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The Best of 2003, Part One
Join Don MacPherson and Randy Lander as they take a look at their picks for the Best of 2003, starting with notable series and issues.
Randy:
It's that time of year again... time for everyone who loves making lists to serve up their best of what came in the year before, and since Don and I run a comic-book review website, that means a list of the Best Of Comics in 2003. It was a banner year for me in that my daughter was born in March, and my time for comics has been diminishing ever since, but I've still found time to read a surprising (and some might say) disturbing amount of comics this year.
Don:
Randy and I read a lot of comics in the course of a year, but no one can read them all. So keep in mind that these are our picks of the best of what we read in 2003. But man, it was a good year.
Randy:
Every year brings new series, and every year brings with it the chance that a really good first issue will indicate exactly what's to come in the series that follows, an issue that hooks readers and starts a buzz. They may or may not be self-contained stories, and they may or may not even be for ongoing series, but these are the first issues that really caught our attention this year.
My first issues this year were a bit of a mixed bag. Several of these first issues launched a continuing series I loved, like Andi Watson's Love Fights, Andy Diggle & Jock's Losers #1 or J. Michael Straczynski & Gary Frank's Supreme Power #1. Others started off strong and then didn't quite keep my attention as strongly, like Will Pfeifer & Kano's H-E-R-O #1 or Judd Winick & Tom Raney's Outsiders #1. Worst of all were the series that grabbed my attention and kept my interest but which fell prey to market forces, like Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips's Sleeper #1, which became a defacto miniseries, although there's a new volume in the offing for 2004, or Brian Vaughan & Adrian Alphona's Runaways #1, which without trade support seems destined for cancellation in 2004.
Don:
I agree with a number of Randy's picks above, but there were a few other first issues that really grabbed my attention in 2003. Randy's mention of Runaways reminds me to make note of another Marvel/Tsunami title, Sentinel, which stood out as special right from the first issue. Warren Ellis and Amanda Conner's Two-Step #1 was a blast, though the second issue of the DC-published limited series hasn't materialized yet. A Sort of Homecoming #1 was somehow even more powerful than the creators' Eisner-nominated efforts on My Uncle Jeff. Though the series has lost my interest, Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness's first issue of Superman/Batman was delightful, exhibiting all the strength I had hoped to find (but failed to) in Loeb and Jim Lee's run on Batman. Other notable first issues included the launch of IDW's 30 Days of Night sequel Dark Days #1, Dan Slott and Ryan Sook's dark and quirky Arkham Asylum: Living Hell #1, Three Strikes from writers Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir and artist Bryan Hurtt and Aria: The Uses of Enchantment #1 from Image Comics.
 | Randy's Best First Issue:
Scurvy Dogs #1 |
Randy:
In the end, my Best First Issue of the year was a toss-up. I was very tempted by A Sort of Homecoming #1, a tale of friendship and loss that follows up on Damon Hurd and Pedro Camello's exceptional debut My Uncle Jeff and serves notice that they are talents to be reckoned with. However, in the end, I have to give it to Andrew Boyd and Ryan Yount's Scurvy Dogs #1. No other comic book this year made me laugh so hard.
 | Don's Best First Issue:
Demo #1 |
Don:
There's no doubt... Scurvy Dogs was one of the best first issues of the year, but my pick went to a different book, albeit from the same publisher. Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan's Demo #1, published by AiT/PlanetLar, offered a strong tale of teenage rebellion, love and pain. This small-press, black-and-white book achieved in its first issue something that other titles from a much larger publisher -- Marvel -- either failed to do or took a little longer to reach. Wood and Cloonan are a strong collaborative team, and everything they do in the future is worth checking out as well.
Don:
Even with the increase in the number of projects that followed the original graphic novel route and the growing trend toward series of mini-series, there were plenty of new ongoing titles launched in 2003. And some of them -- but just some -- were really great. Overall, Marvel's Tsunami imprint missed more than it hit, but it struck gold with two books: Sentinel, by Sean McKeever and Udon Studio, and Runaways. Queen and Country lost its status as the only ongoing title from Oni Press, and not surprisingly, the new regular title -- Andi Watson's Love Fights -- proved itself to be of the usual high quality I expect from the publisher and the creator.
