40. DOGS OF WAR
Nathan Fox and Sheila Keenan’s heart-wrenching, half-century-spanning tale of soldiers and soldiers’ best friends is old-fashioned in its storytelling and forward-looking in its gorgeously sleek illustration.
39. Will Laren
It is… unsettling how funny we find these inexplicable and off-kilter comic strips.
38. Z2 Comics
We can’t wait to see Paul Pope’s ESCAPO and Dean Haspiel’s BILLY DOGMA collection from Josh Frankel’s ambitious new imprint.
7 and 1/2 minutes of the gospel truth. The toys, comics, cartoons, and games of the ’80s turned our entire generation into satanists. Watch this as you perform your daily sacrifice.
36. INHUMANS
One of the finest stories Marvel Comics has ever told is back in print. Jae Lee and Paul Jenkins explored the artful outskirts of what is possible in a superhero comic.
35. TEOTFW
Chuck Forsman’s dark, opaquely frightening story of two broken young people on the run plays like a Gus Van Sant version of BADLANDS. It gets under your skin.
34. THIS NEVER-COMPLETED DAVID BOWIE BOOK
A Neil Gaiman/Yoshitaka Amano collaboration about the Thin White Duke. With a heavy sigh, file this one under Could Have Been…
33. DUCKTALES REMASTERED
Welcome back, Scrooge. We’re probably happiest about the almost-as-good remake of the best video game song ever written.
32. TOMMY TAYLOR AND THE SHIP THAT SANK TWICE
We finally fully enter the Tommy Taylor universe in this standalone UNWRITTEN graphic novel. Gorgeously illustrated by Peter Gross, and better than a book-within-a-book has any right to be.
31. AGE & ORDER
With toothbrush-scrubbed acrylics and ink that appears to have been sneezed on to the page, Daniel Elisii gives us a glimpse of a frightening & beautiful otherworldly landscape.
30. GRAVITY
This is why 3D film-making was invented. A heart-stopping, awe-inspiring, claustrophobic theme park ride in the guise of a movie.
29. FROM THE CLOUDS
Jerel Dye‘s beautifully painted fairy tale of peace on earth and our strange helpers from above.
28. SOME PEOPLE
Luke Pearson pins the world under glass.
27. BLADES & LAZERS
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: Ben Marra looks great in pink.
26. THIS NATURE VIDEO
What is happening at 1:08 (in this gorgeous and inspiring montage)??
25. WE WERE LIKE GHOSTS/WE GHOSTS WERE LIKE
Jamie Tanner’s weird little magic trick of a teeny-minicomic is almost as oddly haunting as his brilliant Little Nemo strip.
24. THIS REDISCOVERED BOB DYLAN THINGIE
An hour long taped phone conversation between a 30-year-old Bob Dylan and Dylanologist/trash-picking goon A.J. Weberman. A time capsule, and a window into the wonderful mundanity behind the myth.
23. DC ONE MILLION
Grant Morrison’s millionth issue of all the major DC titles. From an impossibly beautiful sci-fi utopia in which there are no pointless relaunches.
22. FOLLOW ME TO
Watch this guy’s girlfriend lead him all over the world.
21. SEX CRIMINALS
This whip-smart, slightly porny romp from Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky could go off in any number of titillating or disturbing directions.
20. REFLEKTOR
The new Arcade Fire album is a bloated mess of self-indulgent awesomeness.
Ian Chachere took us on a heartbreaking journey into the aging mind of the “real” Christopher Robin.
18. RUSSIAN CAT IS PROFESSIONAL LIBRARIAN
We are in the midst of an aggressive hiring campaign to bring him to Locust Moon, bow tie and all.
17. MULTIPLE WARHEADS: DOWNFALL
The most punderfully punishing punnybook of all time returns to pun at us with impunity.
16. THE MOST BEAUTIFUL ABANDONED PLACES IN THE WORLD
Nature & decay are the greatest designers.
15. QUARTER MOON 2…and everyone who backed us KICKSTARTER
We are very proud to present these gnarly, brain-smashing tales of vengeful lobsters, incompetent wizards, black-magic cats, and the Eraserhood. And we couldn’t have done it without you. Sincerely: thank you.
14. 12 YEARS A SLAVE
Steve McQueen’s incredible adaptation of one of the most important pieces of American literature simply bowled us over.
13. MARVEL KNIGHTS: SPIDER-MAN
Marco Rudy’s mind-melting art turns a standard Spider-Man adventure into pop-art experimentation at its finest.
12. Savage Sun
The maestro Mr. Comey created the glorious animation for SAVAGE SUN’s new single. Suburbia’s never looked more incendiary.
11. 36 LESSONS IN SELF-DESTRUCTION
It’s out in the world. And it’s only just starting to turn heads the way few but Rob Woods could.
10. FANTASY BASKETBALL
Sam Bosma’s Zelda-meets-NBA Jam comic was easily one of the funniest, most exciting, beautifully drawn, and emotionally engaging comics of the year. It had us jumping out of our chairs like we were right there in the stands.
9. ART SPIEGELMAN
We met the master at Liniers’ TOON BOOKS event in Brooklyn, where we smoked cigarettes and talked about McCay. He was warm, wise, and engaged, and he told us an incredible story about…
8. WOODY GELMAN
The man who rescued Little Nemo. His saga will be detailed in some form in DREAM ANOTHER DREAM. Speaking of which…
7. New LITTLE NEMO: DREAM ANOTHER DREAMers
Dean Motter, Hans Rickheit, Jeremy Baum, J.H. Williams III, David Mack, George Pratt, Nate Powell, Toby Cypress, Tom Neely, Denis Kitchen, Carla Speed McNeil, Gabriel Bá, and Fábio Moon all board the Slumberland Express. This train is bound for glory.
6. OUT OF SKIN
Emily Carroll’s comics are beautiful and terrifying in equal measure. OUT OF SKIN is a truly masterful work — a horror comic that actually frightens, leaves you short of breath, with eyes darting towards every dark corner of the room.
5. THE EARFARMER
Our own Chris Stevens and Farel Dalrymple break ground on their sci-fi love song, to be serialized in DARK HORSE PRESENTS.
4. BATTLING BOY
Beast of beasts. It’s finally here. Pope has never looked better, or been more accessible.
3. SPX
With this much brilliant cartooning and this many ravenous readers in one room, it’s almost possible to squint your eyes and imagine that independent comics is the medium it deserves to be.
2. LOCUST MOON COMICS FESTIVAL (Mark II)
We’re not saying it was BETTER than SPX…but it was ours. And it seemed to make people happy. Also sweaty. We were blessed with an incredible collection of creators (and lots of delicious food) who made the old Rotunda one of the warmest – figuratively! – places on earth. Never mind the stress it took to make it happen or the scaffolding or the global warming. In the end, it worked. We can’t wait for next year’s.
1. SANDMAN: OVERTURE
We couldn’t imagine a more spectacular return to one of comics’ greatest narratives. J.H. Williams does the best work of his constantly-astonishing career, Neil Gaiman’s writing sparkles, and this saga is as rapturously beautiful as we remember it. Who says you can’t go home again?
Locust Moon Comics 