Reviews

Top 10 Comics of 2006

By Ian Murphy, Managing Editor

Vote for your favourite comics of 2006 here

	#1 Hazy Thursday By Oliver Smith (£1.50 from www.idlechild.co.uk) A mother and son pack up their belongings and head off to their new home, a commune. The car crashes into a ditch –stunningly illustrated as an angel taking flight off a swing – and when they finally reach the commune they find the inhabitants “aren’t self-sufficient, just unemployed”. The writing’s sparse and fits the dreamy art with its melancholy thick dark inkwork. The final page is a revelation, transforming the day’s events as viewed through a different perspective. It’s a moment that sums up childhood’s pleasures and makes an already strong book hauntingly wonderful.
	#2 Fun Home By Alison Bechdel (Jonathan Cape) In this poignant but far from angst-ridden memoir, Alison tries to make sense of her father’s death (and life!), a possible suicide, and of her family dynamic; which all sounds terribly serious and earnest but it’s not – it’s funny, heart-rending, whimsical and tragic by turns, and a constant joy because of it. Her father – in many ways the central character - is sometimes sympathetic, sometimes pitiful and sometimes hateful, and Alison’s compassionate writing of him staves off overwhelming intensity.
	#3 Trains Are … Mint #1 By Oliver East (£5 from Rolling Stock Press) Oliver walks from Manchester to Bolton, on footpaths close to the train line, and makes note & sketches along the way. This superb travelogue takes in dark, dangerous pathways, intimidating old women and dogs, and sees him gain, briefly, a baby. Oliver’s down to earth writing parallels the soothing art, sophisticated watercolour paints over penwork, reflecting the grimy urban landscapes, finding some considerable beauty in them, and framing the thoughtfully placed blocks of observational text. The pages have a lovely, thick and smooth, and their solid, pristine white borders set off the muted watercolours.
	#4 Uptight #1 (Fantagraphics) By Jordan Crane Robbie’s only pleasure is riding his friend Ernesto’s motorbike over fields, until a terrible accident changes everything; in the second story a young man wonders if death comes in threes – as a childhood friend insisted - & fantasises that his wife will be the third in a sequence. The simplicity of the art on the second strip makes the ending more affecting. Jordan Crane’s writing is superb, understated and intense, exploring grief without dramatic sledgehammers.
	#5 Local #6 (Oni) By Brian Wood & Ryan Kelly Local is life in small town America. Megan appears in every issue, travelling aimlessly, from place to place; since issue #1 she’s been in the background. She’s miserable, hates her life and herself, and is only just keeping her act together when she arrives in her first urban setting, Brooklyn. Her room-mate, Gloria, turns out to be an OCD control freak. Megan gets a bar job and is dissing Gloria’s ‘little notes’ when a customer says he’s a friend of Gloria’s. How Megan privately reacts is unexpected and well-handled, giving her character additional depth and the reader much more insight into her self-exile and disgust.
	#6 Daredevil #92 (Marvel) By Ed Brubaker & Michael Lark Matt Murdock absconds to Europe & meets a woman whose scent is that of his true love, the late Karen Page; before he can find out who she is, she’s kidnapped by The Matador and Matt finds himself lured into a deadly swashbuckling set by the mysterious foe who, as far as Matt knows, killed Foggy. That foes identity is revealed this issue and a terrible mindgame between two people with so little to lose ensues. Ed Brubaker’s quickly proven himself a masterful Daredevil writer, marrying elements of noir, pulp fiction and swashbuckling spandex adventure, and Michael Lark’s brilliantly shaky pencils emphasise every emotional cut and thrust of the story.
	#7 The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation (Hill And Wang) By Sid Jacobson & Ernie Colon As ambitious a project as they come, this comes approved by the bipartisan Commission that reported on the cause of, the events of, and the response to 9/11 and is a précis of their final report. It starts with a timeline of the events of that day, and in the hardback edition this pulls out as one long, panoramic sheet. Just as horrifying as the terrorist attacks is the deliberate lack of communication, co-operation and information sharing between government agencies that could have saved immeasurable lives, and the Commission’s report card which shows how the Bush administration has refused or failed to enact most of their recommendations.
	#8 Kabuki #6 (Marvel Icons) By David Mack Akemi sends a new girl to the safehouse Kabuki’s staying in; a meditation (occasionally lecturing) on inspiration and invention follows. David Mack’s thoughtful, intelligent writing, artistic versatility, and willingness to experiment with what the comics medium can do is stunning and surpasses the work of any comics creator I know. He brings high art thinking to comics and opens up the medium. A truly inspired, inventive writer-artist, Mack deserves to be studied by art lovers and comics lovers alike.
	#9 New Avengers #22 (Marvel) By Brian Michael Bendis & Leinil Yu Luke & Jessica await the ‘knock at midnight’ (reminiscent of Martin Luther King & the Civil Rights struggle) when the Civil War legislation comes into effect & they refuse to register as super-powers. After much soul searching, Jessica takes their newborn baby and runs to Canada, leaving Luke to face the music alone. Their quandary and response feel genuine and the story has more ‘heart’ than most Civil War issues but I’m unconvinced by the art. Leinil Yu’s work is a little too loose to satisfy; it would have been a great issue for Alias’ Michael Gaydos to draw.
	#10 Phonogram #1 (Image) By Kieron Gillen & Jamie McKelvie You know the power music can have over you? How just hearing a song on the radio can take you to a different place or shift your mood? If you feel music in your core, if it literally alters you to experience it, you might be a phonomancer; David Kohl is a phonomancer and in the first issues he abuses a song to talk and Kenickie fan into bed, earning him the wrath of one such goddess – for to abuse the power of music is the gravest sin a phonomancer can commit. Phonogram examines the power and importance of music and while it sometimes slips into pretension, the best bits keep me reading.