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Showing posts from January, 2014

Max Clotfelter's 10 Favorite Mini-Comics Of 2013

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As is our annual tradition, we invited a number of our friends who are also cartoonists, comics publishers and editors to tell us what their favorite comics of 2013 were. This is the last of those lists. Max Clotfelter 's books include Alligator Milk and Andros . Visit his website . Crawdads #3 by Karissa Sakumoto Favorite comic I read all year. Ketchup the dawg slams a 40 and goes on an alley adventure involving arm-wrestling, torture wheels, and…JAH?!?! Skull Vomit Comix #4 by Royce Icon Another great collection of one-page comics by Royce. Each page is a peek into some grim memory or dream. Every drawing vibrates with anxiety and urgency. Snakebomb Comix III by Jack Hayden (ed.) This is like a Jet Magazine for scumbag comix freaks. A perfect mix of styles ranging from barbarian sci-fi to nightmarish muppet sex. Real Madness Comics #5 by Bobby Madness This zine is one-half fascinating auto-bio comics about drugs and jobs and one-half killer sci-fi war comix abou

Lale Westvind's Favorite/Best Comics Of 2013

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As is our annual tradition, we invited a number of our friends who are also cartoonists, comics publishers and editors to tell us what their favorite comics of 2013 were. We'll be publishing them all over the next few weeks. Lale Westvind 's books include Hot Dog Beach and Titus And The Cyber Sun . She also edits the amazing anthology Chromazoid . Visit her website . These are my favorites so these are all gushing rave reviews, please excuse me. Almost more in chronological order of publication than by preference. 1. School Spirits by Anya Davidson The energetic flow of the drawing in this book is almost overwhelming. Torquey electric lines bring to mind both EC-era comics and Raw Magazine ; classic contours with punky edges. Garf and Oola are two high school girls phasing in between their bizarro classrooms and their wild daydreams. Once you get used to it the telepathic spectacle is smooth and undulating. You're riding shotgun on the character's thought w

Atomic's 2013 Best Sellers: Toys

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These are the 15 best selling toys at Atomic Books in 2012. 1. Doctor Who Mini Figures 2. Let's Hang Zipper Pulls 3.  Dunny 2013 Series 4.  Mini Labbits (Series 5) 5. Mini Happy Labbits 6. Yummy Breakfast Keychains 7. Marvel Frenzies 8. Yummy Dessert Keychains 9. Unicornos (Series 2) 10. Dunny 2012 Series 11.  Dunny Post-Apocalypse Series 12.  Domo Danglers 13. Simpsons Figures (Series 2) 14. Unicornos Frenzies 15. Phonezies

Josh Bayer's Best Comics of 2013

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As is our annual tradition, we invited a number of our friends who are also cartoonists, comics publishers and editors to tell us what their favorite comics of 2013 were. We'll be publishing them all over the next few weeks. Josh Bayer 's books include Raw Power #2 and Suspect Device . Visit his website . BEST COMIC Gagz by Lauren Weinstein (blog comics) I have loved watching a part of Lauren's work reemerge that was present in Inside Vineyland , her first book, printed in 2002. At that point the comics had a young energy, often dealing with high school memories and social satire. Like Lou Reed when he wrote New Sensations, detailing his relocation from NY's 1970’s lower east side to 1980's New Jersey's suburbs, she meditates on the experience of becoming an older, less urban, more nuclear family-oriented figure, and she does it without diminishing the honesty and originality displayed by her early work. She tackles these themes with the same kind of ir

Conor Stechschulte's Best Comics of 2013

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As is our annual tradition, we invited a number of our friends who are also cartoonists, comics publishers and editors to tell us what their favorite comics of 2013 were. We'll be publishing them all over the next few weeks. Conor Stechschulte 's books include Water Phase , The Dormitory and Cashing Capital . Visit his website. 1. School Spirits by Anya Davidson This is my candidate for book of the year. Davidson has been mastering her craft in monastic solitude for years and she brings all of her considerable powers to bear on this sci-fi teen story. This thing is busting at the seams with narrative and visual invention while still capturing the teenage experience with sensitivity and specificity. This book also great for laffs out loud. 2. Windowpane 2 by Joe Kessler Joe Kessler makes me so excited about the future of comics. His Windowpane one-man anthologies go in so many directions at once. They expand the powers and abilities of the comics medium. Deli

Josh Burggraf's Comix He Enjoyed In 2013

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As is our annual tradition, we invited a number of our friends who are also cartoonists, comics publishers and editors to tell us what their favorite comics of 2013 were. We'll be publishing them all over the next few weeks. Josh Burggraf is responsible for titles like Future Shock and Kid Space Heater . Visit his tumblr.

Molly Colleen O'Connell's Top Ten Comics / Zines / Phamphlets of 2013

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As is our annual tradition, we invited a number of our friends who are also cartoonists, comics publishers and editors to tell us what their favorite comics of 2013 were. We'll be publishing them all over the next few weeks. Molly Colleen O'Connell 's books include Difficult Loves and Vajazzlin' . Visit her website. School Spirits by Anya Davidson (Picturbox Inc) Anya is not messing around. I want to keep copies of School Spirits in my ponytail so I can drop a copy on unsuspecting oddball teens. I can not express enough love for these pages and my hopes that they will shape new young comic readers' minds. Infomaniacs by Matt Thurber (Picturebox Inc) Anyone can write an internet joke, but Thurber composed a digital era / social media comedic opus. There are literally joke banners on top of jokes. If M Night Shyamalan ghost wrote "She's All That", who's to say Thurber didn't hack the Singularity? Windowpane 2 by Joe Kessler (Br

J.T. Yost's Best Comics Of 2013

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As is our annual tradition, we invited a number of our friends who are also cartoonists, comics publishers and editors to tell us what their favorite comics of 2013 were. We'll be publishing them all over the next few weeks. J.T. Yost is the founder of Birdcage Bottom Books and a talented cartoonist. Visit his site.    Mr. Mom-ing for two kids doesn't leave me near enough time for reading comics, so my list will be comprised of comics that we distribute at Birdcage Bottom Books: (in no particular order) 1. Jason Little's Borb series This homage to classic newspaper strips like Gasoline Alley about a homeless alcoholic manages to be funny, moving and full of pathos. Gorgeous artwork throughout. 2. Marek Bennett's Slovakia: Fall in the Heart of Europe Marek's simply drawn anthropomorphic bunnies allow for such a huge range of emotion in this huge collection of diary comics and stories. I knew virtually nothing about Slovakia before reading th

Sam Spina's Favorite Comics of 2013

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As is our annual tradition, we invited a number of our friends who are also cartoonists, comics publishers and editors to tell us what their favorite comics of 2013 were. We'll be publishing them all over the next few weeks. Sam Spina is a prolific cartoonist, perhaps best known for Spinadoodles . Visit his website . Mimi and the Wolves by Alabaster Beautiful, dramatic and inspiring. Alabaster’s books are the reason I love comics so much. 100% handmade and uniquely ‘her’. That’s dumb, I can’t really explain what I mean. I just love her stuff and this is her best book yet, I can’t wait for part two. It’s just so PRETTY. If I could get any cartoonist to draw me a tattoo it would be her. Weekend Alone by Noah Van Sciver (Tinto Press) Noah is my favorite writer in comics and I think he put out the best Blammo so far this year, but I'm going to choose his sketchbook put out by Tinto Press instead. The range of his comic is incredible, the super funny highs are comple