I Read Comic Books discussion

For this month's Book of the Month, we're looking at winners from the 2023 Eisner Awards!

The full list of winners can be found here: https://www.comic-con.org/awards/eisn...

Any stand-outs you'd like to recommend? What did you end up choosing?

Tell us about your pick in the thread below!

I was happy to see Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands win the best memoir (but I've read it earlier this year since it's on the IRCB selection), she deserved it!

As for me, I started Batman - One Bad Day: The Riddler last night for this theme and I have to say, so far it doesn't disappoint, I see where all the praises come from.

Since it's not very long, I might get other to ones too, the selection is pretty great!

I recommend Blacksad - Volume 6 - They All Fall Down - Part 1 (Haven't read this one yet but I love the series. Will try to borrow this one from my sister this month and read it too).

I like the Blacksad too. just wonder is Part 2 available in bookstores ?

I’m not much of a Big 2 reader, but opted to give Batman: One Bad Day: The Riddler a try because it was just a one-shot, i.e., winning the Eisner in the Best Single Issue category. I realize others will probably disagree, but in the aftermath of reading this story, the more I thought about it, the less I liked it. The art by Mitch Gerads is fine. In fact, maybe better than just fine. Tom King’s dialog is okay, as well. It’s the overall themes that I found disappointing. Twenty years ago I might have found the ideas expressed gritty and edgy. Now they strike me as uninspired and banal. (view spoiler)[In essence, by building on a plot that doesn't really make a lot of sense, King pays homage to the reactionary notion that a certain class of criminals aren’t really entitled to due process and that the only rational course of action in such cases is summary execution. (hide spoiler)]

I was introduced earlier this year to Tom Gauld, reading Goliath (2012) and Mooncop (2016). I enjoyed those to the extent that I had been looking for an excuse to read some of Gauld’s other work, so it was fortuitous that Revenge of the Librarians won the Eisner for Best Humor Publication. Published by Drawn & Quarterly, Revenge is a collection of single strips originally appearing in The Guardian. As the title indicates, the contents are designed to appeal primarily to the bibliophile. I like Gauld’s precise and rather minimalistic art style. Not every strip is a hit, but most elicited a wry smile and at least a handful a genuine guffaw.

I'm just here to stump for more people to read The Human Target, Volume 1 because Greg Smallwood illustrated the best looking book I saw all year.

Adam wrote: "I'm just here to stump for more people to read The Human Target, Volume 1 because Greg Smallwood illustrated the best looking book I saw all year."

I'll gladly give it a try but is the series over yet ? It won limited series so I wanna assume the whole story is contained in the 2 volumes (12 issues) but i'd just wanna make sure.

Evilblacksheep wrote: "I'll gladly give it a try but is the series over yet ? It won limited series so I wanna assume the whole story is contained in the 2 volumes (12 issues) but i'd just wanna make sure."

It is finished. Not sure if there's a trade of the whole thing out yet. I read it on DCIU. It's really good. The 80's Justice League kind of reimagined as a noir. Smallwood's art is sublime.

It is finished. Not sure if there's a trade of the whole thing out yet. I read it on DCIU. It's really good. The 80's Justice League kind of reimagined as a noir. Smallwood's art is sublime.

There is 2 TPB out (#1-6 and #7-12) so I guess it's what I'll go with. Thanks for the rec!

For once I actually got through all of the Eisner nominees, I think the best of the winners were:

Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands
The Night Eaters, Vol. 1: She Eats the Night
Blacksad: They All Fall Down · Part One
Chivalry
Do a Powerbomb

Wow, I have already read a lot of these. Yay! Conveniently, I read The Human Target, Volume 1 earlier this week, so I finished it with The Human Target (2021-) Vol. 2 today. Thoroughly enjoyed this noir even though I know next to nothing about Justice League International. The art was stunning, right in that Darwyn Cooke (a la Parker and some New Frontier) and Brubaker/Phillips ‘70s vibe I love. The G’nort issue was hilarious.

Think I’ll give Barnstormers (Comixology Originals) #1 a try as well, since I’ve kind of fallen away from CX Originals lately.

Yvette wrote: "I like the Blacksad too. just wonder is Part 2 available in bookstores ?"

This is definitely confusing. Short answer: No.

This story was originally published by Europe Comics in two issues, subtitled Part 1 and Part 2, which were both collected in the Dark Horse HC as “Part 1.” Expect the remainder of the story to be published as Parts 3 and 4 but collected by Dark Horse as “Part 2”—not confusing at all, right? I was even more confused because the 1 and 2 “issues” were available digitally, which I bought, then bought the HC whose cover is identical to the smaller Part 1—pay attention to the page count if you’re looking to buy digitally.

I have not yet seen any dates given for the remainder of the story, happy to learn more. I feel the collection is standalone enough that you won’t be upset reading it now, but you will be eagerly awaiting the rest.

European comics do this all the time. To save money and only buy them once, you need to do your research. They typically come out in 50 page segments. Then get collected with 2 of them put together. Then if they are popular enough it'll get expanded to 4 volumes. Always check the page counts. And some American publishers like Ablaze will take those 50 page bande dessinées and split them up into 2 chunks for American comic shelves when translating them.

