out of the way, I present, in alphabetical order, the 50 best covers of 2011:
Comics A.M. | Archie Drops Comics Code, Marking End of Era
Comics Code Authority Seal of Approval
Publishing | Thursday’s news that DC Comics will replace the nearly 60-year-old Comics Code Authority Seal of Approval with its own rating system was followed on Friday by an announcement by Archie Comics that it, too, will drop the Code. The two were the last publishers to abandon the CCA — Marvel withdrew in 2001, Bongo just last year — which means that as of next month, the once-influential self-regulatory body created by the comics industry in the wake of the 1954 Senate hearings on juvenile delinquency will cease to exist. Before a series of revisions in 1971, the Code prohibited even the depictions of political corruption, or vampires and werewolves, and the use of the words “horror” or “terror” in titles.
Christopher Butcher wonders whether DC’s decision to drop the Code was made with an eye toward the bottom line, while Johanna Draper Carlson offers an overview of the CCA’s history. Elsewhere, Mike Sterling asks whether any retailers ever “experienced any kind of real-world impact of the Comics Code Authority?” And Tom Mason makes some tongue-in-cheek recommendations for DC’s new rating system, including “G – GREYING MAN-BOYS” and “R – REFRIGERATOR.” [Newsarama]
The 50 best covers of 2010
Chew #12 (Comic-Con exclusive cover), by Rob Guillory
The third annual rundown of the best covers of the year features 50 images — oh, okay, 51 — representing the work of some 46 different artists (plus inkers, colorists and designers) from nine publishers.
Returning artists like Chris Bachalo, Dave Johnson, Sean Phillips and Yuko Shimizu are joined on this year’s list by “new” names like Kody Chamberlain, Camilla D’Errico, Amy Reeder and Drew Weing. (You can peruse the previous years’ lists here and here.)
As in the past, I’ve tried to explain the appeal of each entry; some covers get just a sentence, while others receive entire paragraphs. That doesn’t reflect the quality of the image, but merely what I have to say about it.
Note: While last year’s list included five manga covers, this year features none. I’m not sure whether that’s a byproduct of the contraction of the manga market, a sign of a shift in cover quality — among manga or Western comics — or a shortcoming on my part (if it’s the latter, I’ll own up to it; however, after several excursions in search of manga candidates, I found none that I felt qualified as among the 50 best.)
With that out of the way, I present, in alphabetical order, the 50 best covers of 2010:
Comics A.M. | Comic sales slip 3.5%, SD official wants Comic-Con parade
The Avengers #1
Publishing | Sales of comics, graphic novels and magazines to comic stores declined slightly in 2010, slipping 3.5 percent from 2009, according to a year-end report released Thursday by Diamond Comic Distributors. John Jackson Miller’s estimate places the North American market at between $410 million and $420 million, down from the 2008 peak of $437 million.
Marvel again emerged as the top publisher, leading the market in both dollar and unit sales. May’s Avengers #1 was the top-selling periodical, followed by X-Men #1, Blackest Night #8, Siege #1 and Blackest Night #7. As expected, The Walking Dead and Scott Pilgrim dominated the graphic novel and trade paperback list, taking eight of the Top 10 spots (the remaining two went to the Kick-Ass premium hardcover and Superman: Earth One). [Diamond Comic Distributors]
Comics A.M. | B&N complicates Borders talks, Stan Lee gets his star
Borders
Retailing | As the financially troubled Borders Group met Tuesday with publishers in hopes of converting delayed payments into interest-bearing debt, the bookseller’s larger rival Barnes & Noble expressed concerns that could complicate negotiations. “We think the playing field should be even,” B&N spokeswoman Mary Ellen Keating said in a statement. “We expect publishers to offer same terms to all other booksellers, including Barnes & Noble and independent booksellers. We fully expect publisher’s will require Borders to pay their bills on the same basis upon which all other booksellers pay theirs. Any changes in publishers terms should be made available to all.” Meanwhile, Reuters considers what the closing of Borders’ 600 stores would mean to the book industry. [The New York Times, Publishers Weekly]
Comics A.M. | Comiket sets attendance record, Archie challenges Indian film
Comiket 79 catalog
Conventions | Comiket 79, the winter installment of the self-published comic book fair held twice a year in Tokyo, set a turnstile attendance record last week with 520,000 people over three days. That’s just 20,000 less than the summer record — and the equivalent of about four Comic-Cons. [Anime News Network]
Legal | Archie Comics reportedly has threatened legal action against the in-production Indian film Boys Toh Boys Hain, which, according to this description, is “based on the lines of the celebrated [Archie] comic book but set in Delhi instead of Riverdale.” However, the director now claims that, “We never made any statement which suggested that the film is inspired from Archie comics. One of my actors may have said in an interview that the film has a feel similar to Archie, but never that the film is based on it.” The publisher was dealt a blow in an unrelated legal matter in September when India’s Delhi High Court refused to hear a complaint challenging the use of the name “Archies” by a Mumbai company. The court said it had no jurisdiction in the matter because Archie Comics doesn’t have an office in India. [Hindustan Times]
The best of the best of the year lists
Acme Novelty Library #20
On this, the final day of 2010, we have one more roundup of best-of — and one worst-of — list from across the comics Internet:
• Comic Book Resources rolls out the 10 best comics of 2010, concluding its countdown of the Top 100.
