Captain America: Civil War © Marvel Films/Disney
2016. Jesus, where even to start. If it was not everyone dying (so much that you began to feel left out), it was people making weird and strange decisions. My political radar totally failed. I didn’t see Brexit and Trump succeeding, but can understand why they did and the same goes for my cultural outlook. I looked forward to it, but Hell; who’d thought that Deadpool would become one of the biggest box-office successes of the year?
On the whole, I’ll be glad to see the back of a bad year. That’s not to say 2017 could be any better, but it couldn’t be a whole lot worse (hopefully).
All the selected are graphic novels, whether collected or standalone. There is no point in giving an award to a single issue comic, that’s like going for a three-course meal and eating only the starter.
Best 10 of the Year 2016 (in no order of preference)
Aaron & Bachalo (Marvel Comics)
Magic on its deathbed? Time to call the Doctor who doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty.
Mary and Bryan Talbot (Jonathan Cape)
Compelling tale of what real socialism and revolution looks like.
Moebius (Dark Horse)
It’s still got the European obsession with mysticism and meta-physics, but the artwork is just gorgeous.
Majorie Liu/Sana Takeda (Image Comics)
The dense plotline means the work is better read as a whole rather than piecemeal. But a very different look at a world full of magic and political intrigue.
Peter Bagge (Dark Horse)
Think Trump will be bad? How about the slave owners, womanisers, braggarts and egotists that created the Republic. Funny and scurrilous.
Erika Moen/Matthew Nolan (Limerence Press)
Funny, irreverent and informative. Should be in every school library and used in every sex-ed course.
Bob Fingerman (Image Comics)
Sometimes, you wish that one of your favourite pastimes would stop reflecting your life so much.
Grant Morrison/Yanick Paquette
(DC Comics)
A love or hate book, but at least Morrison and Paquette remind the reader that Diana is an Amazon.
Geoff Johns/Gary Frank
(DC Comics)
Oohhh, I can just image the look on Alan Moore’s face.
James Robinson/Greg Hinkle (Image Comics)
Want to know how comics can make you debauched and drug-addled? Here you go. Meta-comics at its finest.
Best Reprint
Peter Bagge (Fantagraphics)
Back to the early days. Even in a pre-digital age, Buddy Bradley’s problems and moaning are very familiar.
Evan Dorkin (Dark Horse)
Perhaps the only book I’ve read that actually seethes.
Hal Foster (Fantagraphics)
I’ve not given enough praise to the Valiant vols, but they are a masterclass in story-telling with gorgeous art.
Carlos Giménez (IDW Publishing)
Spain’s civil war was brutal. For those on losing side, life after was even worse.
Best Art Books
Dave Sim/Gerhard (IDW Publishing)
Back to the days when comicbook covers meant something. Forget what you think of Dave Sim and just marvel at it.
Ashley Wood (IDW Publishing)
Some videogame studio should make a game out of Wood’s art and stories. I’d play it.
Harvey Kurtzman (Dark Horse)
The humour and satire has become out of date now, but the art is still superb and you could see Trump rivalling MAD if Hefner hadn’t pulled the plug.
Best graphic novel for boys
Aaron/Immonen/Cassaday (Marvel Comics)
Cassaday’s Han Solo looks a little odd, but this is just perfect on every level.
Best graphic novel for girls
Palmiotti/Conner/Luppachino (DC Comics)
Good riddance to the sex kitten of the New 52 and a welcome return to a stranger in the very strange land that is Florida.
Best Discovered Comic of 2016
Dorkin/Thompson (Dark Horse)
Like everything else in life, your pets will handle anything better than you do. In this case, the supernatural.
Most Diappointing
Social Media
Stop acting like everyone listens to you. You’re the equivalent of a pub wherein everyone has a megaphone and the arrogance to believe that what they are saying is all-important. Even an EMP couldn’t undo the untold damage you have caused in just the last twenty years.
You
The world doesn’t owe you a living. It’s not against you. It doesn’t even hear you. It’s a planet with over seven billion souls, so yes, your voice (even attached to the megaphone that is called the internet) is going to get lost. The world of comics is not your bitch and doesn’t have to represent you. All it needs to do is tell good stories. If you feel it doesn’t, then go out and create your own and get enough people to read your tales for you to make a living. The sun will set today, it will rise tomorrow and will continue to do so for many more thousands of years when you will be dust and forgotten. And if there is one thing I can guarantee, it’s that the human race will still be bitching about what is going on in the same way we are now.
Publishing
Stop letting others – who have no idea how publishing works – dictate what you can or cannot print or publish. One Twitterstorm or boycott (mostly from one website forum the vast majority of people have never heard of) is not enough for you to stop doing what you have been for years longer than most of your detractors have been alive. Grow a pair and tell most of Twitter to fuck off.
Best Publisher
DC finally got its act together in 2016. Rebirth neatly threading together why the New 52 just felt wrong.
Best Writer
It’s not as well-known as his Starman tales, but it is on a par.
Best Artist
Forget what you think about Cho – and the “OUTRAGE!” covers – and just marvel at the art. A shame office politics got involved.
Honourable Mention
Look at it. I mean seriously… This is what gives artists carpal tunnel syndrome.