Evilblacksheep wrote: "It is finished. Not sure if there's a trade of the whole thing out yet. I read it on DCIU. It's really good. The 80's Justice League kind of reimagined as a noir. Smallwood's art is sublime.

There..."

Chad beat me to it, but if you have Volumes 1 & 2 you have it all. I'm SURE they will do a collected 12 issue edition, but for now it's just the 2 trades.

Regarding Blacksad, if it reassures you it's also confusing for a european reader. First they never did that before (all other blacksad stories are self contained in one album and now suddenly they decided to fragment this one into several albums). Volume 3 & 4 are not even out in French yet. Volume 3 is supposedly announced for mid-november here.

@Adam Perfect, thank you ;)

Canavan wrote: "I realize others will probably disagree, but in the aftermath of reading this story, the more I thought about it, the less I liked it."

I just finished it, and I kinda see what you mean. I absolutely loved the art, the writing is okay but I'm unsure about the overall message it gives (agree with your spoiler part).

I understand that the whole premise of that One bad day series is a reference to The Killing Joke and Joker saying it only takes one bad day for someone to flip out into insanity like him. So I see what they intended to do with this story but I'm not sure I liked the conclusion.

At least it was a quick read.

Discussing them in this thread may be cheating a bit, but I was looking at the 2023 inductees into the Eisners Awards’ Hall of Fame. A number caught my eye, two in particular. One was Jerry Bails (1933-2006), who I remember meeting once. Bails has been described by many as the “father of comic book fandom”. He was a particularly big fan of DC’s Justice Society of America (later refashioned as the Justice League). In 1961, Bails, along with co-editor Roy Thomas, launched one of the earliest comic-centric fanzines, Alter Ego and I read through the short inaugural issue. It’s the usual mixture of news, articles, fiction, and art. Objectively, it showcases some pretty awful stuff, but it’s hard not to kinda admire the amateurish enthusiasm on display.

Another of the inductees was Justin Green (1945-2022). Green, not particularly prolific, is best known for his 1972 underground classic, Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary , which I re-read this morning. It’s a brutally honest autobiographical account of Green’s early life in which he describes a stew of compulsions and intrusive thoughts involving sex and religion. (Green would eventually be disgnosed as OCD.) Other underground comics artists, including Art Spiegelman and Robert Crumb, have cited Binky as a seminal influence on their own work.

Erin wrote: "For once I actually got through all of the Eisner nominees, I think the best of the winners were: ..."

BTW, I want to endorse Erin’s list. I have already read all of these and they are all incredibly deserving.

Last year I was on the committee for the 2022 Best Graphic Novels for Adults through the American Library Association, and had the pleasure of reading many books early, many of which later were both Eisner winners and on the GNCRT list: https://www.ala.org/rt/gncrt/best-gra...

My favs were:
Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands
Lore Olympus
Revenge of the Librarians
Flung Out of Space
Chivalry

I wasn't allowed to review them publicly during my time on the committee and despite reading about 100 graphic novels then, I haven't taken the time to review many of them on Goodreads once my tenure was complete.

Evilblacksheep wrote: "Regarding Blacksad, if it reassures you it's also confusing for a european reader. ..."

American publishers do this too. You might start out with issue 1,2, 3,... then combined into book1, book 2, etc., and then those are combined into a larger volume 1, 2, etc., and eventually you might get ominibus editions. And with long-running superhero characters, sometimes individual old issues are re-combined to focus on one character arc. So tough to keep straight! Especially if buying in digital form where you may not be able to get a peek inside before buying.

Adam wrote: "I'm just here to stump for more people to read The Human Target, Volume 1 because Greg Smallwood illustrated the best looking book I saw all year."

I've just finished the first volume (and have the second ready to go) and even tho I know approximately NOTHING about the justice league, this was a great read. I'm probably missing a bunch of references but the book itself is still enough to understand the plot on its own and the art is just... amazing. Thanks again for the rec, I wouldn't have picked it up without it.

Evilblacksheep wrote: "I've just finished the first volume (and have the second ready to go) and even tho I know approximately NOTHING about the justice league."

Yeah, unless you've been reading comics from the late eighties you aren't going to know much about that era of the Justice League. But that's OK. It doesn't really matter. They are more Easter eggs for those of us who have read those comics. This may be the best comic I read last year.

Evilblacksheep wrote: "Adam wrote: "I'm just here to stump for more people to read The Human Target, Volume 1 because Greg Smallwood illustrated the best looking book I saw all year."

I'..."

Chad nailed it, the only team member you really needed to know much about was Batman, everyone else is revealed well enough in-story. I was a huge fan of both the author and artist, so I was ready for this to be enjoyable, but I was shocked at how great it turned out to be. Glad you enjoyed it!

Greg Smallwood makes every project he does better. He's such a talented artist. It also helps that this is a lot more straight forward than a lot of King's stuff.

Finished the second volume too (wraping up the whole story) and it was as good as the first (if not better once you're deeper into the story). and yes again THE ART !!!

I really liked The Night Eaters, Vol. 1: She Eats the Night. I'm glad that team is doing something in addition to Monstress. While Monstress is good, it isn't really my thing. It has too many characters and subplots to keep track of.

Too early to see whether Night Eaters might move in that direction as well. But for now it is focused on one small family.

I also really enjoyed Public Domain, Volume 1: Past Mistakes.