- Age Of Bronze Volume 3: Betrayal (Part 1) by Eric Shanower. I've not even read it yet (probably this weekend,) but I'm 96% sure this continues the qualilty I've come to expect from Shanower's aiming-for-the-fences approach to retelling the Trojan War.
- Agents of Atlas by Jeff Parker and Leonard Kirk. A comic that celebrates and explores the dusty corners of Marvel's past without feeling like a continuity wankathon, with lots of warmth and humor? Why, that sounds right up my alley. Parker's writing is clever without being cute and Leonard Kirk turns in the best work of his career.
- All-Star Superman Volume 1 by Grant Morrison, Frank Quietly, and Jamie Grant. If somebody told me that Superman sucked and they don't understand why anyone would want to read about him, I would hand them this book. Then I would ask for my $20.
- Amazing Fantasy Omnibus by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and Various. The sort of collection that could never be justified by Marvel until the advent of $75 Omnibus books, and the sort of thing that justifies buying a $75 book. Funny how that works out.
- The Amazing Transformations of Jimmy Olsen by Various. The comics blogosphere finally gets the sourcebook it was begging for.
- Annihilation: Books 1-3 by Various. I freakin' loved this large-scale story that was semi-ignored while Civil War was screwing up the heroes I liked so much back on earth.
- Batman: Year 100 by Paul Pope. Paul Pope's dark, relentless story of a future dark knight is refreshingly straightforward and managed to surprise me on more than one occasion.
- Betsy and Me by Jack Cole. Even with the pall cast over this book by Cole's depression and subsequent suicide, it's hard not to marvel at the cartooning within.
- Beyond! by Dwayne McDuffie and Scott Kolins. Beyond! harkens back to those kitchen-sink team-up books of the 70s and serves as a quasi-sequel to Secret Wars but - get this - doesn't feel hopelessly retro or mired in minutiae. (Exception: maybe Xemnu, but he's been around the Marvel Universe since before there was such a place, so I'm giving it a pass.)
- Blade: Sins of the Father by Marc Guggenheim and Howard Chaykin. I'd say this was a guilty pleasure, but I feel no guilt at all about enjoying this sharp, frequently hilarious series that managed to make Blade more interesting than three movies and a short-lived, slightly horrible television show.
- Captain America: War and Remembrance by Roger Stern and John Byrne. I've got empirical evidence that this run is among the three or four best the character's had. Sadly, that's not saying too much, is it?
- Carl Is The Awesome! by Marcos Perez. No lie, this is the greatest comic known to man. Not loving Carl is not loving the medium.
- Casanova Volume 1: Luxuria by Matt Fraction and Gabriel Ba. I probably should have also included in my recommended titles, but I discovered that, even with the lack of backmatter, the collected edition for this title is a much more rewarding reading experience.
- The Claws Come Out by Pat Lewis. Pat is one of my favorite cartoonists and this collection of his minicomics is a treat. In a couple of years, he's going to blow up and I'll be able to pull the "I knew him when..." card.
- Comic Book Holocaust by Johnny Ryan. Do you whining comics fans bitching about editorial at the big two want to know what it's like to really have your childhood raped? Pick this up and open it to a random page.
- The Complete Peanuts by Charles Schulz. I can't imagine making a list like this for at least the next decade without including these.
- Devil Dinosaur Omnibus by Jack Kirby. There's an odd earnestness to this series that sells its high concept much better than expected. I only hope we see more of these Kirby-centric collections. (Yes, I want an Inhumans one.)
- Dr 13: Architecture and Morality by Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang. I'm always up for a good Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark reference and thankfully, the surreal adventure within lives up to its ambitious title. This is probably my favorite thing Brian Azzarello's written, and Cliff Chiang should draw every comic ever, if only for one issue. Honestly, I'd not be surprised if this were mentioned in the same breath as Watchmen in a few years - it's that smart.
- Dr Strange: The Oath by Brian K. Vaughn and Marcos Martin. Better than I expected, this was a Dr. Strange comic that made me remember why I liked him so much.
- Fantastic Four Omnibus Volume 2 by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Various. Man alive, these are some fantastic comics.
- Fell Volume 1 by Warren Ellis and Ben Templesmith. I bought the hardcover because I'm like that, but I can't imagine the softcover has any less impact. In a lot of ways, this seems like the series Ellis has been wanting to write for the last few years, where he gets to use the bits of reality that hove into his view.
