These are the best comics I read on from last year. Unlike music, I actually feel somewhat knowledgeable of what comics are new and cool (I read a lot of them). These ranged from epic sized graphic novels to minicomis, to stories in anthologies, none of this is superhero related, oddly enough no manga. So here is my list:
2011 BEST COMICS IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER:
Pope Hats # 2 by Ethan Rilly (issue 1 is good, number 2 is amazing)
Forming vol 1 by Jesse Moynihan (this is the best webcomic on the internet, the print version is gorgeous)
Thickness # 2 anthology (both DeForge and Brandon Graham have great stories, excellent anthology)
Wolves by Becky Cloonan (best mini maybe of all time, unsurprisingly from Becky)
Orc Stain # 6 by James Stokoe (I love orc stain)
Big Questions collection by Anders Nilson (epic)
Habibi by Craig Thompson (Craig Thompson’s follow up to Blankets)
Optic Nerve # 12 by Adrian Tomine (I’m glad Optic Nerve is back, this one’s full color with two stories, and the letters, oh man I miss reading the letters, also picked up a Tomine print)
Hark A Vagrant collection by Kate Beaton (everyone should read these)
Lose # 3 by Michael DeForge (Probably my favorite creator I discovered this year, I bought all available books of his at the Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Fest – all his comics are amazing.)
Love And Rockets new stories vol. 4 by Jamie and Gilbert Hernandez (I love love and rockets)
The Speaker by Brandon Graham in DHP #7 (Brandon Graham’s story is enough to put it on my favorites list, didn’t care for much of the rest of the issue)
Any Empire by Nate Powell (Nate Powell’s follow up to Swallow Me Whole)
Hair Shirt by Patrick McEwon (I just picked this one up, really malancholy and beautiful)
P.S. – Favorite albums of last year: Wye Oak – Civillian; Fucked Up – David Comes To Life