Monitor Duty by Randy Lander "Collecting Comics" Some of you may have noticed a rather glaring omission in our Best Of feature a few weeks back, as Don and I didn't mention any collected editions. There were a number of reasons for that, but first and foremost was that there was just too much material to cover in any kind of depth. However, given that this was the year that I put the "wait for the trade" mentality to the test, it seems only fitting that I comment on what I thought were some of the best collected editions and original graphic novels of 2001. I've included links to Amazon.com for any of the books that are currently available for sale, in case any readers are interested in trying them out. However, I would encourage readers to pick them up from their local comics shop if they are available there as a first choice. 2001 saw a commitment from Marvel Comics to catch up to rival company DC in terms of trades, and though they had a few stumbling blocks, they made impressive gains in trade production last year. In terms of production values, Marvel did well, usually printing their trades on higher grade paper stock than the original comics, a contrast to DC's cheap paper reprints. The price, of course, is that Marvel's trades are often more expensive than the series it collects. In addition, while many companies will often commission new covers, Marvel had a tendency to re-use old covers for the trade, which saved money but honestly looked a little cheap. In terms of extras, Marvel also looks a little thin, but the collections which had extra material often had some pretty neat extras. Possibly the best trade Marvel produced in 2001 was X-Men: E for Extinction. A piece of promotional art, unseen aside from online, made for an effectively new cover, and the extras included sketches by Frank Quitely and a fascinating look into Grant Morrison's mindset with his pitch for the revamp of the title. In addition, the story contained the first storyline from Morrison's run on the title, and while the use of two artists (Quitely and Ethan Van Sciver) was a little jarring, in general this read like a story that was prepared with trade paperback in mind. It's a shame that a similar "pitch document" from Peter Milligan couldn't be included with X-Force: New Beginnings, but with the very new and cool style of that team (courtesy of Milligan and Mike Allred), a new cover from Mike Allred and a great introductory story, it hardly mattered that the extras were minimal. Other new collections from Marvel included Ultimate X-Men and Ultimate Spider-Man volume one, both of which can be attributed as factors in the growing popularity of those books, as the early issues were easily accessible in cheaply priced and nice-looking volumes. Not as cheap, but certainly nice-looking, was the reprint of some classic material from the 1980s, including long-awaited Daredevil Visionaries from Frank Miller and Fantastic Four Visionaries from John Byrne. Not as long-awaited, perhaps, but certainly important, was the first trade paperback collecting cult favorite Black Panther with Black Panther: The Client. DC, of course, has been doing trade collections for a long time, and they have several advantages. Their collections are often very affordable, with new covers, and they tend to print enough to keep them on the shelves for a long time, whereas Marvel will often have availability gaps. Their weaknesses are a cheaper grade of paper and a production schedule that seems slow at best, random at worst. While Marvel is right on top of trades, producing them quickly enough that someone can pick up the trade and then jump onto the series without missing an issue, DC's series collections are often a year or two behind. I was glad to be able to pick up new volumes of Nightwing (A Darker Shade of Justice) by Chuck Dixon and Scott McDaniel and Wildcats (Vicious Circles & Serial Boxes) by Joe Casey & Sean Phillips this year. Both series have gotten good trade support from DC, although I do wish that the third volume of Wildcats and the fifth volume of Nightwing were out, or solicited for release, already. Also getting the collected edition treatment was Top Ten Book One, which made the transition from hardcover to softcover, Batman: Officer Down, a nice showcase for the revamped Batman titles (although more collections of both Rucka's and Brubaker's work would have been nice) and Superman/Gen 13, a surprisingly entertaining story from Adam Hughes and Lee Bermejo that was quite affordable at $10 for the entire three-issue story. In addition, DC had another entry in their oversized format one-shots by Paul Dini and Alex Ross with Wonder Woman: Spirit of Truth. However, as far as super-hero graphic novels go, the best of the year had to be Powers Volume One: Who Killed