Whether published as comic books, graphic novels, manga, web comics, digital comics, or some other form of sequential art, comics published this year continues a fantastic renaissance in the art form that brings more creativity and innovation. Barely able to contain their excitement, several outlets have already released their lists for the year’s best. And since we’re now knee deep in the holiday shopping season, let’s see what has won the attention of critics and reviewers in 2011.
I’ll add to the list as more are released. Check out the artists own webpages and check out the publisher links for more info on each book. Select quotes are taken from the site/publication, visit each for more.
First, here are some Black Friday shopping guides that are still worth consulting and will no doubt influence those site’s final Best Of lists:
- San Francisco Chronicle
- The Comics Reporter
- Comic Book Resources
- GeekChicDaily
- LA Times’ Hero Complex
Also of note is the Washington Post’s Comic Riffs blog sending out an open call for nominations for this year’s Best Webcomics. Let me know if I’ve missed a Best Of list worth reading. OK, on with the lists!
Amazon.ca – Best Books of 2011: Comics & Graphic Novels (published November 28, 2011) [mostly the same as Amazon.com's list below except for 4 items]
- Habibi by Craig Thompson, published by Pantheon Graphic Novels, $35.00
- Hark! A Vagrant by Kate Beaton, published by Drawn and Quarterly, $19.95
- Mister Wonderful by Daniel Clowes, published by Pantheon Graphic Novels, $19.95
- Pogo: The Complete Daily & Sunday Comic Strips Volume 1: Through the Wild Blue Wonder by Walt Kelly, published by Fantagraphics Books, $39.99
- Love and Rockets: New Stories Volume 4 by Los Bros Hernandez, published by Fantagraphics Books, $14.99
- Green River Killer: A True Detective Story by Jeff Jensen and Jonathan Case, published by Dark Horse Comics, $24.99
- Kill Shakespeare Volume 2: The Blast of War by Conor McCreery, Anthony Del Col and Andy Belanger, published by IDW Publishing, $19.99
- The Death-Ray by Daniel Clowes, published by Drawn and Quarterly, $19.95
- Joe the Barbarian by Grant Morrison and Sean Murphy, published by Vertigo, $29.99
- One Soul by Ray Fawkes, published by Oni Press, $24.99
Zahra's Paradise by Amir & Khalil
Publishers Weekly – Best Books 2011: Comics (published November 7, 2011)
- Zahra’s Paradise by Amir and Kahlil, published by First Second Books, $19.99
“An Iranian blogger goes missing and his family enters a hellish twilight zone of obfuscation in a story that captures the uncertainty of living under religious dogma.”
- Daytripper by Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá, published by Vertigo, $19.99
- Hark! A Vagrant by Kate Beaton, published by Drawn and Quarterly, $19.95
- The Influencing Machine: Brooke Gladstone on the Media by Brooke Gladstone and Josh Neufeld, published by W. W. Norton, $23.95
Host of NPR’s On the Media, Gladstone uses a cartoon persona to take the reader on a thoughtful and entertaining excursion through the history of the media from ancient Rome to the rise of digital technology.
- Love and Rockets: New Stories Volume 4 by Los Bros Hernandez, published by Fantagraphics Books, $14.99
- Infinite Kung Fu by Kagan McLeod, published by Top Shelf Productions, $24.95
- Finder: Voice by Carla Speed McNeil, published by Dark Horse Comics, $19.99
“In this epic work of science fiction, Rachel Grosvenor, an outcast in a world ruled by a complex network of clans, looks to find a place for herself by attempting to join a very exclusive clan.”
- Big Questions by Anders Nilsen, published by Drawn and Quarterly, $44.95
- Farm 54 by Galit Seliktar and Gilad Seliktar, published by Fanfare / Ponent Mon, $25.00
- Habibi by Craig Thompson, published by Pantheon Graphic Novels, $35.00
Habibi by Craig Thompson
Amazon.com – Best Books of 2011: Comics & Graphic Novels (published November 8, 2011)
- Habibi by Craig Thompson, published by Pantheon Graphic Novels, $35.00
“Habibi, Craig Thompson’s intricate and moving fairy tale about familial and romantic love, one’s relationship to their environment, the shared roots of Christianity and Islam, and the effects of industrial modernization, tops our list of the best Comics & Graphic Novels of 2011.”
- Mister Wonderful by Daniel Clowes, published by Pantheon Graphic Novels, $19.95
- Hark! A Vagrant by Kate Beaton, published by Drawn and Quarterly, $19.95
- Big Questions by Anders Nilsen, published by Drawn and Quarterly, $44.95
- Pogo: The Complete Daily & Sunday Comic Strips Volume 1: Through the Wild Blue Wonder by Walt Kelly, published by Fantagraphics Books, $39.99
- Batman: The Black Mirror by Scott Snyder, Jock and Francesco Francavilla, published by DC Comics, $29.99
- Love and Rockets: New Stories Volume 4 by Los Bros Hernandez, published by Fantagraphics Books, $14.99
- King of the Flies Volume 2: The Origin of the World by Mezzo and Pirus, published by Fantagraphics Books, $18.99
- Green River Killer: A True Detective Story by Jeff Jensen and Jonathan Case, published by Dark Horse Comics, $24.99
- Daytripper by Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá, published by Vertigo, $19.99
The New York Times – Holiday Gift Guide: 100 Notable Books of 2011 (published November 21, 2011)
- Big Questions by Anders Nilsen, published by Drawn and Quarterly, $44.95 (New York Times review)
“In this capacious, metaphysically inclined graphic novel, a flock of finches act out Nilsen’s unsettling comic vision about the food chain, fate and death.”
