Best of 2006 – Comics
Graphic Novels
The Ticking - by Renee French (Top Shelf Productions). The story of a deformed boy raised by a deformed father who finds beauty in the deformed things of the world. We are able to see and believe the boys ability to accept himself as easily as we are able to except the fathers ability to not accept himself or his son. I reviewed The Ticking back in April.
Grey Horses - by Hope Larson (Oni Press). I have read this twice with my daughter and will again throughout her life. I read it on my own and I'm not sure why I like it, maybe it is the innocence.
Don't Go Where I Can't Follow - by Anders Nilsen with Cheryl Weaver (Drawn & Quarterly). Completely heartbreaking. I will not give this away other than to say that you will not be disappointed.
Short Run Comics
The Escapists - by Brian K. Vaughn, Philip Bond and Eduardo Barreto (Dark Horse). Jumping back and forth between the fictional heroes and the fictional writing team this series of six issues is a great read. I reviewed the Escapists in August.
Enigma Cipher - by Andrew Cosby, Michael Alan Nelson and Greg Scott (Boom! Studios). A college professor finds a message encoded by a WW2 Enigma machine and turns a copy over to the State Department and to his class to try and decode. Next thing you know the professor is whacked and one by one the students start dropping. This is a 2 part series. Part 1 is out now with the second coming in January.
Umbra - by Murphy and Mike Hawthorne (Image). A three part series from last summer. Taking place in Iceland, forensic police find the body of a caveman in an icecave. The problem is that the caveman has been murdered with a Soviet era handgun and draped in a Benetton jacket. What the heck.
Ongoing Comics
DMZ - by Brian Woods and Riccardo Burchielli (Vertigo). The U.S.A. is in civil war with Manhattan being a war ravaged DMZ. PhotoJournalist Matty Roth is dumped into the action only to loose the senior reporter moments after arriving. Slowly he tells the story of the city that is still uniquely New York. I reviewed DMZ back in February
Kabuki - David Mack (Icon). This series comes out at a snails pace, but it is always worth the wait. I think there were only 2 issues this year. Part Japanese hit-women thriller, part art mind fuck. The current arc, "the Alchemy", has been like a version of the books "Griffin and Sabine" if they were created for a not so mainstream audience. I reviewed an earlier arc of Kabuki, Circle of Blood, back in March.
Testament - by Douglas Rushkoff and Liam Sharp (Vertigo). Now starting its second year, Testament continues to relate the struggles of the Old Testament and ancient religions with the stuggles of the coming revolution. Gods are at War for the souls of men and men are at war for what they think is God. I reviewed Testament back in February.
December 30th, 2006 - 20:35
Hey – thanks for those kind words, as well as the review! It’s great to know someone is reading this book, and deeply at that.