A Year of Comics Reading

Well, 11 months actually. Here's a chart showing how many comics I got each week, and how many I read each day, from February to December of 2009:



(Click to make it legible size...)

I've mentioned before on this blog the fact that I have a fairly sizable comic book backlog; I estimate that it's somewhere around 1000 unread comics. This chart was part of my plan to try to reduce the size of the backlog.

Studies show that people who track calories by writing them down and monitor their weight weekly do a better job at losing weight and keeping it off. So early last year I decided to do the equivalent to see if I could slim down my comics backlog.

It seems to have been successful; by the end of the year the backlog was down 102 comics from where it was at the start of the year.

I averaged reading 31 comics each week. The biggest day for reading comics was Saturday; the lightest were Tuesday & Wednesday.

I began my 'week' on Thursday, since that's the day my DCBS shipment usually arrives. Any other comics acquired during the week also got added in.

I counted each item acquired and each item read as one comic, whether it was a 24-page pamphlet or a 720-page tome (I'm looking at you, Dash Shaw's Bottomless Belly Button!)

Did You Myth Me?

Today's Bizarro is brought to you by Friends for Dinner.

I could go off on another of my religious screeds but I shan't. For I findst mineself woefully arrears on mine weekly deadlineth and fear I shall be smited sorely.

Instead, let's say this cartoon reflects my own lack of expertise in the area of metric measurements (not to mention Biblical.) Like many of you, I was in public school in the seventies when the U.S. gov decided to get us on track with the rest of the world and switch us all to metric. It worked about as well as the "war on drugs" and our move toward independence from foreign oil.

All I'm saying is – God, don't be asking me to build the next ark unless you're going to explain it in feet and inches. Come to think of it, since you're all magic and ominipotent and stuff, why don't you just zap an ark into existence and tell me where to find it? Please make sure it has Internet, cable TV, and a decent-sized kitchen. Think "MTV crib" with animals.

YACB Best Comics of 2009

Let's see, I'm probably going to forget something... Here are my twenty favorite comics from the past year, in no particular order:

Yotsuba&! vols. 6-7 - Nothing gives me greater joy than a new volume of Yotsuba&!, and in 2009 we got two, thanks to Yen Press's resurrection of the title. I actually preferred ADV's less-literal translations, and I'm not a fan of the mess of fonts that Yen is using, but those are minor quibbles. When I was telling people that the new volume 6 was out, I simply said "Yotsuba gets a bike"; those who were familiar with the comic would instantly light up, knowing that Azuma is able to wring much hilarity out of such simple everyday premises.


Batman & Robin #1-3 - Grant Morrison is a good comic writer. Frank Quitely is a good comic artist. But put the two together, and you always get something greater than the sum of its parts. They kick off the era of the new Dick Grayson Batman with a three-part story that is full of action, plot and character. Every time Quitely draws a comic, he shows me something new.


Detective Comics #854-860: "Batwoman" - Like Morrison & Quitely, Greg Rucka & J.H. Williams III make for a great team. Their new Batwoman headlining feature in 'Tec is a visual tour de force, but always in service to the story. Most of today's comics waste their high production values on mediocrity, but here the bold colors jump off the shiny pages and the contrasts between the chaotic action and the sedate in-between sections work in ways to stretch the narrative.


3 Story - Matt Kindt's OGN about a man who never stops growing. Kindt takes a fantastic narrative and makes it compellingly ordinary. Craig Pressgang is a character both compelling and enigmatic, as his story is told from the viewpoints of three women in his life.


Ganges #3 - Kevin Huizenga's ode to insomnia. If 3 Stories makes the fantastic ordinary, Kindt pulls off the opposite with his Glenn Ganges stories, making the ordinary compelling.


Incredible Hercules - The perfect example of how to do a myth-based super-hero comic. This past year saw Herc and his pal Amadeus Cho journey to the afterlife, have a falling out, and then come together to take on the Olympians outpost on Earth. Along the way, Hercules impersonates Thor. Fun from beginning to end.


The Muppet Show - There may not be a better pairing of artist & commercial subject matter than Roger Langridge and the Muppet Show. Langridge distills the essence of what makes the Muppets work and filters it through his own sensibilities. With so many mediocre licensed comics out there, Langridge & Boom! show that it can be done right.


Jonah Hex #50 - An epic western tale in one (oversized) issue, with art by the always reliable Darwyn Cooke. Brutal, violent and heartbreaking. In other words, everything you want in a Jonah Hex comic.


Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #53-58 - Paul Tobin's reboot of the Marvel Adventures line finds us with a Peter Parker in high school, and a perfect cast of supporting characters to round things out. Every story is done-in-one, but with enough continuing subplots to keep things going from issue to issue. It looks like Marvel is canceling this soon, which is a shame.


Batman: The Brave and the Bold #4 - Mainly the first two pages, which may be the best comics I've read all year. Batman teams up with Sugar & Spike to take on Felix Faust. Really. It's awesome. Thank you, Matt Wayne & Andy Suriano!


Beasts of Burden #1-4 - Evan Dorkin & Jill Thompson take their stories of animals who protect their neighborhood to their own series. Thompson's painted artwork is perfect. The ending of issue #2 is one of the saddest, most brutally heartbreaking things I've read in a long while.


Captain Britain and MI13 #10-15: "Vampire State" - DRACULA shoots VAMPIRES at EARTH from a CANNON on the FReAKIN' MOON! Sometimes I just love comics!


Love & Capes #9-12 - Thom Zahler end the first 'season' of his romantic comedy super-hero story with the lead-up to Mark & Abby's wedding. Both the drama and the gags work well, and Zahler's art keeps things zipping along.


The Cartoon History of the Modern World pt 2 - Larry Gonick finishes his 30-years-in-the-making History of the Universe, and it's worth the wait. Gonick is the measuring stick against which all other non-fiction comics should be measured.


Johnny Cash: I See a Darkness - Reinhard Kleist's German OGN about the original Man in Black is translated into English. Kleist captures the essense of Cash's life with his appropriately moody artwork, and does an excellent job interweaving some of Cash's songs into the narrative as visual reveries. A good example of how to do a comic book biography.


The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - Did we really need another comic book adaptation of Baum's Oz? Yes, when done with great skill by Eric Shanower & Skottie Young. By giving the story proper room to breathe, Shanower is able to bring to the front parts of the story that are usually glossed over or missing from other adaptations (I'm looking at you, well-loved MGM movie!) And rarely have the denizens of Oz looked better than when drawn by Young.


Cat Burglar Black - Richard Sala's fun-goth sensibilities are filtered though an all-ages story, but never lose their essence.


"Supergirl" in Wednesday Comics - In a comic full of all-star talent, Jimmy Palmiotti & Amanda Conner more than hold their own. Krypto & Streaky go nuts, and Supergirl must get them under control. Out-cutes just about anything else published this year.


Parker: The Hunter - Darwyn Cooke's adaptation of Richard Starking's first Parker novel is dripping with mood. It's comic book noir done right.


Beanworld Book 3: Remember Here When You Are There! - Larry Marder finishes the 'spring' cycle of Beanworld in an all-new hardcover. A great reminder of just how far the simple comic format can go. Funny how I'd never before caught on to the Gnostic undertones of the Beanworld narrative...



I'm sure there are plenty of good comics published last year that I sadly haven't yet got around to reading, so don't fret if your favorites aren't listed here.

They're GREEEEAAAT!

Bizarro is brought to you today by Scary Maneaters.

Okay, so this cartoon could be construed as being political and my readers often object to my doing that, but I think this is a good kind of political. It makes a broad point about human nature, not something specific to any particular party's beliefs, therefore not likely to alienate any of my readers. Even viewers of Fox News.

It is an immutable fact that humans are far and away the most dangerous and destructive animal on the planet, but we are so anthropocentric that as soon as any other beast touches one of us, posses of goobers comb the countryside killing everything that looks like the offender. Sad, unjust, shortsighted, perverse, but utterly predictable.

But to be fair to we humans, I think it is good to note that if any other species had risen to our level of dominance, it would likely have behaved similarly. Survival (of oneself, one's offspring, species, way of life, etc.) is a such a strong primal urge that it is not easily defeated. When we or one of ours has been attacked, it is easy for emotion to overcome reason and strike back irrationally.

Our mutant brains are simultaneously our greatest ally and our biggest fault. In the hands of a fool, the human brain is a deadly weapon. (You may quote me. Please. I'm dying to be quoted by someone for any reason at all. My ego is an eggshell in a hurricane, throw me a bone.)

Sorry for the mixed metaphor in that last sentence. I hope it does not deter you from quoting me.

One final point: Don't you think tigers are pretty?

Monkey Covers

Sunday is Monkey Covers day here at YACB. Because there's nothing better than a comic with a monkey on the cover!

Wolff & Byrd defend the proverbial 800-pound gorilla on Batton Lash's cover to Supernatural Law #35 (2002).

