The Best Original Graphic Novels of 2010
It’s finally here, my best of 2010 list! Sorry that it’s out so late, I know that the done thing is to have the list out by the end of the year, but screw convention, right? The reason that it is so late can be attributed to a combination of equal parts busyness, laziness, and World of Warcraft (fellow WOW player know what I’m talking about).
Please bear in mind that this is a list of the best original graphic novels of the year, and therefore does not contain trade paper back collections of any comic book series. So please don’t send me hate mail asking me how the hell I dare overlook Grant Morrison’s amazing run on Batman & Robin, or some other comic that you loved (don’t laugh, it’s happened before). It’s not on here, because it’s not an original graphic novel. I suppose I could make a list of my favourite trades and comics, if that’s something that people really want to see, but these lists really are quite a bit of work, and I’d rather be getting on a doing some new reviews.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the list, and perhaps even find something on here that you may have overlooked during the year.
I should also mention, these are listed in no particular order. I really don’t see the point in ranking lists like this. It’s like trying to say which of two works of art are the best, neither is necessarily better than the other, they are just different.
Oh, and if you’re going to buy any of these books, be sure to get them from my sexy Amazon store, as I get a few cents for each book sold. One day, I hope for the website to make enough money to cover the server costs… one day… http://astore.amazon.com/hypergeek0e-20?_encoding=UTF8&node=8
Written by Andi Ewington
Artwork by various
Published by Com.x
132 pages, FC, SC
RRP $17.99
Journalist, James Stanley, is faced with the imminent birth of his child. Having decided to forego the test that would determine whether his child is carrying the all-important Super-S gene, which differentiates the genetic makeup of a superhero from that of a normal person, James sets out on a quest to interview forty-five super-powered individuals in the hope that their experiences may better prepare him for the birth of a child that is potentially gifted with extraordinary abilities.
On his journey, he encounters characters from all walks of life; from single mothers struggling to raise gifted children, to rebellious super-teenagers, all the way through to those reaching the end of their lives. But what starts as a voyage of personal discovery becomes something far more ominous when he crosses paths with an organization known as XoDOS.
Each page of art has been illustrated by a different comic artist, with no predetermined brief given; just the written page as guidance. The concept is unlike anything you’ve seen in comic books so far; it truly is an original attempt at redefining what people expect from a comic book format. Featuring the art of Liam Sharp, Jock, Sean Philips, Randy Green, Charlie Adlard and Dan Brereton, to name but a few of the 45 contributors.
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I did a full review of this book earlier this year (http://www.hypergeek.ca/2010/01/graphic-novel-review-andi-ewingtons-forty-five-45.html) where I stated that
“[Forty Five] 45 is by far one of the most original and innovative graphic novels ever created. Andi Ewington’s writing on this debut release is so strong, and so creative that it puts many seasoned professionals to shame. Ewington’s writing is accompanied by illustrations from some of the best artists in the business, making for an incredibly gorgeous collection, which you will want to look at again and again. I can’t recommend this book highly enough, your collection is incomplete without it!”
It sounds like I liked it!
Written and illustrated by Jason
Published by Fantagraphics Books
48 Pages, B&W, SC
RRP $12.99
Lycanthropy, recreational burglary, and romance in idyllic southern France! After an omnibus collection of earlier books (Almost Silent) and a new collection of short stories (Low Moon), Jason returns with another full-length, full-color graphic novella—his first since the 2008 Eisner Award-winning The Last Musketeer.
Sven, a semi-aimless Scandinavian artist who has ended up in Montpellier, France on a futile romantic pursuit, enjoys nocturnal raids into other people’s homes, disguised as a werewolf. The way he figures it, the disguise will give him an extra few moments’ advantage vis-à-vis any startled home owner if things get ugly…but he hasn’t taken into account the existence of a society of real Montpellier-based werewolves who do not take kindly to this new pretender. So while Sven spends his days playing chess and poker with his friends, sketching his way through his picturesque chosen hometown, and coping with romantic dilemmas—both his and those of his best friend, the Breakfast at Tiffany’s-obsessed Audrey, who has girl troubles of her own—little does he realize that a genuine threat to his life, and for that matter his humanity, is closing in on him.
