For the Record (Uh huh, sure)
by Dan Nadel
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
I was kinda bummed to see the PW Best of 2006 critics poll. I contributed to it, thinking that we’d each have our own lists in there as well. Maybe I didn’t read the instructions close enough. No big deal, but I feel totally disconnected from it as it stands, so I thought I’d post the list I made in a slightly revised form, at the very least to promote the books I really believe in. As for their list, I just don’t get it. The Bechdel book I found pretentious, overwrought, and really poorly drawn, and Scott Pilgrim is cute teen stuff, that I guess cute teenagers like, but…huh? McCloud? Lost Girls? Ugh, don’t get me started.
And while I’m bumming your trip, I heartily suggest everyone read Gary Groth’s essay on the book Eisner/Miller in the current Comics Journal. It’s an excellent piece of criticism that goes to the heart of the problems with contemporary comics criticism and historical writing (and dimly relates to how, in any sort of sane world, Fun Home and Scott Pilgrim could rank above Kim Deitch and Carol Tyler). It also pokes further holes in the Eisner legend, which is an ongoing “hobby” of Gary’s, and one which I fully support.
My faintly revised list:
1. Shadowland by Kim Deitch (Fantagraphics)
Another masterpiece from Deitch, who, more than any other cartoonist working today, is in full control of the medium. This tragi-comic yarn is moving, terrifying and deeply deeply awe-inspiring. The man is a national treasure.
2. Late Bloomer by Carol Tyler (Fantagraphics)
Released at the very end of 2005, too late for best-of lists, Late Bloomer towers over 2006. Tyler’s timeworn but eloquent voice is much needed in comics. Late Bloomer is that rare thing: a wise book. Neither pretentious nor showy, it is full of insight, perfectly drawn, and one of the few to insist on truth above all else. A risky, bold work of art and indisputably the best book of 2006.
3. Or Else 4 by Kevin Huizenga (Drawn and Quarterly)
Kevin’s epic attempt to explain the universe on a micro level was a moving and humbling comic—expansive in scope and filled with the good-natured love and nimble curiosity that marks his work.
4. Girl Stories by Lauren Weinstein (Henry Holt)
Weinstein’s book is perhaps the most important of the year for widely introducing a unique voice. Like Tyler, Weinstein comes at comics from the outside and has none of the baggage and stylistic tics that plague so many others. Hers is a clear, funny and humane voice and together with her gorgeous, evocative linework, it makes her a compelling talent.
5. The Squirrel Mother by Megan Kelso (Fantagraphics)
A wonderful collection of short stories by Megan Kelso. Pitch-perfect cartooning and closely observed tales of family, history and America make this a gem-like volume. Kelso is certainly one of our finest cartoonists.
6. Lucky by Gabrielle Bell (Drawn and Quarterly)
Bell has a wicked ear for dialogue and draws some of the most nuanced body language in comics. Her first book of mature work displays her talents to great effect. Despite the familiarity of the subject matter—20-something ennui—Bell makes it all new again with her eye for detail.
7. A Last Cry for Help by Dave Kiersh (Bodega)
This is a hilarious comic book version of a 1970s teen sex romp. Genuinely erotic in parts and always funny, Kiersh’s book is a delight.
8. Ghost of Hoppers by Jaime Hernandez (Fantagraphics)
Jaime remains the king of understated emotions and concise cartoon language. This wonderful book about hitting middle age and letting go of old memories is one of his finest works.
9. Ed the Happy Clown by Chester Brown (Drawn and Quarterly), even in reprint form, demands respect. His liner notes and stellar covers make this re-serializing qualify as a “new book”. It provides an unparalleled insight into one of our most important artist’s feelings about his crucial work both then and now. More than just history, it feels like Brown asserting and reconstructing his identity as a cartoonist.
Reprints:
It’s been a great year for them. My favorites are Jeet Heer and Chris Ware’s superlative Gasoline Alley series and Dark Horse Comics’ Magnus Robot Fighter. About as far apart on the spectrum as you can go, but why not? Frank King and Russ Manning both understood body language and space extremely well, but put it in service to, um, very different content. Drawn and Quarterly’s Moomin book and Tatsumi series are also favorites, as well as Fantagraphics’ Popeye book.
