Jan-ken-pon #114 – 10 Favorite Comics/Graphic Novels 2008

Issue #114

December 15th, 2008

Time for my favorite comic book or graphic novel reads of 2008. I want to mention that in the BookSpot Central Top Ten Reads of 2008 feature I included two comic/graphic novels reads that I won’t include here. Please view them as my favorite two and these to be an extension of that list (for those not mathematically inclined, this means there will be eight listed here). Like that list, examples that were not published in 2008 were not excluded from consideration here. This is very much more in the mold of Read and Appreciated from Fantastic Metropolis (as I continue my complete rape of the site) than a “best new book” list.

I want to note that I view graphic novels as something separate from comic books. This has nothing to with quality or my degree of interest in either, merely just a heads up. A collected version of works that were originally individual issues are not a damn graphic novel – they are merely collected volumes of the work. For example, Eric Powell’s Chinatown and the Mystery of Mr. Wicker is a graphic novel, as is Azzarello’s and Bermejo’s Joker – they are works not previously available in single issues. Watchmen is not a fucking graphic novel; neither was 300, and Sin City wasn’t either. You film going, non-pull list having, hipster fans will acknowledge that I was buying Hellboy off the racks in the 90’s damn it!

One may also see a tendency on my part in not pointing out last week’s cutting edge independent, getting buzz in all the trendy corners, Kinkos produced, underground rag. This has to do with the fact that I buy collected editions, and specifically hardcovers almost exclusively. This shouldn’t be a problem as I think perhaps the best and most articulate voices in comic book commentary cover those types of books and you have many options to look those up and get outstanding insight. That many of them also seem blind to anything else remains an interesting problem that crosses many fields (even SF/F /H book coverage) but that’s a rather different discussion altogether. On to the list!

Omega the Unknown – The best comic published by Marvel this year. The original series was written by the late Steve Gerber who is not quite the household name (he created Howard the Duck) he probably should be, but following him up on a series written in his prime is as imposing a feat for somebody in the comic field to tackle.

Enter Jonathan Lethem. Obviously, one of the finest novelists the U.S. has to offer; his qualifications aren’t in doubt. It is the enormity of Lethem’s presence that ultimately spell why Omega works so well. When I was a kid I never knew or cared about who created my comics and once you get halfway through the TPB you find yourself lost once again. It’s not a Lethem story, it’s an Omega the Unknown story, and Lethem shows us what is missing from comics – the removal of creator stamp through transcendent creativity. Lethem breathes no new life to the mythos; he doesn’t have to. He instead just goes back to a time when marvelous heroes breathed on their own in a series that either tells me that MARVEL is much more aware of themselves than I give them credit for; allowing for a title that poignantly reminisces on the freedom and life of its past; or they really have no idea what they are publishing beyond what is revealed on the surface. Either way, kudos to Marvel; it’s a fine story and we need more like it bearing their recognizable banner. It’s a book that the long-time comic fan can appreciate, and one that the non-fan can as well. Then we can go continue to ignore each other later.

Oh, and Farel Dalrymple, Paul Hornschemeier, and Gary Painter? It could have been Ultimate Strawberry Shortcake with that team on the visual – I’m there!

Elephantmen: Wounded Animals – First, you won’t find a consistently better quality product and bang for the buck than you will get from anything by Richard Starkings. If we remove content from all books altogether; Starking’s products outshine everything, and when you add content his Elephantmen is one of the fine SF stories in any medium over the last few years. It’s a dystopia with a noir narrative but firmly with a pulp sensibility that has absolutely gorgeous visuals. We are talking Ladronn, Moritat (as in soccer, people with one name: Bad assess) and Chris Bachalo among others. This hardcover collects the first seven issues and captures that big idea SF novelists have gotten away from.

I think I may have mentioned this last year, but you need to go back and get it anyway!

Sampling any Elephantmen or Hip Flask hardcover is not a losing proposition. At the very least, you will admire the value and craft of the product.

Pax Romana – from the creator who brought us The Nightly News; Jonathan Hickman is back with a near future SF tale, with child emperors, a genetically engineered pope, and a Vatican that has unlocked the secrets of time travel.