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Part lycanthropic thriller, part romantic comedy, and part existential drama, all told with Jason’s trademark anthropomorphic characters. The visuals are minimalistic and haunting, and the sparse dialogue is wry and delivered with deadpan execution. It’s one of the best things that Jason has ever written, and he continues to outdo himself with every new story
Written and illustrated by Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez
Published by Fantagraphics Books
104 Pages, B&W, SC
RRP $14.99
All-new stories featuring Jaime’s Maggie and Ray, plus Gilbert’s Fritz and the “Sad Girl.” After Jaime’s two-part super-hero epic from Love and Rockets: New Stories #1 and #2, we return to the enthralling minutiae of the “Locas” cast’s lives for the first time in three years. In the main story Ray finally gets his date with Maggie: The couple goes to an art opening and to dinner, they discuss the crazy world of dreams, and Maggie asks Ray for a huge favor. Also in this volume, “Brown Town, Blue Sun,” a new installment in Jaime’s beloved “little kids” flashback series: A ten-year-old Maggie and her family move away from Hoppers to a desert ghost town…
And on the Gilbert side of the ledger, “Scarlet by Starlight” is a story starring Fritz (of High Soft Lisp fame) that (in contrast to #2’s silent masterpiece “Hypnotwist”) consists entirely of a 14-page dialogue scene. “Killer/Sad Girl/Star” picks up the “Sad Girl” character from LRNS #2, and how no one in her family takes her budding film career seriously. 104 pages of black-and-white comics
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Los Bros Hernandez return for a third volume of New Stories. The stories in this volume are fun, bizarre, wacky, and at times profoundly moving. The brothers have been at this for 28 years now, and are still telling stories brimming with originality, and illustrated in inimitable and unparalleled fashion. A true watermark of the series thus far!
Written and illustrated by Charles Burns
Published by Pantheon
56 Pages, FC, SC
RRP $19.95
Doug is having a strange night. A weird buzzing noise on the other side of the wall has woken him up, and there, across the room, next to a huge hole torn out of the bricks, sits his beloved cat, Inky. Who died years ago. But who’s nonetheless slinking out through the hole, beckoning Doug to follow.
What’s going on?
To say any more would spoil the freaky, Burnsian fun, especially because X’ed Out, unlike Black Hole, has not been previously serialized, and every unnervingly meticulous panel will be more tantalizing than the last . . .
Drawing inspiration from such diverse influences as Hergé and William Burroughs, Charles Burns has given us a dazzling spectral fever-dream—and a comic-book masterpiece.
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No-one does eerie quite like Charles Burns. The mind that brought us the masterpiece that is Black Hole returns with the first volume of a series of graphic novels that are set to take readers through haunting and unsettling worlds. It’s a beautifully weird book, that at times feels like you’re witnessing an acid trip turned nightmare. I’ve seen the book described as Tintin as imagined by William S Burroughs, and I couldn’t agree more. It’s a classic in the making, and you’d be remiss to miss this first volume!
Written and illustrated by Daniel Clowes
Published by Drawn and Quarterly
80 Pages, FC, SC
RRP $21.95
Meet Wilson, an opinionated middle-aged loner who loves his dog and quite possibly no one else. In an ongoing quest to find human connection, he badgers friend and stranger alike into a series of onesided conversations, punctuating his own lofty discursions with a brutally honest, self-negating sense of humor. After his father dies, Wilson, now irrevocably alone, sets out to find his ex-wife with the hope of rekindling their long-dead relationship, and discovers he has a teenage daughter, born after the marriage ended and given up for adoption.Wilson eventually forces all three to reconnect as a family—a doomed mission that will surely, inevitably backfire.