Notes:
Despite all the interest and activity from major publishers, this year once again demonstrates the virtues of small, brilliant publishers like Drawn & Quarterly and Fantagraphics. Nurturing unique artists, growing with them, and releasing quality work remains the best (and oddly unique to these two companies!) business model. All the hype and money in the world can’t beat it.
And, I’d be remiss as a publisher and a critic if I didn’t mention Ninja by Brian Chippendale (PictureBox). I know it’s rather rude to put my own book on the list, but it’s how I really feel. In terms of formal daring and drawing, no other book this year has gone further with such success. Chippendale, like Gary Panter before him, uses drawing as a form of expression, turning comic visuals into a multi-layered medium for real mark making. His long form meditation on urban life, gentrification, war, friendship and violence is moving and profound.
Labels: Alison Bechdel, Brian Chippendale, Carol Tyler, Chester Brown, clueless critics, Frank King, Gabrielle Bell, Gary Groth, Gary Panter, Jaime Hernandez, Kevin Huizenga, Kim Deitch, Megan Kelso, Publishers Weekly, Russ Manning, top tens, Will Eisner, Yoshihiro Tatsumi
Great list, Dan. I have trouble writing up lists like this and ranking comics, but certainly I’d have Bell, Weinstein, Huizenga, Tyler, and Kelso up there on mine. You might find Dash Shaw’s work a bit showy, but I have his The Mother’s Mouth up there as well.
I’d also consider the 2 issues of Thrizzle that Mike Kupperman put out, the Art D’Ecco collection from the Langridge brothers, John Hankiewicz’s Asthma collection, Mome, and Alixopolous’ Mine Tonight.
–Rob Clough
sequart.com
Pretty sure you mean Or Else 4, as Or Else 3 was the thing that came out last year and was a compendium of short strips, including autobio stuff. “The Wild Kingdom” is in 4.
sniff.
I like your list a lot, but as a peer it irritates the shit out of me to see you put Carol Tyler on the list just because it was too late to go on last year’s lists.
1) It wasn’t too late to go on mine.
2) Stop making lists so early if you leave off great books.
3) You didn’t make a list last year, and neither did PW.
4) If you did, you should still revise your old list, not add it on this year’s.
That may sound ludicrous, but I think it speaks to the heart of the exercise. It looks like a cheap way to get an obvious great book on your list, and keeps you from having to make a harder choice on down the rankings.
It didn’t irritate me so much on the PW list, but I expect better from the great Dan Nadel.
(psst: swap Renee’s book into the slot…)
Aren’t “Best Of” lists meaningless anyway? I mean, they are entertaining and all but who has really seriously digested all there is in any given year to make a valid, concise judgement on this stuff…………
perhaps Nadel doesn’t take these lists as seriously(?)
To me: they are fluff.
Hmm, good point. I guess I didn’t remember seeing Carol’s book on any lists, but of course it was on yours because you’re too damn smart to miss it. No excuse then and that solves it, I’m a jerk. These lists are kinda silly, but, well, somehow I kind of enjoy them. Lists are fun and not to be taken too seriously. But if you’re gonna do it, as Tom points out, do it right. So I hereby appoint The Ticking to #1 and move Tyler back to my imaginary 2005 list. Phew.
Actually, Dan, Late Bloomer was on my list because I made it in like April.
Anonymous: I think list-making can be a valuable exercise like any other critical exercise. More importantly, once you commit to doing a list there are ways of doing it/not doing it that can *drastically* change the value of the exercise.
And while you can’t read every book that comes out, you can read a lot of them, if you make an effort. I would hope anyone with the gumption to put out a list would be one of those people really trying to read the bulk of the work out.
If nothing else, one would hope that lists are valuable as ways of kicking the tires of the organization or person making the list.
Mr. Nadel, could you please expand on your dismissal of Fun Home? In the midst of the current brouhaha over this work, an articulate minority opinion could be useful.
I ask this as someone who thinks that Fun Home is a masterpiece.
(apologies if this is a dupe post; the Google beta switchover is giving me fits!)