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Best American




Title Creator Publisher Series Price
The Best American Comics 2011 Alison Bechdel Houghton Mifflin Best American $22.75
($25.00 list)
Bestamercomics2011
Read more and comment... 		  edited by Alison Bechdel   This year's volume gets off to a good start with Bechdel's own illustrated introduction wherein, in addition to introducing the work that follows she meanders autobiographically and waxes philosophical in and about comics.  It must mean something that this year's volume is the first in which there was a substantial amount of work that we here at Copacetic were not previously familiar with.  It seems that we can no longer keep up with all the deserving work out there.  As it doesn't feel like we're reading any less, the only conclusion to draw is that there's even more good work out there than we can keep up with.  A good sign, indeed!  The contributor list includes the essential work by those key artists whose work over the past year it is the first and foremost responsibility annual "best of" collection to present: Jaime Hernandez, Chris Ware, Joe Sacco, three of the best cartoonists of our times, did some of the best work of their career over the past year, and it is duly represented by excerpts here.  Dash Shaw's Bodyworld also receives a massive excerpt here (second in length only to Sacco's), and there are about a half dozen additional excerpts, most notably from Kevin Huizenga, Jeff Smith and Ken Dahl.  Then there are the short pieces, from all over, many of which – for the first time, as we noted – were new to us.  Included under this category are David Lasky and Mairead Case's "Soixante Neuf," Michael DeForge's "Queen," (how did we miss this one?), cover artist Jillian Tamaki's "Domestic Men of Mystery," Eric Orner's "Weekends Abroad" and Angie Wang's sumptuous "Flower Mecha."  Other great short pieces that we had already read and were glad to see here, include stories by Gabrielle Bell, John Pham, Joey Alison Sayers (from Papercutter, our favorite comic book anthology series), Noah Van Sciver, the webcomics sensation Kate Beaton and Paul Pope.  And we can't leave without mentioning the six-page "Anatomy of a Pratfall" by Peter and Maria Hoey from their self-published comic book series, Coin-Op.  This is a strongly Joost Swarte-inflected piece that would have been at home in Raw Magazine back in the day; it also reminds us, in its complexity, of some of Michel Gondry's more adventurous music videos.  We weren't hep to Coin-Op before reading this year's Best American.  Now we are; that's the idea.
The Best American Comics 2010 Neil Gaiman, R. Crumb, David Mazzucchelli, Carol Tyler and more ... Houghton Mifflin Best American $20.00
($23.00 list)
Bestamercomics2010
Read more and comment... 		edited by Neil Gaiman This time around, editor Gaiman provides a selection that is heavy on excerpts of graphic novels rather than self-contained works.  His picks include, as one would expect, the most celebrated works of last year:  R. Crumb's Book of Genesis and David Mazzucchelli's Asterios Polyp.; but there are some surprises, as well.  In fact, the book starts out with the biggest surprise of all:  and actual Marvel Comic!  But wait – hold on, it's not what you think.  It's an excerpt from the seventh issue of the Omega the Unknown limited series that was later collected in book form.  Written by Jonathan Lethem, this excerpt starts off with the sequence that was drawn by none other than Gary Panter.  One can readily see how irresistible this choice was:  how could you not include what may very well be the only Marvel comic ever drawn by Gary Panter?  Other excerpted works include: the completely necessary Acme Novelty  #19; the off-the-radar-for-many, Citizen Rex by Gilbert and Mario Hernandez; Lilli Carré's The Lagoon (Carré was also selected for this year's Best Non-Required Reading); Josh Neufeld's docu-comic, A.D: New Orleans after the Deluge; Carol Tyler's ongoing masterpiece, You'll Never Know; Derf's Punk Rock and Trailer Parks, which we've been trying to convince people to read since it came out; and several others.  Every reader of this volume is sure to pursue the purchase – or at least perusal – of at least one of these works in its entirety, and there are bound to be a few who will want them all.  In addition to these excerpts from these graphic novels, there are plenty of short pieces by the like of Ben Katchor, James Kochalka, Peter Kuper, Jesse Reklaw and Gabrielle Bell.  Worthy of singling out, is the excellent 14-page "Trinity," by the sorely under-appreciated Michael Cho (who also executed this volume's cover), that originally appeared in the relatively obscure Taddle Creek, and so ran the risk of being missed by most, and so is perhaps Gaiman's single best call.  And, finally, we can't go without mentioning that we are happy that a selection from Copacetic favorite, Capacity, by Theo Ellsworth, is also on hand in this volume, and, not only that, but Ellsworth was commissioned to produce original endpapers for this volume as well, providing a visual treat to its opening and closing.  This series continues to be a great way to introduce the uninitiated to the wide world of comics, and makes an excellent gift.