In the first all-new graphic novel from one of the leading cartoonists of our time, Daniel Clowes creates a thoroughly engaging, complex, and fascinating portrait of the modern egoist—outspoken and oblivious to the world around him.Working in a single-page-gag format and drawing in a spectrum of styles, the cartoonist of GhostWorld, Ice Haven, and David Boring gives us his funniest and most deeply affecting novel to date.
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It’s strange to think that this is actually Daniel Clowes’ first original graphic novel, but classics like Ghost World, Ice Haven, and David Boring were all originally serialized in Eightball. Wilson is a classic Clowes protagonist, incredibly smart, but also incredibly awkward and miserable. The book is a biography, told as a series of slice of life vignettes, each illustrated in a completely different style. It’s an incredibly stunning piece of work, with some side-splittingly funny strips, punctuated by tender emotional moments. It’s a hauntingly beautiful tale of the mundanity of modern life.
Written by Jim McCann
Illustrated by Janet Lee
Published by Archaia Entertainment
128 Pages, FC, SC
RRP $24.95
Welcome to Anorev, a land that has no concept or understanding of time because time itself has ceased to exist. A world where children have never grown up, machines have forgotten if they were built by humans or if they built humans themselves, and all clocks have been stopped at the same time since time itself stopped. This has been the way of things for longer than anyone can remember, until 314 dapper-looking gentlemen rain down from the sky to start the world anew.
Now Ayden, the only boy to still ask questions; Zoe, the robot girl all other machines hold dear; and the Dapper Man known only as “41″ must repair whatever it was that caused time to stop, understand their true place in this world, and learn what “tomorrow” really means. But destiny is not always easy and choices must be made that will decide the fate of this land. The sun is setting for the first time in memory, and once that happens, everything changes!
The Return of the Dapper Men is a visually stunning fairy tale that combines steampunk with fantasy and science fiction with Renaissance style, brought to life from the minds of award-winning playwright and comic book writer Jim McCann (Marvel’s Hawkeye & Mockingbird) and critically acclaimed visual artist Janet Lee. Together they have created a world where J.M. Barrie, Lewis Carrol, and Maurice Sendak meet Jim Henson and Tim Burton. All sharply dressed in a pin-stripe suit and a dapper bowler hat.
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Another book that I did a full review of: http://www.hypergeek.ca/2010/11/review-return-of-the-dapper-men-ogn.html
I actually found myself quoted on this one, and here’s the quote they took: “The story of ‘Dapper Men’ is expertly crafted by Jim McCann… The tale is told through a combination of stunning visuals, smart dialogue, and almost poetic narration… One of the best stories I’ve read all year!”
Written and illustrated by Johnny Ryan
Published by Fantagraphics Books
116 Pages, B&W, SC
RRP $12.99
The follow-up to the most surprising — and shocking — critical smash of 2009! 2009’s Prison Pit: Book One was an unadulterated smash hit upon its release at the 2009 Comic-Con International, and the balls-to-the-wall series returns this summer with more action and mayhem like only Johnny Ryan can deliver—again starring CF, the shirtless outer space barbarian antihero who remains damned to the Prison Pit (a vast wasteland beneath the crust of a barren planet, populated by the worst of the worst, where violence is the only law and evil creatures roam free). In this second volume, CF tries to get revenge against the evil behemoth that took his arm, and then winds up playing an unwilling participant in an elaborate escape attempt from the Pit.
Prison Pit blends Ryan’s fascination with WWE wrestling, grindhouse cinema, first person action video games, Gary Panter’s “Jimbo” comics, and Kentaro Miura’s “Berserk” Manga into a brutal and often hilarious showcase of violence like no other comic book ever created. 120 pages of black-and-white comics
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Oh God, where to start? Maybe I should mention that this is not for the faint of heart. The book opens with a close-up on shit coming out of a man’s arse… and then things really get gross! Johnny Ryan has outdone himself on this one. It’s intensely violent, horrific, grotesque, sickening, and just plain fucked up! That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it! You should buy this book and give it to all of your friends that think that comics are for kids. It will make them cry!