(Standard disclaimer about gorillas who can sit wherever they want not really being monkeys applies.)


Image courtesy of the GCD. Click on the image for a larger version.

Pun For The Whole Pamily

(If you want to see some big cartoon in front of your face, click the chocolate head's pipe)

Bizarro is brought to you today by Awesome Possibilities.

Here's the third in a continuing series of puns. I like unusual puns but don't often think of them, so the vast majority of the ones you see in this series are donated from friends or readers. If you think of an original pun, send it to me via email (found on Bizarro.com) or as a comment on my blog. If I think it might make a fun gag, you may experience the ecstasy of seeing your idea in the Sunday comics. But keep in mind, that's the only compensation you'll get. It's not a paying gig, it's just for giggles.

The most challenging thing about the ones above was rendering the college professors in chocolate. It was a bit harder than I thought it would be. I wanted to make them dark enough to look like chocolate, but not so dark that they looked like globs of motor oil. Also, without the mortarboard caps, there would be nothing to identify them as academia so I had to include that on each one, which crowds the box and adds a level of confusion that wouldn't have been there otherwise. In the end, I think it works well enough.

Drawing feet from a jillion different angles was no picnic either, but I've always been pretty good with anatomy, so it wasn't a nightmare.

Until Monday, "Keep a song in your heart and a dagger in your teeth." --Doris Day

Amazon Top 50

Here are the Top 50 Graphic Novels on Amazon this morning. All the previous caveats apply.

1 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
2 (-). The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb
3 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw
4 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules
5 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid
6 (+6). Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History
7 (+1). Watchmen
8 (+12). Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
9 (+8). The Complete Persepolis
10 (-4). Dilbert: 2010 Day-to-Day Calendar
11 (-4). Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth
12 (+21). Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic
13 (+8). Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
14 (+10). Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
15 (-5). Asterios Polyp
16 (+13). Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began
17 (-8). The Walking Dead Volume 11: Fear The Hunters *
18 (-3). The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks
19 (-8). Dilbert: 2010 Wall Calendar
20 (-7). Footnotes in Gaza: A Graphic Novel
21 (+1). V for Vendetta
22 (-6). The Complete Calvin and Hobbes
23 (+19). American Born Chinese
24 (-10). Predators and Prey (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Vol. 5)
25 (R). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 3: Scott Pilgrim & the Infinite Sadness
26 (R). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 2: Scott Pilgrim Versus The World
27 (R). Serenity, Vol. 2: Better Days
28 (R). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 1: Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life
29 (R). The Complete Maus: A Survivor's Tale
30 (-4). Simon's Cat
31 (+8). Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight Volume 6: Retreat *
32 (R). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 5: Scott Pilgrim vs The Universe
33 (N). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 4: Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together
34 (-6). Stitches: A Memoir
35 (R). Bone: The Complete Cartoon Epic in One Volume
36 (+11). Stephen King's The Stand Vol. 2: American Nightmares *
37 (-10). The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes
38 (R). The Sandman Vol. 4: Season of Mists
39 (+10). Incognito
40 (-6). Blankets
41 (-). The Arrival
42 (-24). Marvel Encyclopedia
43 (N). Invincible Iron Man, Vol. 3: World's Most Wanted, Book 2
44 (-9). The Complete Peanuts 1971-1974 (Box Set) (Vol. 11-12)
45 (R). No Future For You (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Volume 2)
46 (+4). The Walking Dead Compendium Volume 1
47 (-16). The Boys Volume 5: Herogasm
48 (N). Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth
49 (R). The Long Way Home (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, Vol. 1)
50 (-2). Batman: Battle for the Cowl


Items with asterisks (*) are pre-order items.

N = New listing appearing on list for first time
R = Item returning to the list after having been off for 1 or more weeks


Commentary:

* I forgot to do this list on Friday, so here it is on Saturday morning. I may decide to move this feature to Saturdays for 2010. Or not. I have six days to decide, I guess...

* With the start of a new semester, the University Effect is in full swing, with titles like Maus & Persepolis popping up into the top 10.

* Recent publicity about the upcoming Scott Pilgrim movie seems to be the impetus for all five Scott Pilgrim volumes suddenly showing up in the middle of the list. Will this be sustainable (at least until the movie comes out)? Oddly, volume 4 never showed up on the top 50 list last year.

* Also oddly Chris Ware's Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth never appeared on the list last year either. The only true new item this week is the latest Invincible Iron Man collection.

* That promised 2009 Amazon best sellers mega list and commentary will hopefully be posted sometime next week...