I think a theme is quickly unfolding here. Most of these titles have something in common: lower sales numbers. They're either released by smaller publishers that are hitting their sales goals or by bigger houses that are considering these excellent books for cancellation. Scurvy Dogs was something of a darling of the convention circuit, thanks in part to the hilarity within its pages and in part to its frequently spied slogan shirts, "Pirates Are the New Monkeys." Sleeper was an aptly named new series in 2003, garnering a great deal of critical buzz early on. Fortunately, DC seems to be solidly behind Losers, offering up a quick trade paperback collection of the early issues in February 2004.
Randy:
Yeah, what is going on with the best series being the ones that struggle to get attention and well-deserved sales? At any rate, most of your picks are very much on my list as well, and rank higher in my estimation than titles that beat them out regularly on the sales charts. In that category, you can also add the already-cancelled Inhumans (another Tsunami book) from Sean McKeever and several artists, including Matthew Clark and Robert Teranishi.
 | Randy's Best New Series:
Sleeper |
Fortunately, there are several books on my list that are either gaining on the sales charts or sitting healthy atop them. Fallen Angel has been a surprisingly dark but still very entertaining series by Peter David and David Lopez, and has been something of a sleeper hit for DC. Then there's Teen Titans, by Geoff Johns and Mike McKone, which has been an enormous hit and which has been a really solid straightforward super-hero tale so far. And while I'm not a big fan of J. Michael Straczynski's Amazing Spider-Man work these days, I'm very fond of his deconstructionist super-hero epic Supreme Power. On the non-super-hero side, I've been very pleased by Image's The Walking Dead from Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore, Crossgen's El Cazador by Chuck Dixon and Steve Epting and Dark Horse's The Goon by Eric Powell. When it comes to Best of 2004, though, I had a really tough time deciding between two series from DC: Losers and Sleeper. While I love Losers for its monthly dose of action, Sleeper was one of those books I looked forward to every month throughout 2004, and it is my Best New Series of 2004.
 | Don's Best New Series:
Sentinel |
Don:
Ultimately, my pick for the Best New Series of 2003 brings with it a sense of disappointment, as there's no chance of it turning up on 2004's list of picks for Best Ongoing Series (the category for the titles that aren't new). Sentinel is slated to end with its twelfth issue. There are plenty of other ways to get a regular dose of the art of Udon Studio; I just hope someone else is smart enough to give Sean McKeever another writing gig, and soon.
Randy:
This is a category that has gained some prominence in recent years, as almost every comic going these days, especially in the comics mainstream, is being written in arcs. The single issue story has become a rarity, and the multi-part story that is almost a miniseries within a series has become the norm. Fortunately, many of today's creators excel in such a format, and there was no small difficulty in narrowing down my choices for this category.
Judd Winick joined Green Arrow artists Phil Hester and Ande Parks to create what is probably the best story arc of the new series so far, "Straight Shooter," in Green Arrow #26-31. Also impressive at DC was Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, joined by artists Chris Batista and Mark Farmer, who wrote a fantastic science-fiction/super-hero epic in the "Dream Crime" story that ran through The Legion #19-23 and made the book a must-read in 2003. Then there was "Storybook Love" in Fables #14-17 by Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham and Steve Leialoha, which was one of the best Fables story arcs so far, although the current "March of the Wooden Soldiers" looks like a contender in 2004.
Over at Marvel, I found that "Lowlife," the Brian Bendis and Alex Maleev story that ran through Daredevil #41-45, was the strongest of the "New Marvel" approach titles, although Grant Morrison and Phil Jimenez had a good run with "Murder At the Mansion" in New X-Men #139-141, even though that's technically just one small part of Morrison's giant uber-arc. My other favorites from that company were in a more traditional vein, such as Dave Gibbons, Lee Weeks and Tom Palmer on "Captain America Lives Again" in Captain America #17-20 or Mark Waid, Howard Porter and Norm Rapmund's "Authoritative Action" in Fantastic Four #503-508.
 | Randy's Best Story Arc:
Gotham Central #6-10
("Half A Life") |
Greg Rucka makes my Best Story Arc list twice this year. "Operation: Blackwall" in Queen & Country #13-15, with art by Jason Alexander, brought sex and corporate intrigue to the always excellent espionage series from Oni. My favorite story arc of the year, however, belongs to a DC title that too many aren't reading and everyone should be. "Half A Life," Rucka and Michael Lark's story of Montoya's "secret identity," trouble with internal investigations and Two-Face, ran through Gotham Central #6-10 and was the best story arc of a constantly exquisite series.