Written and illustrated by Peter Bagge
Published by Vertigo
136 Pages, B&W, HC
RRP $24.99
Other Lives is about people’s identities, both real and created, and how the two become confused and conflated, particularly through the use of the Internet and an obsessive participation in role-playing games. The story follows three geeky guys who were former college classmates, whose respective make-believe personas lead to their “real” lives colliding ten years later. Added to the mix is the girlfriend of one of these three men, who unlike the men appears to be grounded in reality. However, it’s never totally clear until the very end who is play-acting and when. Even the characters themselves aren’t always sure - -especially when the outcome is murder.
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Other Lives marks Bagge’s first new work since he produced Apocalypse Nerd for Dark Horse comics in 2007. In this new book, Bagge weaves a complex and incredibly humorous tale of secret identities gone awry. Demonstrating strong and insightful social commentary, this is perhaps the most mature work that Bagge has produced to date.
Written and illustrated by Jim Woodring
Published by Fantagraphics Books
104 Pages, B&W, HC
RRP $19.99
The first graphic novel from a master of the form, co-starring his beloved “Frank” character.
For over 20 years now, Jim Woodring has delighted, touched, and puzzled readers around the world with his lush, wordless tales of “Frank.” Weathercraft is Woodring’s first full-length graphic novel set in this world—indeed, Woodring’s first graphic novel, period!—and it features the same hypnotically gorgeous linework and mystical iconography.
As it happens, Frank has only a brief supporting appearance in Weathercraft, which actually stars Manhog, Woodring’s pathetic, brutish everyman (or everyhog), who had previously made several appearances in “Frank” stories (as well as a stunning solo turn in the short story “Gentlemanhog”).
After enduring 32 pages of almost incomprehensible suffering, Manhog embarks upon a transformative journey and attains enlightenment. He wants to go to celestial realms but instead altruistically returns to the unifactor to undo a wrong he has inadvertently brought about: The transformation of the evil politician Whim into a mind-destroying plant-demon who distorts and enslaves Frank and his friends. The new and metaphysically expanded Manhog sets out for a final battle with Whim…
Weathercraft also co-stars Frank’s cast of beloved supporting characters, including Frank’s Faux Pa and the diminutive, mailbox-like Pupshaw and Pushpaw; it is both a fully independent story that is a great introduction to Woodring’s world, and a sublime addition to, and extension of, the Frank stories.
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I only discovered Jim Woodring this year, on a recommendation. I was so impressed by this enchanting, silent masterpiece that I went out and purchased everything else I could find with his name on it, which as it turns out is surprisingly little. It’s a beautiful and spellbinding book, with otherworldy illustrations that take you to another place. It’s hard to adequately describe this story, it’s really beyond definition, it’s better that you just experience it for yourself.
Written and illustrated by Tony Millionaire
Published by Fantagraphics Books
104 Pages, B&W, HC
RRP $19.99
Take a trip into the deep, deep woods with this original all-ages graphic novel. Billy Hazelnuts is back for the first time since his acclaimed 2006 Eisner Award-winning debut. Life has settled back to normal in the old house. Becky and her mom are getting used to having Billy around, as he performs various household chores, utilizing his amazing strength. Nothing could be better, aside from a jumpy relationship with the cat. Until one day Billy hears screeching in the back yard and runs out to find a very large owl attacking his housemate. “I hate that cat, but it’s our cat!” yells Billy, and chases the owl off.
Billy soon discovers that the owl he has just scared off has left an egg in his nest. When the egg hatches, it’s up to Billy to reunite the baby owl with his mother, and the two head off into the deep, deep woods in search of her. The resulting adventure is a crazy potion of all-ages fun, humor, thrills and chills like only Tony Millionaire is capable of.