Somewhere within Hickman is a great SF novel and part of me hopes he never finds it and just continues to give us these burst of creativity that give comics a progressive shot in the arm.

Madame Xanadu – Veteran writer and the creator of Grendel, Matt Wagner, and newcomer Amy Reeder Hadley continue the tradition of taking DC characters and successfully re-imagine them under the Vertigo imprint. This is actually an origin tale to the character who debuted in the 70’s that ties Xanadu to a host of cult favorite DC characters and historical characters

Hadley is a star in making.

Green Lantern – You just can’t front on the work Geoff John has done with Green Lantern, the whole Sinestro Corps war, and the build-up to Blackest Night. It’s a full blown space opera that consolidates and does justice to all the Lanterns, and allows each fan base with their favorite GL to finally cheer on each other, and dread for each other.

An argument could be made that Johns was writing a half-dozen or so of the best 35 titles in comics this year with GL, JSA, Booster Gold, Action Comics, and Legion of Three Worlds. The guy is a damn pimp.

All-Star Superman – Definitive. The best Superman story since Alan Moore wrote Superman or at least since Alan Moore wrote Superman via Supreme.

One of the common discussions in the comics community involve what comics can be recommended to non-comic book fans. Such a question is immediately followed by an endless parade of Vertigo titles or independent works. That’s fine, and those are often times great recommendations, but All-Star Superman is the best of the bunch. It’s a title that fundamentally represents what a non-fan may be apprehensive of, and delivers a story you cannot help be a fan of.

Morrison and Quietly have both worked on other runs and titles that made them superstars in the field. I think All-Star Superman is the one we owes them most for. When you can do it with the icons; when you have no built-in excuses and deliver big – that makes you transcendent, and not just grumpy, held back, struggling, crusader. It is the same thing that separates an Alan Moore from all the wannabes – he’s done both. It could be your first Superman story, and your last. It has power as both.

The Escapists -I reviewed the hardcover earlier this year so I’m just going to add that for the fictional flashback art alone, this needs to be scooped up.

The scientific method has revealed that Brian K. Vaughan is unable to write bad comics.

Skyscrapers of the Midwest – This was no a 2008 release, but this title from Adhouse books. Josh Cotter puts on a clinic on how to jump back and forth, and in and out, of narrative. We are seeing a lot of these retrospective stories on childhood lately and this is one of the two best in recent years (the other is my main list). The shift from a child’s reality and fantasy is not accompanied by change in visual style, and it’s the loudest statement. One made by simply not making one.

There are certain books that really remind us the power of the cartoonist, and I haven’t felt as strongly about a project since screaming Yukon Ho! with Waterson.

This is available in beautiful hardcover and as Warren Ellis puts it , “one odd fucking book”.

I want to add that I continue to love both Fables and Scalped, so no hate mail! I also am really enjoying the new series by 3 creators who are coming off of top-shelf series. The art in Dave Sim’s Glamourpus is just gorgeous, and Jeff Smith and Terry Moore return with SF series in RASL and Echo that are destined for future places on my shelf when they are in hardcover! I don’t read The Walking Dead, and I’m just warming up to Proof.

Big-ups to VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT for bringing back classic runs and new stories in hardcover form! I can’t wait for more!

My favorite single issue?

Part of me wanted to say Jonah Hex#33 just because of the Darwyn Cooke (possibly my favorite creator in comics right now) goodness. I ended up having to go with an issue that really was simply the most fun read of the year for me, and it was Superman/Batman#52. Why? Pictures are worth . . .

. . . and the great Batman origin story:

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_{Jan-ken-pon is the time traveling, force-walking, multiverse crossing column of Jay Tomio, owner of 1/3 of everything you see currently on screen and the editor of Heliotrope. He wants to grow up to lead the Skull Squadron. Some call him the Bodhisattva.}

About Jay Tomio

...Jay Tomio is the co-owner of BSCreview and BSCkids--check out Jan-ken-pon, his time traveling, force-walking, multiverse crossing column. More fun awaits at the Vogue Immunity