Hey Chums Welcome Back!
This is part 2 of my attempt to look back on the year and figure out what I liked. It’s been a funny year so you’ll excuse me if I missed out your groundbreaking and genre busting book (I may just have thought it was shite! Or it might just be my poor memory).
So without further drum roll let’s get on with it. Here’s the one that you have probably been waiting for. I’ve read so many small press comics this year that this one had to be a Top Ten.
Small Press.
1. The Human Beings Universe - This is a maze of mystery, tense drama, romance and horror that will fuck with your melon and stay with you for a long time after reading. Stuart McCune (who is with full disclosure here a good friend) has created a world unlike anything that you will find elsewhere in comics. His jazz like strands of narrative intermingle in a world that is dark yet shockingly beautiful. Noir was a perfect bound item of pure art and his upcoming Walk in Like An Exorcist looks to be more of the same. He runs prompt and reliable Kickstarter campaigns where you can gather the back issues needed to jump on board at any moment. Get on this!
2. Andromeda by Ze Burnay. I picked this up from the creator at Thoughtbubble and have not stopped rattling on about how good it is for weeks and months. It is a freak of a story that mixes some intricately detailed black and white inked line-work with a story that Jodorowsky or Lynch would be proud of writing. It has a pseudo religious approach that couples with a nightmarish horror element that makes for a genuinely fresh reading experience.
3. Plan A / Plan B - from the crazy world of John Tucker was also one of those books that just cleaned the dreck of formulaic comics out of my system. John writes with personality and an outlandishly quirky sensibility and is always original in approach and format. This is a flip book that meets in the middle in narrative and will at once make you smile and feel the slap of realisation to your chops. I’d recommend anything by the creator and his poster comic CYDO is also well worth a goosey!
4. Satan’s Library - Adam Falp is a machine of a small press creator. He lands in the muddy sidewalk of outsider art and combines this with a splendid love of the the Bronze Age of weirdness. This book tells a story of a search for the unusual in a back street comic shop and includes smaller format homage comics to different schools of our favourite medium. It has a darkness attached as well to it’s flow that is shown in the darkness of the ink and shadow on the paper. What will this underground creator have out next I hear you ask!
5. Park Bench Kensington - Peony Gent. Showing what can be done with ink and colour on a page Peony has shown the small press world how to deliver an emotional and socially relevant story in a comic full of the instinctual and abstract. This is a true story and every second has a truth to the panels. Just a joy to read and ponder over Peony really is a creator to watch.
6. Threadbare - Gareth Brookes. This is a quiet and initiate listen in to a conversation on a train between two women in their later years and their own private story of love and regret. Told as it happened by Gareth but in the medium of embroidery this was another comic that brought a lump to my throat. A good comic can interpret feelings and real life onto the page of something that we read and communicates all of that back at us and more. This was a real favourite this year that stuck with me. Gareth is a thoughtful creator who is always one to watch.
7. Palace of Tears - Michael Lomon. I’ve been quietly following the work of this London based creator for some time now and this was another incredible piece of art with some genuine reverence to it’s story. Michael retells a folk legend with breathtaking scope and detail. I haven’t seen this mentioned elsewhere on the scene and it really does deserve much more attention. Easily one of the best illustrators on the scene at the moment and people really need to sit up and take note.
8. Manu - by Gustaffo Vargas. It came as no surprise to me that this geezer has become one of the stand out artists on the scene this year. I reviewed his book L1MA back in May and loved it and Manu is more of the same edgy nature crossed with near future cyberpunk. It has a superb pace to it’s story that mixes in some moments of personal sensitivity. I’ve been saying that he’ll be the next big artist at 2000AD or Image and finally people are agreeing!
9. A Hill To Cry Home - Gareth A Hopkins. Continuing his assault on the battlements of the banal and the ordinary Mr Hopkins has had a bumper year with his abstractions and poetry. He has seemingly upped his output and still manages to put out some inspiring work. I’ll happily recommend anything he creates to the intelligent amongst you lot!
10. How to Make Comics With Springworth - Alright! Calm down at the back! Listen, I know that I wrote this but my input into this comic is minimal compared to the just flabbergastingly incredible artwork supplied by Mr Andy Hanks. Published as part of the charity Little Heroes for Fair Spark Books this is a fucking crime that I’m not seeing Andy mentioned more on these lists! MORE PUNCHING!!!!! This is the ideal comic for a bored child in the holidays and tells the story of a trio of superheroes and their robotic butler. The story also allows the reader to fill in details, design costumes and monsters and solve puzzles.
Many thanks for reading. Part three to follow soon.
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