Don:
Gotham Central made my list as well, but it was the intense realism and chaos of "Soft Targets" -- written by Rucka and series co-writer Ed Brubaker -- that stood out for me. "Operation: Blackwall" also made my list, standing out as the best story arc in Q&C, a series that never disappoints. Brubaker and Javier Pulido's efforts with "No Easy Way Down" in Catwoman may have served as a personal low for the characters, but it was a creative pinnacle for the series. I'm honestly surprised Randy made no mention of "Goliath," the first major story arc in the action-packed series from DC/Vertigo, Losers. I enjoyed Bendis's work as well; his angry and reflective storytelling in Ultimate Spider-Man #s 45-49 served as a prime example of the strength of the series. Speaking of teen angst at Marvel, "Salvage," running through Sentinel #s 1-6, served as another creative highlight for Marvel.
 | Don's Best Story Arc:
Alias #24-28
("Purple") |
Bendis made Randy's and my comments above, but it was his work on "Purple," the story arc that brought Alias to a close, that stood out for me as some of his strongest work in 2003. The split art approach -- with guest artist Mark Bagley hanlding the more conventional super-hero moments and Michael Gaydos rendering the darker, more grounded scenes set in the present -- enhanced the storytelling rather than distracting from it. But it was the writer's transformation of a typical Silver Age footnote villain into a bone-chilling vision of evil -- and his use of the character as a metatextual element -- that made the story arc the best of the year.
Don:
Oy, this is a daunting category, let me tell you. There are plenty of contenders, and complicating matters is my occasionally spotty memory. One issue that comes to mind is the second issue of the current Silver Surfer limited series (by Chariton, Weiss and Medina), which really got to me with its heart-wrenching story of a desperate, pathetic but ultimately determined mother's quest to find her autistic daughter. Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch's Ultimates #6 shocked with its vivid depiction of spousal abuse and marital dysfunction, and A Sort of Homecoming #1, conversely, was touching with Hurd and Camello's quiet journey through friendship and grief.
Greg Rucka turns up again in our discussion of the Best of 2003, and this time for his first issue of Wonder Woman; WW #195, beautifully illustrated by Drew Johnson and Ray Snyder, was the most intelligent take on the Amazon Princess to grace the title's pages since George Perez first revamped and relaunched it in the mid-1980s. Warren Ellis salutes the spirit of adventure and discovery in Planetary #18 ("The Gun Club," released just last week), which was brought to life by the richly detailed linework of John Cassaday, and Richard Starkings, Joe Casey and Ladronn brought a bizarre and fascinating vision of the future to life once again in the second in the Active Images line of Hip Flask one-shots, Elephantmen.
Randy:
I actually had something of a hard time finding single issues, as they seemed to be a dying breed with the focus on writing for trade collections, but I found a few contenders as well. I'm very much with you on A Sort of Homecoming, and since Hurd and Camello's My Uncle Jeff was technically released in February of this year, it is in strong contention in this category as well. Another great indie single issue for me was Rob Ullman's From the Curve: Grand Gestures, which has made me determined to seek out more of his work in the future.
| Randy's Best Single Issue:
Scurvy Dogs #1 |
On the more mainstream front, I don't think we had as much agreement. My list of single issue standouts includes two from Marvel, Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis's solo Falcon story in Avengers #64 and Greg Rucka & Darick Robertson's Nightcrawler/Wolverine bar meeting in Wolverine #6. DC had a few more, but the names involved were familiar: Ed Brubaker & Brian Hurtt's exploration of Stacy, the Gotham Central P.A. in Gotham Central #11 was a great read, Geoff Johns & Leonard Kirk served up a heartwarming holiday tale in JSA #55 and Ed Brubaker & Cameron Stewart told a great heist/buddy story with Captain Cold and Selina Kyle in Catwoman #21. Also, almost every Usagi Yojimbo issue is a great standalone, but the tale of lost love and rigid honor codes in Usagi Yojimbo #71 was a particular standout.
 | Don's Best Single Issue:
Astro City: Local Heroes #2 ("Shining Armor") |
Don:
My pick for the Best Single Issue of the year, though, harkens back to the Silver Age of comics and one of the more ludicrous and charming ongoing plots from the Superman family of books: Lois Lane's futile quest to prove that Clark Kent and Superman are one and the same. Looking back at those classic Lois Lane stories offers a good deal of perspective into perceptions of gender decades ago. Kurt Busiek examined those dynamics from a much more thoughtful and mature perspective in Astro City: Local Heroes #2, and his collaboration with artist Brent E. Anderson on "Shining Armor" earns my nod in this category.