• Johanna Draper Carlson names the 10 best graphic novels of 2010 — Raina Telgemeier’s Smile, and Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson’s Beasts of Burden, among them — plus eight runners-up.
• Robot 6 contributor Sean T. Collins’ list of the 20 best comics of the year includes Jacques Tardi’s It Was the War of the Trenches, Grant Morrison’s Batman comics, and Chris Wares’ Acme Novelty Library #20.
• Darwyn Cooke’s Parker: The Outfit and Jason’s Werewolves of Montpellier make The Casual Optimist’s list of favorite new books of 2010.
• Jim Rugg and Brian Marcua’s Afrodisiac and Neal Adams’ Batman: Odyssey are among Matt Seneca’s Top 10 comics.
• Dave Ferraro picks the Top 20 comics of the year, including Kou Yaginuma’s Twin Spica, Jeff Parker and Steve Lieber’s Underground, and Linda Medley’s Castle Waiting, Vol. 2.
• Derek A. Badman selects the best webcomics and the best print comics of 2010.
• Comics Alliance names the five worst comics of 2010.
• At Inside Pulse, Grey Scherl looks at the Top 10 things DC Comics did right in 2010.
The best of the best of the year lists
Batwoman: Elegy
Another day closer to 2011, another volley of best-of-2010 lists:
• Entertainment Weekly‘s Ken Tucker includes Darwyn Cooke’s Parker: The Outfit, Joyce Farmer’s Special Exits and Greg Rucka and J.H. Williams’ Batwoman: Elegy on his list of the 10 best graphic novels and comics of 2010.
• MTV Geek rounds up a cross-section of comics creators, from Camilla d’Errico and Michel Fiffe to Paul Grist and Joe Eisma, to name their top three comics of the year.
• Comic Book Resources approaches the Top 25 in its rundown of the Top 100 comics of the year: #100-#76, #75-#51, #50-#26.
• Comics Alliance concludes its countdown of the best comics of 2010 with Adam Hines’ Duncan the Wonder Dog.
• In The Oklahoman, writer and retailer Matt Price names the 10 best graphic novels of the year, a list topped by Darwyn Cooke’s Parker: The Oufit and Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 6.
• Writing for Las Vegas Weekly, J. Caleb Mozzocco selects his top five comics of 2010: Lynda Barry’s Picture This, Pablo Holmberg’s Eden, Cathy Malkasian’s Temperance, Julia Gfrörer’s Flesh and Bone, and Jason’s Werewolves of Montpellier.
• At Savage Critics, Graeme McMillan names Justice League of America as his 2010 guilty pleasure.
• At Inside Pulse, Grey Scherl lists the Top 10 this Marvel did right in 2010.
The best of the best of the year lists
Set to Sea
With just a few days remaining in 2010, the best-of-the-year lists are springing up like mushrooms after the rain. Here’s just a selection of what’s appeared this week:
• NPR’s Glen Weldon recalls the comics “that got their hooks into me this year,” including James Sturm’s Market Day, Drew Weing’s Set to Sea, Roger Langridge and Chris Samnee’s Thor: The Mighty Avenger, and Moto Hagio’s A Drunken Dream.
• Deb Aoki surveys more than two dozen year-end lists to arrive at the critics’ choice for the best manga of 2010.
• At comiXology, Tucker Stone names the 20 best comics of the year, including Jim Rugg and Brian Maruca’s Afrodisiac, Grant Morrison and Frazier Irving’s Batman and Robin #13, and Naoki Urasawa’s Pluto, Vol. 7.
• Johanna Draper Carlson selects the best manga of 2010, divided into categories like best new manga, best continuing manga and best completed manga.
• Writing for Wired’s Underwire blog, Lore Sjöberg spotlights the year’s best new webcomics.
• Writing for Jezebel, Kelly Thompson concludes her countdown of the 20 best female creators of 2010, with the Top 10 occupied by the likes of Amanda Conner, Faith Erin Hicks, Becky Cloonan and Kate Beaton.
• At Topless Robot, Jay Barish names the five best and five worst comics of the year.