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Tony Millionaire gives readers a sequel to 2006’s Billy Hazelnuts. It’s an all-ages tale about a golem on a quest to reunite a baby bird with its mother. It’s a charming and wacky parable of adventure, discovery, and find one’s way in the world. A contemporary fairy tale that is perfect adults and children of all ages. Simply enchanting!
Written and illustrated by Darwyn Cooke
Published by IDW
160 Pages, FC, HC
RRP $24.99
After he evens the score with those who betrayed him and recovers the money he was cheated out of from the syndicate, Parker is riding high, living in swank hotels and enjoying the finer things in life again. Until, that is, he’s fingered by a squealer who rats him out to The Outfit for the price they put on his head… and they find out too late that if you push Parker, it better be all the way into the grave! Darwyn Cooke, multiple Eisner-Award winning creator of such works as DC: The New Frontier and Selina’s Big Score, now follows up The Hunter with the forthcoming release of The Outfit, the second of four planned adaptations of Richard Stark’s Parker novels.
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Darwyn Cooke returns with his second graphic novel based on Richard Stark’s Parker novels. This time he adapts the third Parker book, The Outfit, and prefaces it with a somewhat stripped down version of the second Parker novel, The Man with the Getaway Face. With these adaptations, Cooke doesn’t just pay tribute to Stark’s original stories, but actually seems to improve upon them, breathing new life in these classic crime tales. Stark’s dialogue and Cooke’s artwork is a marriage made in noir heaven! A wonderful augmentation of a hardboiled classic that is sure to delight fans of original Stark’s novel, and bring along legions of new readers, familiar with Cooke’s mainstream comic work.
Written and illustrated by Bryan Lee O’Malley
Published by Oni Press
248 Pages, B&W, SC
RRP $11.99
It’s finally here! Six years and almost 1000 pages have all led to this epic finale! With six of Ramona’s seven evil exes dispatched, it should be time for Scott Pilgrim to face Gideon Graves, the biggest and baddest of her former beaus. But didn’t Ramona take off at the end of Book 5? Shouldn’t that let Scott off the hook? Maybe it should, maybe it shouldn’t, but one thing is for certain all of this has been building to Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour! The sixth and final volume to indie comics most influential series in the last decade!
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This book can be described in one word: Awesome! Come on, you know I had to say that! At this point in the series what more can I say about Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Magnum Opus that hasn’t already been said? It’s a perfect ending to a fantastic series, that has earned it’s place in pop culture’s collective conscious.
Written and illustrated by Bryan Talbot
Published by Dark Horse
108 Pages, FC, HC
RRP $29.99
Convicted psychotic killer and extremist fanatic Edward “Mad Dog” Mastock violently escapes the guillotine’s blade in the Tower of London to once again terrorize the Socialist Republic of Britain. But dogging Mastock’s bloody footsteps is his longtime adversary and nemesis, Detective Inspector Archie LeBrock, at odds with Scotland Yard and intent on bringing Mastock’s horrific murder spree to an end, once and for all. Aided by his friend and colleague Detective Roderick Ratzi, LeBrock follows the trail of carnage to Paris, otherwise known as Grandville, the largest city in a world dominated by the French Empire that is the prime target of Mastock’s sadistic terrorism. Can LeBrock capture the Mad Dog before he can mete out his final vengeance, or will LeBrock’s own quest for redemption be dragged to ground by the demons of his past?
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Bryan Talbot takes us back to the streets of Grandville, as detective inspector LeBrock hunts down a fleeing mad man. It’s a thrilling tale, set in a steampunk version of Victorian London, populated by anamorphic creatures. I absolutely adore this series, and I hope Talbot makes many, many more of them!