Randy:
That was indeed a great issue, and probably my favorite of the Local Heroes series. But my favorite single issue story is actually the same one that won my favorite single issue, and that's the laugh-out-loud funny, bizarre and imaginative Scurvy Dogs #1.
Randy:
As I noted last year, this is a category that gets more and more crowded as the miniseries or "series of mini-series" becomes the default format for serial comics. It was tough picking out my favorites this year, especially since many of the series that I really loved this year are as yet unfinished, so I can't quite judge them in their entirety.
In this unfinished category, the strongest contender is probably A Sort of Homecoming, which has one issue in release and a second very, very close to release. Damon Hurd and Pedro Camello snuck in under the radar last year, as I was unaware of them before My Uncle Jeff. This year, I had expectations, and A Sort of Homecoming still knocked me on my ass. I was also quite pleased with the super-hero dream comic JLA/Avengers by Kurt Busiek and George Perez, and though the fourth issue has been delayed into 2004, that's due to Perez actually injuring (!) his hand drawing the cover to #3. You've got to give it up for his dedication to detail.
DC served up some interesting diversity in their mini-series this year, with Human Defense Corps the standout of the DC Universe offerings. In their Vertigo imprint, we got the fun vampire mini-series Blood and Water from Judd Winick and Tomm Coker. It was the return of two of the fallen Gorilla properties that really caught my attention, though. Astro City: Local Heroes was a little uneven for me, but still a really good read, and Mark Waid and Barry Kitson finally got to finish Empire, which had plenty of interesting twists and turns. Busiek turns up a third time on this list with his collaboration with Carlos Pacheco on the magical World War I adventure tale Arrowsmith.
Oni Press remains the king of the mini-series format. Even if you're only talking about the cream of the crop, you've got Ted Naifeh's second visit to the world of Courtney Crumrin with The Coven of Mystics, Nunzio DeFilippis, Christina Weir and Brian Hurtt in the morally complex urban fable Three Strikes and Chynna Clugston-Major's dark comedy Scooter Girl. Image also had a couple successes this year, with Todd Nauck's delightfully fun Wildguard: Casting Call and the latter half of Hawaiian Dick, which made my Best First Issue list last year.
 | Randy's Best Limited Series:
Startling Stories: The Thing - Night Falls on Yancy Street |
My favorite limited series of the year, though, comes from a company which doesn't tend to do as well with the format. Only Doctor Octopus: Negative Exposure, an unfinished Spidey spin-off, made the list from Marvel. Well, that and my winner for Best Limited Series, the surprisingly traditional and amazingly well-crafted Startling Stories: The Thing - Night Falls on Yancy Street by Evan Dorkin and Dean Haspiel.
Don:
As is usually the case, I agree with a number of Randy's picks, especially Three Strikes, Blood and Water and the second Courtney Crumrin series. I had just the one Marvel title on my list for this category, and that was the unusually grounded but nevertheless compelling Fantastic Four: Unstable Molecules limited series by James Sturm and Guy Davis. From Dark Horse Comics, we got what was essentially writer Fabian Nicieza's comeback effort in The Blackburne Covenant. He and artist Stefano Raffaele crafted a dark and complex tale of conspiracies and the supernatural, one that boasts surprisingly relevant elements as well. Warren Ellis may not have had Spider Jerusalem's soapbox in 2003, but he showed he could still grab our attention with the three-issue Red series. And Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith proved 30 Days of Night was no fluke with their followup effort, Dark Days.
 | Don's Best Limited Series:
How Loathsome |
My pick for the Best Limited Series of the year stems from a source we've already touched upon in this category: creator Ted Naifeh. Through NBM Publishing, he and co-writer Tristan Crane offered up a thought-provoking and melancholy view of an indulgent and hedonistic little world just off to the side from the one we see everyday in our lives and on TV. Sexuality and personal contentment were explored in the gender-bending storytelling that was How Loathsome. The storytelling challenged the reader, but ultimately, it was thoroughly grounded. It opens its audience's eyes to the humanity of the unusual, earning the series my pick.
