Stuff of the Year

I don't feel entirely qualified to make a “best of” comic list for the year. Most of the stuff I have read this year has been out for a while. The fact that I usually read trade paperbacks means that they have been previously published and then collected into a larger book. I have been planning on checking out DC's new “52” titles, but budget limitations [unemployment] mean[s] I haven't been to the book store in a while.

I have been making a better effort in keeping up with the webcomic world [it's FREE!], so I can go through some of my highlights there.

My two favourite webcomics are both not at their finest, Achewood having few and irregular updates all year [but Chris Onstad provided a very good explanation], and A Lesson is Learned But the Damage is Irreversible has been on hiatus since 2006 [although apparently Dale has written a novel!], so those are out of the running. Dresden Codak is great, but it is updated so rarely [only eight this year!] that it is hard to give it the top prize. Dinosaur Comics doesn't have the same kind of staying power that is once had... maybe it is the opposite of the Dreseden Codak situation: it has more quantity over quality. Or maybe the writing is still solid... Whatever the case, I just kind of lost interest after a while.

In good news, after a lord-knows-how-long hiatus, the Perry Bible Fellowship is finally back. There have been six new comics as of late, all wonderful in the weird,  perverse/hilarious way that writer/artist Nicholas Gurewitch has perfected.

My personal fave of the new batch:
[just click to enlarge][that's what she said]

xkcd is, of course, always solid and usually ends up on “best of the year” lists. But one that I don't think gets enough recognition is Toothpaste for Dinner. It has a superhigh output [a new comic virtually everyday!], and they aren't all winners, but I really enjoy the simplicity of the whole thing. It's where I go when I am in need of a quick, cheap chuckle.

I have looked at a couple of other “best webcomics of 2011” lists and one that I really liked upon checking out was Three Word Phrase. Simply amazing:

So, really no clear champ, but some good stuff... I'll try harder next year.

Non-Comic-Related Stuff

Album of the year: Watch the Throne, Jay-Z & Kanye West

Song of the Year: Calgary, Bon Iver

Movie of the Year: X-Men: First Class [so, actually comic-related!]

Year of the Year: Rabbit