Written and illustrated by Gilbert Hernandez
Published by Fantagraphics Books
128 Pages, FC, HC
RRP $19.99
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The Troublemakers is the second volume in a series of original graphic novels in which Gilbert Hernandez creates comics adaptations of movies starring or co-starring Luba’s half-sister Rosalba “Fritz” Martinez from Love and Rockets. The first, the dystopian Chance In Hell (in which Fritz has only a bit part), was released in 2007. This hard boiled, pulp graphic novel will delight longtime Hernandez fans as well as provide a perfect introduction to newcomers to Hernandez’s work.
Gilbert Hernandez releases a second volume of this Love & Rockets spin-off series, featuring B-Movies starring Luba’s half-sister, Fritz. This fantastic tribute to film noir is sure to please fans of the genre, while serving as a fantastic introduction to L&R. It’s a hard-boiled classic, brought to life with Beto’s bold and distinctive artwork. Oh, and did I mention the massive boobs?
Written and illustrated by John Hicklenton
Published by Cutting Edge Press
200 Pages, FC, HC
RRP $19.99
100 Months is John’s final graphic novel, a parable of environmental devastation in which Mara, Warrior and Earth Goddess, seeks revenge against the Longpig: a satanic personification of capitalism, red in tooth and claw, whose followers, a legion of the damned, look quite a lot like…us.
The world of the Longpig is rich in killing fields and scenes of mass crucifixion recalling Goya at his darkest. The title, taken from HRH Prince Charles’s warning that there were 100 months remaining to prevent cataclysmic climate change, reflects the urgency of both the book’s prophetic voice, and the spirit and circumstances in which it was written.
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100 Months is a brutal and relentless tale of the end of all things. The story, and even more so the artwork are disturbing and unsettling. But quite frankly, bearing in mind the subject matter, how could it be anything else?
John Hicklenton took his own life with the assistance of Dignitas in Zurich on the 19th March 2010, following a heroic struggle with Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis. 100 Months was drawn and written in foreknowledge of his own imminent death. There is an urgency to the story that reflects the circumstances under which the book was written, and it grabs you by the hair, and drags you along behind it, helplessly witnessing the horrors that Hicklenton has unleashed.
This is John Hicklenton’s Magnus Opus, a terrifying tome of creativity, not restrained by the confines of convention. This is the raw and unadulterated John Hicklenton, and his raised middle finger to all of his critics. A fitting end to Hicklenton’s amazing career.
Written and illustrated by Chris Ware
Published by Drawn and Quarterly
72 Pages, FC, HC
RRP $23.95
Jordan Wellington Lint, fifty-one, is chief executive officer of Lint Financial Products, a company he began serving in 1985 as assistant and adviser before working his way up its corporate ladder to record-setting innovation in the fields of finance and high-yield investment. In his seven years as the head of Lint, Jordan has grown the company from a business lender and real estate speculator to a leading provider of network financial infrastructure services, all the while positioning Lint as a model of corporate integrity and high-yield, low-risk product. Lint’s vision has made him one of the most influential and widely sought-after leaders in the complex Omaha securities industry, and his fresh approach to an understanding of local problems, leadership, and determination have enabled Lint to outdistance and outpace its competitors.
Lint graduated from UNL in 1981 with a B.A. in business and briefly studied music and recording in Los Angeles before returning to his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska, where he has continued his life journey ever since. In his ongoing role as chief executive officer and his dual roles as public servant and father, Lint continues to put his creative leadership and vision to work in a variety of challenging settings. He is married and the father of two boys.
The ACME Novelty Library #20 comprises a contributing chapter to cartoonist Chris Ware’s gradual accretion of the ongoing graphic novel experiment “Rusty Brown”.
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With Volume 20 of ACME Novelty Library Chris Ware relates the biography of fictional character Jordan Wellington Lint. It’s a deeply moving and instantly captivating tale of birth, life, and death. The book is illustrated in a rather inventive fashion, starting out with incredibly basic drawing when Lint is a baby, which progressively get more complex as Lint ages. It’s almost like a visual take on James Joyce’s The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Unmissable!