Don:
Last year, Randy and I agreed on what we felt the best new series of 2002 was, and that was Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra's Y: The Last Man. So, it should come as no surprise that it made my list of choices of Best Ongoing Series for 2003, and I'm sure it made Randy's as well. Also on my list are a couple of Greg Rucka-penned titles that have both already been mentioned here: Queen & Country (Oni Press, illustrated by various artists) and Gotham Central (DC Comics, co-written with Ed Brubaker and illustrated by Michael Lark).
When I considered possibilities for this category, I'd try to think of those comics that always find their way to the top of my reading pile, those titles I just have to read right away. There are some that are sporadically published, but they're so good, a new issue is like a gift. Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch's Ultimates fits the bill every time, with the over-the-top action tempered with a realistic approach to super-heroes. On the other end of the subject matter spectrum is Tom Beland's True Story Swear to God. New issues are rare, but every one is celebration of our ability to connect with another person intimately and completely.
Another one of those top-of-the-pile books is Alias. Over 2003, we've seen a number of writers rise in popularity and profile in the industry, but Brian Michael Bendis has consistently been one of the most entertaining and fascinating voices in the industry for several years now. His work with Michael Gaydos on Alias was dark and explored untouched corners of the super-hero genre. I was sorry to see the series end, and I look forward to its unofficial sequel, The Pulse, later this month. Bendis's work on Daredevil with Alex Maleev was another standout in 2003; they've crafted a gritty crime drama within the confines of the Marvel Universe.
 | Don's Best Ongoing Series:
Ultimate Spider-Man |
When it comes to my pick for the Best Ongoing Series of 2003, once again, Brian Michael Bendis's name turns up. Ultimate Spider-Man -- by Bendis, Mark Bagley and Art Thibert -- is consistently strong, celebrating traditional super-hero storytelling while adding a more modern sensibility and plausibility. Another key to the book's strength is its universal appeal. This is a book that adult comic fans can enjoy, but so can new readers and kids.
Randy:
We're in agreement on most of these series, but I have a few others to add into the mix as well. Like True Story Swear to God, Kerry Callen's Halo & Sprocket is a rare treat, but it's always worth the wait, and is one of the funniest titles on the stands. I'm surprised to see that you note Y: The Last Man, but leave out the other Vertigo breakout hit of last year, Fables, which had several great stories this year as well and might have even risen a little bit in my estimation to become my favorite Vertigo book, at least until Losers came along. Then there's the more esoteric fare, like Comicsone's Iron Wok Jan!, a manga about cooking that never fails to delight.
 | Randy's Best Ongoing Series:
Gotham Central |
Also, while you mention Bendis's Marvel work, my favorite series by Bendis continues to be his creator-owned Image book Powers, and Bendis and Oeming really did a fantastic job this year, particularly with the as-yet-incomplete story of Walker's long and unusual history. Also in the excellent super-hero vein we have Grant Morrison's New X-Men, which had its ups and downs but remains the most exciting X-book in years, and Fantastic Four by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo, which will thankfully continue on into 2004. And though 2004 will probably see a lot more Best Ongoing contenders from DC for me, one notable DC series this year was The Legion, which continued to blend Silver Age charm and science-fiction elements into a successful whole.
My choice for Best Ongoing Series of 2003, though, is one that you named before. With one exceptional storyline after another, Gotham Central really spread its wings and flew in 2003, and I look forward to the conclusion of the Joker on a rampage "Soft Targets" story in 2004, as well as whatever else creators Greg Rucka, Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark have to offer.
Best Original Graphic Novel
Randy:
Settle in, folks... this is going to be a long one. The original graphic novel really came into its own this year, and if there was any doubt before that this is where the industry is headed, there shouldn't be after the metric ton of good comics that came in collected or original graphic novel format in 2003. I had a really hard time narrowing down the list this year, and in fact tried to convince Don to split this category into two so that we could reward more than one worthy contender. Instead, you're going to get a massive laundry list of graphic novels from me and one painful decision. Blame Don. He's mean.
Don:
Randy's right... and he's wrong. I am mean, but I'm also right in my insistence on maintaining this as one category. One of the suggested splits was big publishers/small press, but one might get the impression that being in one category indicated a greater or lesser level of quality over the other. Such is not the case. Big Boys and the Indie Crowd all had worthy contenders in 2003.
