SPECTATORS - Part 89
Plus, BKV's Favorite Comics of 2023 - Part 2!
That was one nutty week.
Brian here, and last Tuesday, Paper Girls co-creator Cliff Chiang let me know that disgraced congressional fabulist George Santos had apparently been flaunting all three deluxe hardcover editions of our Image Comics series (hopefully not purchased with campaign finances).
No press is bad press?
Later today, I’ll be sharing some favorite recent comics from my shelves, but first, let’s return to a comic that doesn’t exist in the physical realm (yet): Spectators, daringly penciled, inked AND painted by co-creator Niko Henrichon, and lovingly lettered by Fonografiks.
This week, voyeuristic spirits Val and Sam finally depart the Ramble, but if your inbox filtered out any past NSFW installments, you can catch up on any/all sex and violence you may have missed in our archives.
Don’t you just want to live in Niko’s dreamy black-and-white Midtown?
Next Monday evening, a new character or two joins our tale…
Thanks to you generous paid subscribers in The Tower for revealing what glorious stuff you’ve been coveting this holiday season.
Reader Johnny Hall helped move a ton of product when he wrote:
The Folio Society always makes the coolest fucking books, and I’ve long had my eye on Michael Chabon’s masterful The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, done here with some sick interior art by Chris Samnee. A favorite book by a favorite author and guest starring a favorite artist. One day I’ll treat myself!
With colors by Paper Girls’ own Matthew Wilson?! How was I not aware of this edition of one of my Top Ten novels?? Santa, please make a note.
I also promised to give away some swag from the Saga Threadless Shop, like this deep-cut from Fiona Staples referencing a galactic eatery that will have a surprisingly important role to play in our story:
And for this week’s lucky winners, our exhausted intern Genesis the Exploded Giraffe randomly selected loyal Tower members 1PythonFan and Ruth. Congrats to you both, and Genesis will be reaching out soon to find out which item of officially licensed awesomeness you’ve selected.
We’ll be giving away a few more signed copies of Saga Volume 11 to commenters in this week’s chat thread, so I hope you’ll consider joining your fellow giraffes in our exceedingly pleasant Tower:
Since the birth of our medium, people have been talking about how comic books are dying, but that chatter seems to have increased exponentially of recent, huh?
I can’t speak to the health of the “industry” (I’m not even sure I understand what the comics industry is anymore), but I do know that I read an absolute shit-ton of A+ comics this year, including at least one graphic novel that’s an early contender for best of the century.
How about you? What comics that you read in 2023 have you been recommending to friends?
Here were my picks from the first half of the year…
…so please just mentally zipper merge those books with these new additions, a list I once again struggled to limit to only ten:
BKV’S FAVORITE COMICS OF 2023 (CONTINUED!)
Same caveats as last time: these are just what comics/graphic novels/picture books/whatever I happened to have picked up, finished in the last six months, and somehow still remember today.
I haven’t included work by any of my friends/colleagues, but I could have easily made another entire Top Ten list only comprised of their infuriatingly excellent comics.
Away we go:
10) TOTEM
I was drawn to a lot of dreamlike stories throughout this trippy year, and Totem by Spanish illustrator Laura Pérez was one of the most fascinating and beautiful.
Oh my god, the colors…
9) BLOOD OF THE VIRGIN
Yes, a 300+ page epic graphic novel for adults! Smart horror and explicit smut! Talk about right up my alley.
How does Sammy Harkham, a cartoonist who I just discovered wasn’t even born until 1980, capture 1971 Los Angeles with so much persuasive detail?
8) ALL ONE LIFE
I love this book, which has caused everyone I’ve shared it with to make the same sounds of awed delight.
Brilliantly utilizing old-school red and blue 3D glasses (a gimmick I never had much time for, until now), artist Jon Strongbow overlays images of the planet’s past on top of exquisitely rendered scenes from contemporary Seattle.
Potent work you need to see.
7) ROAMING
From Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki, genius creators of This One Summer, Roaming is a wistfully romantic tale of Canadian tourists that somehow made me nostalgic for a place that I never really knew, the New York City of 2009.
6) CAPRICE
Looks like a longer version of this Charles Burns work (containing covers to various “imaginary” comics) is coming out in the States next year, but I had to include this French edition I tracked down, since it contains—no exaggeration—the finest artwork I saw anywhere this year (excluding my dear collaborators, of course).
Burns’ inking and imagination continue to reach impossible new heights.
The full list continues below, thanks, Tower pals!
Everyone else, I’ll see you back here next Monday night for our final installment of Spectators for 2023…