The Best American Comics 2009 Dash Shaw, Koren Shadmi, David Sandlin, Ron Regé and more ... Houghton Mifflin Best American $20.00
($22.95 list)
Bestcomics2009
Read more and comment... 		edited by Charles Burns Well, Crumb is a tough act to follow, but we'll give it a shot with this star-studded anthology filled with the best and the brightest from the last twelve months of comics, as judged by Charles Burns.  In a book like this, we feel that the contributor list says it best:  Doug Allen, Peter Bagge, Gabrielle Bell, Matt Broersma, Daniel Clowes, Al Columbia, Robert Dennis Crumb, Sammy Harkham, Tim Hensley, Gilbert Hernandez, Kevin Huizenga, Ben Katchor, Kaz, Aline Kominsky-Crumb, Michael Kupperman, Jason Lutes, Tony Millionaire, Jerry Moriarty, Anders Nilsen, Gary Panter, Laura Park, Mimi Pond, Ron Regé, David Sandlin, Koren Shadmi, Dash Shaw, Art Spiegelman, Ted Stearn, Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki, Adrian Tomine, Chris Ware, Dan Zettwoch.  'Nuff said.  Well, actually, we can't help but add that while the material contained in this anthology is absolutely fabulous, the quality of its reproduction is, mysteriously, not up to the same standard as the three previous volumes in this series, which were excellent in that department.  This shouldn't stop anyone from picking up this fine volume, but it is worrisome.  Let's hope that this was a one time aberration and that next year we'll find the fine folks at Houghton Mifflin have figured out what went wrong and put things in the production department back on track.
Best American Comics 2006 Jesse Reklaw, Joe Sacco, Anders Nilsen, Jaime Hernandez and more ... Houghton Mifflin Best American $8.88
($22.00 list)
Bestofcomics2006
Read more and comment... 		edted by Harvey Pekar and Anne Elizabeth Moore This volume marks the first time that comics joins the well established "Best American Series."  It is a surprisingly well produced book -- surprising in that it's from Houghton Mifflin, a major NY publisher, whose eyes are usually more closely set on the bottom line -- that contains a good cross-section of work published in North America in 2004 and 2005 and functions as a fine follow-up -- as a yearbook does to an encyclopedia (for those of you old enough to know what we're talking about) -- to both McSweeney's #13 -- which is clearly its inspiration -- and the just-released Brunetti-edited Yale anthology.  This collection spans the generations, including new work from old-timers Kim Deitch, Gilbert Shelton and Robert Crumb, middle-agers Jaime Hernandez, Lynda Barry and Joe Sacco, and youngins' Anders Nilsen, Rebecca Dart and Jesse Reklaw, whose story, "13 Cats of My Childhood," we singled out for praise in our 2005 SPX report, when it appeared in it's original form as Couch Tag #2, stating at the time, "It is one of the best comics at this year's SPX... and deserving of a much wider audience than it will be able to find in this form."  So, suffice it to say that we're quite happy to see it included here in this anthology.  By far the longest piece included in this 320 page anthology, practically a graphic novella, "La Rubia Loca," by Justin Hall -- another SPX attending self-publisher --  is an engrossing story about a bunch of hippie slackers stuck on a bus tour through Mexico with a crazy woman.  And keep in mind that these are just the highlights, there's plenty more.  2006 • full color • hardcover • 320 pages
Best American Comics 2008 Lynda Barry Houghton Mifflin Best American $8.88
($22.00 list)
Bestamcomics2008
Read more and comment... 		The Best American Comics 2008 edited by Lynda Barry is now on sale for only $8.88! This is a 324 page, nicely produced, hardcover volume that is chock-a-block with great comics.  Starting with the amazing embossed wraparound dustjacket by Eleanor Davis, the book is cover to cover comics that are worth reading.  It leads off with a ten-page introduction by editor Barry, rendered in her new What It Is collage-comics style.  It then proceeds -- in alphabetical order, no less -- with a well-rounded survey of the state of American comics.  Missing from previous volumes in this series was any focus on Ms. Barry's peers in the independent newsweekly world.  