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I’m a pretty selective comix reader. I have been for (yikes) 30 years. Some books I read in trade paperback, others as ongoing monthlies, while some I even special-order online. Here’s my list of top picks for 2011. The biggest surprise is the dominance of Image comics, which has been putting out some really wild stuff. They are pushing the boundaries in comix these days and their books are testimony. This year I discovered artists like Fiona Staples and Francis Manapul. While Nick Spencer came out of nowhere and has totally replaced my BKV ( sorry dude, you’ve been otta the game) fix. Okay, so without further ado, The Best Comix of 2011:

10. Butcher Baker the Righteous Maker (Image) - For those of us that live balls in the wind.
9. Xombi (DC)- If you like puns, Korean-Americans, and transpersonal psychology, then this is for you!
8. Our Love is Real (Self-published and now Image) Rick Santorum’s nightmare sci-fi.
7. Batwoman (DC)- With art like this and solid character development you’d be crazy not to love it.
6. Unwritten (Vertigo) - Collective fictional subconsciousness, wrap your head around that one!
5. Irredeemable (Boom)- Shrinks are using it to reform wayward youth, and the story is twisted fun.
4. Halcyon (Image)- The best philosophical comic dressed as a super-hero.
3. Infinite Vacation (Image) - Brilliant concept, gorgeous art, artistic self-mutilation at its best.
2. Uncanny X-Force (Marvel) - RICK REMENDER I LOVE YOU~
1. Morning Glories (Image) - Hands down the most addictive read of the year. Imagine a school for kids like Walt from Lost (season 1) yeah- it’s awesome~

I’ve been slow to comment on the new DC comix. In some cases I’ve had to reread issues to get the full scope and in other cases I feel like I actually would like a refund but I’m too lazy to bother. Far and way my favorite book is Batwoman, but it doesn’t really count, so I take that out of my top 10 listing. So here we go:

1. Flash (Thinking faster than moving and AMAZING ART!)

2. Animal Man (Creepy and fun and all that a comic book should be!)

3. Wonder Woman (Amazing Art and the story is ok so far)

4. Action Comic (took 3 times to read this one to actually like it)

5. Red Hood and The Outlaws (for the shear offensiveness of it)

6. Batgirl ( just curious to see where this goes, solid art)

7. Green Lantern Corps (pretty art, less annoying than Hal Jordan these days)

8. Stormwatch (like watching a horrible movie adaptation of your favorite book get ruined but you can’t help but love it)

9. Shade ( not sure if this can count since it’s not ongoing)

10. Justice League (because it feels like adolescent pornostalia)

This is only after 2 months of reading, so stay tuned to see if there were any revisions.

Back in the early 90s when I was in high school, Image comics was launched and I was inspired. Artists controlling their own creations and making a living off it!? Who would have thunk it?! I gobbled up all that Valentino, Larsen, Lee, and McFarlane churned out. And within 2 years I was over it…Vertigo, Darkhorse and Oni became the cooler cats on the block and I saw Image as the place with pretty pictures and boring stories. Image books had little philosophy, irony, or any real sense of narrative structure to light my fire; back then, they were all just concept books. Flash forward 20 years and Image is now churning out some really cool stuff in terms of stories…and the art is getting edgier and less commercially driven. Infinite Vacation, Halcyon, ButcherBaker the Righteous Maker, and MorningGlories have got me excited about comix again! And with BKV and Fiona Staple’s Saga coming out next year I predict big things for Image!

Marvel revamped their roster over 10 years ago with the Ultimates line. Now DC has pressed the reset button on their universe and I can’t help but wonder if our reality is next? Isn’t all this hoopla about tax reform about simplifying the code and making it more accessible? And what about the debt our nation has accrued? What if that could be brought back to #1? I suppose the same kind of cataclysmic events that normally occur in comics would befall our world. Or maybe, nothing would happen and we’d get the chance to revamp ourselves just like Superman and Aquaman. I guess that will be forthcoming in The Economist’s fall What If? special issue.

Growing up as a reader of the X-men in the 1980s I easily recognized them as the outsiders of the Marvel universe. There was a counter-culture vibe to them because their members (at the time) sported mohawks, funny accents, and they tended to drink more booze than the Avengers or family friendly Fantastic Four. Then along came The Queer Eye of Bryan Singer and the freaks and muties became blatant card carrying members of HRC. From the clips I’ve seen of the new X-Men flick, this theme is in full bloom again. The few out and proud X-Men who are in fact homos (NorthStar, Karma, and one of the new muties I forget the name of) are at best D-list members of the team. When are we gonna see a Neil Patrick Harris caliber X-Man? When will these uncanny men and women stop dancing around the issue?  Where once, mutants represented the minority cultures of the Marvel universe (black, latino, Asian, Jewish, disabled, immigrant, etc.), today in 2011 it’s pretty clear that the X-Men are gay. I mean come one- Wolverine did Broadway?!

One of the sleeper hits in comicdom of the last year was Image’s, Morning Glories.The mysterious tale of a boarding school for special teens does a great job of revitalizing the cliched plot scenario we’ve all seen before. But something about the dialogue and the art works. I couldn’t put the first tradepaper back down and am totally hooked after just 6 issues. If you like character driven action comics with plenty of geek midrash…then this comic is for you.

As you may know, I am currently working on one of the last books by Harvey Pekar. People often ask me, “How do you work with someone if they’re…well dead?” The answer is obviously complicated and wrapped up in some emotions. Harvey and I started this project in 2007, we went through two different scripts before we created a third one together. When Harvey passed away last summer we were 2/3s of the way towards a completed script. I spent the remainder of last year fleshing out what we had started together. Yesterday, I completed the layouts for the entire book. My Harvey Year is now well beyond just one year so I think the next post in this series will be called, My Harvey YEARS. And so it goes…

Yep, it’s that season again when all things related to Esther, Purim, and hamentaschen are in vogue! And just in time for the holiday I am pleased to announce that Megillat Esther, the first graphic novel adaptation of the Book of Esther, is back in print! Supplies are limited so please order your copy today from JPS or at Amazon. And if you’re in the DC area check out original art from the book at Sixth & I – a downtown historic Jewish venue. And of course … Happy Adar II!

After years of putting it off, I have finally begun watching the famed HBO series that unearths the layers of Baltimore life. The show has some amazing editing and cinematography. I especially like the jump cuts that leap to the different characters in symbolic ways, coffee cups becoming hub-caps, cans being shipping containers or beer. I wonder what a comic book version of the Wire would look like? A little bit of Jock with some Sean Phillips? If you haven’t seen it…go watch the Wire.

I figured I’d give a whirl with the year-end tradition of listing things that I like and decided to list my 10 favorite comix of the past year. I include, comic books, trade paperbacks, zines, and graphic novels in my list. So here goes:

1. Planetary

2. Stumptown

3. Atomic Robo

4. New Mutants

5. Unwritten

6. Gaylord Phoenix

7. Uncanny X-Force

8. Moving Pictures

9. Ex Machina

10. Supergod

Yes, I have a bookend of Warren Ellis titles on my list. I am well aware that this was a good year for him, again. These books were the most engaging for me this year. Books like Green Lantern, Sweet Tooth, and Daytrippers, were good, but didn’t resonate with me as much. On the other hand, the Final Crisis tpb haunted me for a good three weeks, that was by far the most crushing story of the year. I also finally read Millar’s run on the Ultimate Avengers. If Whedon can translate that, then we’re in for a good flick!

I look forward to 2011 and Batwoman and Next Men making the list next year!