- GØDLAND: The Celestial Edition by Joe Casey and Tom Scioli. Bigger! More Cosmic! Weirder!
- Gotham Central: Dead Robin by Greg Rucka, Ed Brubaker, Kano, and Stegfane Gaudiano. You know, if it weren't for the (frankly, idiotic) decision to tie this comic into the events of Infinite Crisis, I'd place this in my all-time top ten DCU titles. But, you know, they had to make sure that every corner of their universe got a bit dirty. (Seriously, Spectre with a goatee? C'mon!)
- I Shall Destroy All The Civilized Planets by Fletcher Hanks. It's hard to imagine that a year that saw Fantagraphics reprinting Peanuts and Popeye could reprint something that would get more attention, but here it is. Delightfully stupid superheroics from the Golden Age, featuring visuals that I will take to the grave.
- The Immortal Iron Fist: The Last Iron Fist Story by Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, and David Aja. Everybody on the planet praised this book, and for good reason - a fun romp in the pulpier ends of a shared superhero universe with a breakneck pace and dialogue and visuals that only made things better.
- Invaders Classic Volume 1 by Roy Thomas and Various. I like it when superheroes fuck up things that belong to Hitler.
- It Rhymes with Lust by Arnold Drake, Leslie Waller, and Matt Baker. Dark Horse's digest-sized reprint of this pictonovel was something I picked up on a whim. Reading it on the train the other day, I was stricken with how it's a thematic cousin to Ace In The Hole, something I'd not think comics at the time could manage.
- Jack Kirby's Fourth World Omnibus Volumes 1-3 by Jack Kirby and Various. My favorite comics that Jack Kirby did, finally in a bookshelf format that shows off their gloriousness. I initially bitched about the paper stock chosen, but have since recanted this after some consideration - it nicely shows how the art would look on a fresh-off-the-press copy of the original comics.
- Jack Kirby's Silver Star by Jack Kirby. You know, it's not very good, but it's great. So many weird Kirby ideas piled on top of each other.
- Kamandi Archives Volume 2 by Jack Kirby and Various. Honestly, I would have preferred a Showcase with this material, but I'm a bit of a sucker for Kirby reprints.
- Kane Volume 6: Partners by Paul Grist. The better-than-Sin City crime series had another excellent installment this year.
- Krazy & Ignatz: The Kat Who Walked in Beauty by George Herriman. Gorgeous. That's the word.
- The new Love and Rockets Bookshelf Collection or whatever Fantagraphics is calling it. I tried to pick just one and couldn't, so fuck it. They're affordable and beautiful and and and...just buy them.
- Madman Gargantua by Mike Allred. A completely unneccessary oversized reprint project that smacks of vanity, yet I couldn't help but buy it and love it.
- Marvel Masterworks: Nick Fury by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Don Heck, and Various. About damn time.
- Mean by Steven Weissman. Pal Sarah introduced me to Weissman's work when I was at a weird point in my life and it was the perfect antidote to idiotic relationship problems. Weissman's early work shows that his vision was pure from the onset: cute and horrific combined to delightful effect.
- The Middleman Volume 3: The Third Volume Inescapability by Javier Grillo-Marxuach and Les McClaine. Not only is this a fun, exciting comic book, it's a good comic book, the sort you want to show off to prove that it's not always about grotesque violence and over the top "sexiness" that seems as cold as a German porn film shot in an operating room.
- Misery Loves Comedy by Ivan Brunetti. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll mutter "down the stream, not across the river" as you lie in a bathtub filled with warm water.
- Nextwave Volume 2: I Kick Your Face by Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen. Marvel will probably put these in one of those oversized hardcovers and I'll buy it and only very slightly miffed that it's the third time I've paid for this fun, over-the-top series that showed that sometimes, Marvel knows what they're doing.
- The Nightly News by Jonathan Hickman. I dismissed this as being a knockoff of Brian Wood's Channel Zero, which was really idiotic of me. Hickman's graphic design sensibility and well-crafted story were only undermined by his constant reminders that the viewpoints represented by the characters are not necessarily his own. I'm sure it seemed funny on paper.
- Palestine: The Special Edition by Joe Sacco. An almost too-beautiful presentation of one of the defining pieces of comics journalistm - it's easy to get distracted from the ugliness that Sacco exposes within.