That has been smartly rectified this time out with a nice selection of work by fellow pioneer of independent comics syndication, Matt Groening (Life In Hell), along with Alison Bechdel (Dykes To Watch Out For), Derf (The City) and Kaz (Underworld). And that's just the tip of the iceberg.  We've got excerpts from some of the year's best graphic novels -- Salon by Nick Bertozzi, The Saga of the Bloody Benders by Rick Geary, Berlin: Book Two by Jason Lutes, Percy Gloom by Cathy Malkasian and American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang, among others.  Then we've got a one after another super solid short and medium length comics works that show a truly remarkable range.  We have instant classics by established masters like Jaime Hernandez's "Gold Diggers of 1969" from Love and Rockets and Chris Ware's "Thanksgiving Series" from The New Yorker.  Then we have what is probably this collection's signal strength:  new work by new(er) talent:  Graham Annable and Sarah Oleksyk, both from Papercutter; T. Edward Bak and Evan Larson, both from Project: Romantic;  Eleanor Davis and Martin Cendreda, both from MOME; Eric Haven and Michael Kupperman from their own comics, Tales To Demolish and Tales Designed To Thrizzle, respectively; and then self-published works by Lilli Carré, Shawn Cheng and Sara Edward-Corbett, Joseph Lambert, and John Mejias. And there's more!  This one is a winner.  Recommended!
Best American Comics 2006 Anne Elizabeth Moore, Harvey Pekar Houghton Mifflin Best American $19.80
($22.00 list)
Bestofcomics2006
Read more and comment... 		This surprisingly -- given that it's from Houghton Mifflin, a major NY publisher, whose eyes are usually more closely set on the bottom line -- well produced book contains a good cross-section of work published in North America in 2004 and 2005 and functions as a fine follow-up to both McSweeney's #13 -- which is clearly its inspiration -- and the just-released Brunetti edited anthology reviewed above. This collection spans the generations, including new work from old-timers Kim Deitch, Gilbert Shelton and Robert Crumb, middle-agers Jaime Hernandez, Lynda Barry and Joe Sacco, and youngins' Anders Nilsen, Rebecca Dart and Jesse Reklaw, whose story, "13 Cats of My Childhood," we singled out for praise in our 2005 SPX report, when it appeared in it's original form as Couch Tag #2, stating at the time, "It is one of the best comics at this year's SPX... and deserving of a much wider audience than it will be able to find in this form." So, suffice it to say that we're quite happy to see it included here in this anthology. By far the longest piece included in this 320 page anthology, practically a graphic novella , "La Rubia Loca," by Justin Hall -- another SPX attending self-publisher -- is an engrossing story about a bunch of hippie slackers stuck on a bus tour through Mexico with a crazy woman. And keep in mind that these are just the highlights, there's plenty more.
The Best American Comics 2007 Jeffrey Brown, John Porcellino, Gabrielle Bell, Adrian Tomine and more ... Houghton Mifflin Best American $19.75
($22.00 list)
Bestcomics2007
Read more and comment... 		edited by Chris Ware From Lynda Barry to Dan Zettwoch and everything inbetween, this volume provides us with a a fabulous selection of excellent comics in an attractive well produced package at an affordable price.  While -- as Chris Ware makes eminently clear in his excellent introduction -- it is certainly hard to make any sort of definitive argument that these are "the best" American comics of 2007, we are quite confident that no Copacetic customer will be disappointed with the 340 pages of comics herein assembled.  It is true that some may find that they already own much of what appears here, but few if any will have read it all and most will discover exciting new work and be introduced to talented comics creators.  Among the amazing contributors you will find, Alison Bechdel, Gabrielle Bell, Jeffrey Brown, Ivan Brunetti, Charles Burns, C.F., Robert, Aline and Sophie Crumb, Kim Deitch, Sammy Harkham, Gilbert Hernandez, Kevin Huizenga, Anders Nilsen, Gary Panter, Paper Rad, John Porcellino, Ron Regé Jr., Seth, Art Spiegelman, Adrian Tomnie, Carol Tyler and more (whew!)