Retro Girl? from Image. While a little more expensive than most trades, it had the benefit of tons of extras, serving as the "Special Edition DVD" version of the book. A script from Brian Michael Bendis, sketches and unused layouts and covers from Michael Avon Oeming and a variety of other material fleshed out an already stunning debut crime/super-hero story, and the production values were top notch. Honestly, though, the excitement in graphic novel form comes less from super-heroes and more from the other genres that are available. This is another advantage DC has over Marvel, as several imprints and a wider focus allows them to cover crime, horror, drama and other genres. That included two new volumes of my favorite comic going, crime thriller 100 Bullets ( Split Second Chance and Hang Up on the Hang Low) as well as introductory trades to Eisner-nominated horror/intrigue comic Lucifer ( Devil in the Gateway) and the final volume of Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon's comedy/romance/western Preacher with Alamo. All of those came from the Vertigo imprint, but there was another gem from the rarely-used creator-owned imprint Homage, with Sam Kieth's quirky, funny and somewhat sad Zero Girl. Dark Horse had a great year, with continuing collections of manga classics like Lone Wolf & Cub (not my cup of tea) and Akira (very much my cup of tea). Their approach to these classics included stunning production values and a trade dress that makes them look absolutely gorgeous on the shelf, as well as containing solid reproduction of the translated work. Not quite as high-profile, but also a lot of fun, was the adventure saga with the flavor of Mortal Kombat and manga, Battlegods: Warriors of the Chaak. They also released the science-fiction/political epic Heart of Empire by Bryan Talbot, the sequel to his Adventures of Luther Arkwright graphic novel. Image, meanwhile, had an offering in the historical genre with Age of Bronze Volume One, a fantastic presentation of Eric Shanower's ambitious (and Eisner winning) re-telling of the Trojan War. In this department, though, the champions are not the big four, but the smaller publishers. Slave Labor Graphics delivered collected editions of some of their best material, including Evan Dorkin's cynical and hilarious Dork Volume 1: Who's Laughing Now? and volume one of Sean McKeever's teen drama with a brain, The Waiting Place. Funk-O-Tron released the first collection of their over-the-top comedy book Battle Pope, which sold me on the series, and Drawn & Quarterly, amongst other offerings, served up the first collection of Jason Lutes's pre-World War II historical drama Berlin. NBM also managed to sell me one of their projects, the entertaining fantasy western Far West by writer/artist Richard Moore. When it comes to collections, though, nobody beats Oni Press. Always featuring gorgeous new covers, sharp production values and the occasional extras, the collections are also impressive for their reliability. Oni is committed to keeping all their work in print, and putting the collections out in a timely fashion. This year we got a treasure trove of Oni product, including Judd Winick's Frumpy the Clown volumes one and two and the first half of Adventures of Barry Ween 3: Monkey Tales, Andi Watson's universally-beloved tale of unemployment, impending nuptials and human relationships with Breakfast After Noon and Phil Hester and Mike Huddleston's haunting story of a dead man trapped in the world of the living with The Coffin. It was also a great year for original graphic novels from companies dedicated to either only trades or 90% trade paperbacks. AiT/Planet Lar had several good ones, whether it was "director's cut" collections of overlooked material like science-fiction/super-hero stories like Jim Krueger's Footsoldiers and the surreal and hilarious Sky Ape or original material like Brian Wood and Brett Weldele delivering crime, human drama and scooter girls with Couscous Express. Top Shelf, however, produced my favorite trade paperback of the year, a massive collection of Alex Robinson's slice-of-life humor/drama Box Office Poison. In addition, they also impressed critics (including Time.com) with work by newcomers Jason Hall and Matt Kindt with the strange radio drama/crime story Pistolwhip, notable not only for its unusual art and compelling storytelling but for a book design that made it look like an old-time radio. It's impossible when doing these year-in-review things to hit everything, and I'm sure I've left out at least one of my favorite buys of the year in the above list. However, I think that even this sampling goes to show that 2001 was a great year for the graphic novel. Email Randy Lander comments about this column, or discuss it on the Fourth Rail message board.