Randy:
In any conversation about original graphic novels, you've got to mention the publishers who do them exclusively. AIT/Planet Lar actually embarked on a series in comic format this year, but in general they're a graphic novel house, and they had some big successes this year. Brian Wood and Rob G served up the street action tale The Couriers, Matt Fraction and Kieron Dwyer delivered the 70's action movie in paper form with Last of the Independents and Phil Amara, Tim McCarney, Mike Russo and Richard Jenkins served up more inspired lunacy with Sky Ape: All the Heroes.
Both Dark Horse Comics and Oni Press produce a lot of serial format comics, but they are among the top producers of original graphic novels as well. Dark Horse had some beautiful hardcovers this year with a horror bent, whether it's the entertaining autobiographical tales of Autobiographix, the horror anthology of The Dark Horse Book of Hauntings, the Victorian science-fiction tale Scarlet Traces or the phenomenal The Art of Hellboy. Meanwhile, Oni turned loose a line of original graphic novels that included standouts like Christine Norrie's Cheat, J. Torres and Scott Chantler's Days Like This, a reprint of Scott Morse's Visitations, Nunzio DeFilippis, Christina Weir and Jose Garibaldi on Maria's Wedding and Steve Rolston's One Bad Day. The term "OniGN" became a seal of quality in 2003, and anything published under that banner is worth a look in 2004.
Don:
Well, I don't know that The Art of Hellboy qualifies as a graphic novel (no story is told, though it's a great book), and as a reprint, I don't think labelling Visitations as an original graphic novel holds up. But I'm pretty much in agreement with Randy on his notes thus far. Oni has been more than impressive with its emphasis on OGNs this year, and Maria's Wedding stood out as the very best of their output. Bryan O'Malley's Lost At Sea was another strong offering from Oni. One of the year's best original graphic novels arose from a bigger publisher house, though. Warren Ellis and Colleen Doran's Orbiter was a fascinating read. I loved how it misled the reader into thinking it was about a dangerous and mysterious threat only to thrill with its ultimately hopeful and uplifting moral.
Randy:
When you're talking about DC, you also have to mention two of their big successes at Vertigo this year: The return of Neil Gaiman to comics with Sandman: Endless Nights and a one-off introducing Little Red Riding Hood and telling the tale of the last stand of the Fables in the Homeland in Fables: The Last Castle. There were a couple new contenders on the field who came out strong as well. Shoto Press produced the exceptionally beautiful and interesting The Golden Vine, a full-color manga-tinged look at an alternate history of Alexander the Great. Jeff Parker's Octopus Press produced his full-color adventure yarn Interman. And Mad Yak Press gave us the post-9-11 spy story Subatomic. All three were fantastic reads. Also in the "one from each publisher" ranks of great graphic novels this year was Image's The Parliament of Justice and Viz's second venture into Junji Ito's weird horror, Gyo Volume 1.
 | Randy's Best Original Graphic Novel:
Blankets |
There is one graphic novel only (or mostly) producer who I didn't mention above. Top Shelf Comics produced some great material in 2003, as always. Among my favorites were James Kochalka's delightfully weird Monkey Vs. Robot & The Crystal of Power and Scott Morse's beautiful tribute to Akira Kurosawa, The Barefoot Serpent. But really, when you're talking about Best Original Graphic Novel of 2003, there's only one choice to make, the book that has earned all of the acclaim its getting: Craig Thompson's sophomore effort, the engaging and enormous autobiographical tale Blankets.
Don:
There's no doubt... Blankets is one of the most brutally honest and touching graphic novels I've ever had the pleasure of reading. I only just recently finished the hefty volume. In addition to being a rich, personal story with a strong theme and an interesting and unconventional exploration of the importance of faith in a young person's life, I liked that it really looked like a major novel. Whenever I'd be reading it in the company of others, the volume's design -- which really made it look like a book, not a comic book -- always elicited questions from those around.
 | Don's Best Original Graphic Novel:
The Barefoot Serpent |
Mind you, I don't agree with Randy's contention that there's only one choice for the Best Original Graphic Novel of 2003. I opted for a different one, for example, although it's one that stems from the same publisher. Scott Morse's The Barefoot Serpent may have been a lighter, quicker read than Blankets, but I found it was equally personal, touching and enlightening... perhaps moreso. I loved learning about Kurosawa, and I loved the eerie but cute story that unfolds on the beaches of Hawaii.
That takes care of the first part of our 2003 retrospective. You can find Part Two HERE.
Email Randy and Don comments about this review.
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