Written and illustrated by Seth
Published by Drawn & Quarterly
88 Pages, FC, HC
RRP $19.95
Palookaville #20 is the first volume of the seminal comic book series to be published in book form. The expansion into hardcover from pamphlet is a parallel that illustrates Seth’s growth into an award-winning cartoonist, book designer, hobbyist, editor, essayist, and installation artist.
Seth’s first autobiographical comics since Palookaville #2 and #3 will be featured in #20. Drawing in his loose sketchbook style, similar to his book Wimbledon Green, Seth details his trip to a book festival and his awkward struggle to overcome isolation and communicate with the people around him.
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With Palookaville #20, Canadian cartoonist, Seth tells a melancholy and sad story of life in Canada in the Mid-20th century. It’s a deeply moving piece of work, brought to life with truly charming artwork.
The book also contains an essay on the construction of Seth’s “Dominion City” art installation, accompanied by many pictures of the project.
The book closes with a touching autobiographic story, illustrated in a loose but captivating sketchbook style.
Written by Jamie Delano
Illustrated by Jock
Published by Vertigo
128 Pages, FC, HC
RRP $24.99
Something terrifying and strange has occurred - outstanding even among horrors faced every day by John Constantine. Intelligence specialists have discovered elements of the Iraqi insurgency may be demonically possessed. No one in the intelligence agencies is qualified to handle this problem, and that means a private contractor must be employed. Databases identify only one potential candidate: John Constantine.
Constantine is taken from the comfort of his London home to the brutal climates of Iraq due to military coercion, but also because of his interest in a mysterious, beautiful Iraqi agent whose true allegiances are kept in shadow.
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Pandemonium has been a long time in the making, but the good news is that it was definitely worth waiting for. Delano returns to the character he co-created, to tell an intriguing mystery that takes Constantine and places him in an alien environment. This enables Delano to explore Consantine’s character in a new and interesting light. The real star of the piece though, is Jock, who draws the best John Consantine I have ever seen! It’s like he was born for this! I love Jock’s artwork, and this is some of his very best stuff. Absolutely magnificent!
Written and illustrated by Matt Kindt
Published by Vertigo
192 Pages, FC, HC
RRP $19.99
REVOLVER is a tale of two worlds, and how the both test a man to his limits…
Almost thirty and living in Seattle, Sam shuffles to his bed after a night out at the bars. The next morning he wakes up and catches the bus into the city, starting another day of his dead end life. But today on the radio he hears that the stock market has crashed, news of a bird-flu epidemic erupting in Asia pushes past a report of “radioactive-material-gone-missing-in-Russia.” Did Sam really wake up this morning? The world has gone crazy-turned on its head. Sam thinks about riding the bus full loop, going home and pretending that the day hadn’t started.
This terrible day is capped with the destruction of Seattle…
But when Sam wakes up in his small studio apartment the next morning he’s confused. On the bus ride to work he listens to the radio. The world is fine…
Realities begin to bleed into one another as Sam jumps between his dull-drum, everyday life and a dark apocalyptic society…but which is the real one and which one will he have to live with forever? And the most important question: does he have a choice?
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A fascinating tale about a man trapped living life between two alternate realities, but when the realities begin to bleed into each other, he begins to questions what is really real. It’s a enticing premise, brilliantly executed, and illustrated in interesting interesting spidery drawing style. Another classic from the man who brought us Super Spy and 3 Story: The Secret History of the Giant Man.
Related posts:
- The Essential Upcoming Comics and Graphic Novels of 2010
- The Best Graphic Novels of 2009 (As Picked by Edward Kaye)
- Graphic Novel Review: Andi Ewington’s [Forty Five] 45
- ALA Banned Books Week 2010 Highlights Top 10 Banned Graphic Novels
- Boom! Studios’ Cthulhu Tales Vol. 2 Wins 2010 Great Graphic Novels For Teens Award
Great list — I’ll be checking out a few I missed.