Comics A.M. | Two plead guilty to selling fake Comic-Con badges
Comic-Con International
Legal | Two Los Angeles men accused of selling counterfeit passes to this year’s Comic-Con International have pleaded guilty to theft and were placed on probation for three years. Farhad Lame and Navid Vatankhahan, both 24, were each ordered to pay a $750 fine, complete 10 days of community service and pay restitution to the victims.
Prosecutors say the two photocopied Comic-Con badges and sold them on Craigslist to people looking for last-minute memberships. They were arrested in July after two of their victims attempted to enter the convention using the counterfeit badges, which the women bought for $120 each. [The San Diego Union-Tribune]
Technology | Tech blog Chip Chick names DC Entertainment President Diane Nelson as one of its “Top 13 Women Who Impacted Technology in 2010.” [Chip Chick]
Comics A.M. | DC to promote $2.99 comics, Eisner family pledges to museum
DC Comics
Publishing | DC Comics will roll out a marketing campaign next month in support of its new $2.99 price initiative. The campaign, apparently revealed in a communique to retailers, will include online banners, ads in January issues of Comics Buyer’s Guide, Comic Shop News and Wizard, in-book ads, and in-store posters, shelf talkers and cards. [Crimson Monkey]
Libraries | The Will and Ann Eisner Family Foundation has pledged $250,000 over five years to the new Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum facility, part of the Sullivant Hall renovation at The Ohio State University. [The Daily Cartoonist]
Broadway | The father of Christopher Tierney, the 31-year-old aerialist who fell a week ago during a performance of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, offers a full account of his son’s injuries: a hairline fracture in his skull, a broken scapula, a broken bone close to his elbow, four broken ribs, a bruised lung and three fractured vertebrae. Timothy Tierney said his son underwent back surgery on Wednesday, and took his first steps on Friday with the aid of a brace and walker. Doctors are “cautiously optimistic” that Christopher Tierney will eventually resume his performing career. [Arts Beat]
Comics A.M. | Spider-Man resumes tonight, One Piece creator makes $24M
Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark
Broadway | The Broadway musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark canceled both Wednesday performances to test new safety measures following the Monday-night fall that left a stuntman hospitalized with broken ribs and internal bleeding. The cancellation of the sold-out evening show was announced just three hours before showtime at the Foxwoods Theatre. Tonight’s performance is expected to go on as planned.
Producers and creators met privately on Tuesday with the entire company to address safety concerns about the $65-million musical, the most expensive and technically complex in Broadway history. Although accidents in theater productions aren’t uncommon, it’s unusual for there to be four injuries before a show has officially opened. MTV offers some context. [The New York Times, The Associated Press]
Comics A.M. | Spider-Man musical resumes, amid criticism, after fall
Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark
Broadway | The fall that seriously injured an actor Monday night in the musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark was the result of human error, the Actors’ Equity Association said. Christopher Tierney, the 31-year-old aerialist who doubles for Spider-Man and two villains, remains in serious but stable condition after the cable to his safety harnesses snapped, sending him tumbling as far as 30 feet into the orchestra pit. As we reported on Tuesday, today’s matinee has been canceled while the show enacts additional safety measures. However, tonight’s performance will go on as scheduled.
Amid criticism from Broadway actors and calls for the plug to be pulled on the $65-million production — Tierney is the fourth Spider-Man performer to be injured — director Julie Taymor issued a statement, calling the accident “heartbreaking”: “I am so thankful that Chris is going to be alright and is in great spirits. Nothing is more important than the safety of our Spider-Man family and we’ll continue to do everything in our power to protect the cast and crew.” Meanwhile, the New York Post — home to theater columnist Michael Riedel, who’s gleefully chronicled the musical’s many setbacks — quotes one unnamed investor as saying, “We should cut our losses and just get out,” while another worries about potential lawsuits. The Daily Beast provides a timeline of the delay-plagued production, while Mark Evanier offers commentary. [Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark]
Comics A.M. | Another actor injured in Spider-Man musical mishap
Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark
Broadway | A fourth actor was injured Monday night during a performance of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, the $65-million musical that’s been plagued by delays and technical mishaps. Aerialist Christopher Tierney, who serves as a stunt double for Spider-Man and the villains Meeks and Kraven, fell about 30 feet when the cable to his harness snapped during the closing minutes of the show. Some equipment reportedly dropped into the audience as well. The performance was put on hold and then canceled as an ambulance arrived at the Foxwoods Theatre to take Tierney to Bellevue Hospital. Tierney is in stable condition, but no further information has been released. [BroadwayWorld, The Associated Press, CNN]
Publishing | Fantagraphics has laid off Dirk Deppey,The Comics Journal‘s online editor, former managing editor, and longtime writer of the Journalista! blog. His final day is Wednesday: “No regrets: The last ten years have kicked ass. I’ve done great things and meet interesting people, and was paid it. How great is that?” [Twitter]