- Paris by Andi Watson and Simon Gane. Easily the best romance I read this year.
- Phonogram by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie. Yes, again, friends of mine, but I don't care. I recommend this comic to people by saying "Hellblazer, but with music, and slightly sexier." This works remarkably well.
- Popeye Volume 2: I Yam What I Yam by E.C. Segar. Better than even the most enthusiatic strip fiends can prepare you for.
- The Punisher: Barracuda by Garth Ennis and Goran Parlov. You know, it's nice to see that even when he's doing a MAX series, Ennis takes time out for his classics.
- The Punisher: Man of Stone by Garth Ennis and Leandro Fernandez. Goddamn, Garth Ennis.
- The Punisher: Widowmaker by Garth Ennis, Lan Medina, and Bill Reinhold. See above.
- Runaways Volume 3 by Brian K. Vaughn, Adrian Alphona, and Mike Norton. While the third volume seemed a bit less fun, Runaways sets a reliable benchmark for "new-user friendly Marvel comics that you can hand a kid without expecting their mother to try to tear your face off later." Unless, of course, they're some sort of right-winger that would hate the whole alien-who-can-become-a-woman-for-the-lesbian-character angle and the questions it raises. Those people don't deserve good comics anyway.
- Sandman Mystery Theater: Dr. Death and the Night of the Butcher by Matt Wagner, Steven T. Seagle, Guy Davis, and Vince Locke. Another reprint volume from my favorite Vertigo series with "Sandman" in the title. This is probably what primed me for my later-than-normal discovery of pulp characters. Funny how a derivative can clear the path for one's appreciation of its predecessors.
- Shortcomings by Adrian Tomine. I was hard-pressed not to put this on the previous "Graphic Novels" list because this collection of three issues of Optic Nerve works brilliantly as a graphic novel, but, you know, I had to have some sort of standards applied to the process.
- Showcase Presents: Adam Strange by Various. I love the fact that the average human intelligence of Adam Strange makes him look like a genius on Raan.
- Showcase Presents: Legion of Super-Heroes by Various. The Silver Ageiest of Silver Age comics, finally available in a format that I'm fine with leaving in the bathroom.
- Showcase Presents: The Flash by Various. Oh man, I love how beautifully Fox and company twisted science to meet whatever perverted story needs were on the table. Also: one of my five favorite superhero costumes ever.
- Showcase Presents: The War That Time Forgot by Various. I have sung the praises of this work before, and for good reason. "Dinosaurs versus soldiers" is the purest logline ever.
- Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane: Volume 1 by Sean McKeever, Takeshi Miyazawa, and various. This is the only Spider-Man comic I'm reading anymore outside of glancing at Immonen's work on Ultimate Spider-Man. The fact it's aimed at preteen girls bothers me not at all.
- Superman: The Bottle City of Kandor by Various. See: The Amazing Transformations of Jimmy Olsen.
- The Three Paradoxes by Paul Hornschemeier. While not Hornschemeier's best work (that'd be Mother Come Home), there's a lot to admire in this.
- Thor: The Eternals Saga Volume 2 by Roy Thomas and Various. I came close to filing this under Roy Thomas Is Compulsive because of it features a heavier-than-usual dose of the writer having to make sure all the dots connect, but then I met El Vampiro and El Toro Rojo, a Deviant and Eternal who operated as Mexican wrestlers.
- The Ultimates Volume 2 by Mark Millar and Brian Hitch. About as subtle (and intelligent) as a pickaxe to the crotch, but so, so pretty. Other people watch Michael Bay movies, I read stuff like this.
- Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse Volume 1 by Ben Templesmith. I picked this up because I enjoyed Templesmith's work on Fell so much, and this turned out to be much smarter and funnier than I expected.
- X-Men: First Class by Jeff Parker and Roger Cruz. Thankfully, the only new X-Men comics I read in 2007 were contained within.
- Zombies vs Robots by Ashley Wood and Chris Ryall. No lie, this was easily among the ten "most fun" comics I read this year. No, I didn't expect that either.
I made an omission in yesterday's list that is really, really bothering me. Please go buy
The Aviary by Jamie Tanner. It's published by AdHouse and actually made me have to get up and go pee, I was holding back my laughter from reading it so hard. (I hate being seen laughing in public from something nobody else can see. I really hate the taste of the blue pills and the nurses are never as nice as the ones you see on TV.)
