Last year produced some truly exceptional comics and artists, but there was still some cognitive dissonance when Paste decided to push the publish button on our best-of-the-year lists. Almost the opposite of “Oscar Season,” in which studios release their films in the Fall so voters and their goldfish memories select only the freshest pics, Paste tends to give more adoration to comics that have established a solid, consistent rhythm. Call it a strong appreciation for the long game.
Is this fair to the upstarts that bust out in Fall and Winter with superb opening arcs? Sure — we’ll still be around in 2014 with more arbitrary ranking hijinks. That said, there were some comics that challenged us to our core on this very issue. To avoid the politics of seasonality and shine some light on the late-year births, Paste presents its favorite comics from the latter half of 2013, as well as some that flat-out snuck past our radar.
Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant
Writer/Artist: Tony Cliff
Publisher: First Second
Published in print this year after life as an acclaimed webcomic, there is nothing disappointing about Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant, the kind of romp-through-lands-afar-and-times-past adventure that Hollywood did a fantastic job producing in the 1930s. The story moves with speed and grace, with little time given to sitting around and chatting. Instead, characters exchange witty repartee while flying a boat-plane, climbing an aqueduct or escaping from terrible pirates at high speed. Ms. Dirk herself is a whirlwind of wonderfulness, marrying skill at everything she attempts with a completely winning personality, due to both sharp writing and the variety of expressions writer/artist Tony Cliff puts on her face. What the man can do with a nose is lovely. A true all-ages comic, the book is the kind of thing that will leave you hungry for more. Hillary Brown
Fairy Tale Comics: Classic Tales Told by Extraordinary Cartoonists
Editor: Chris Duffy
Publisher: First Second
Just like First Second’s previous compilation of nursery rhymes rendered in sequential art, this anthology is nothing but quality. It trends a little older than toddlers, as some of the cartoonists opt for scarier versions of their tales. Explaining to your 3-year-old why Jaime Hernandez’s wicked queen wants to eat Snow White’s heart might be difficult, but that warning aside, the work is strong, diverse and interesting. Overall, this tome is perfect for the older elementary ages as well as for adults. Some chapters are cartoony and image-reliant, as with Graham Annable’s “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” and Luke Pearson’s stellar “The Boy Who Drew Cats.” Others are more lyrical and word heavy. Gilbert Hernandez contributes a snappy “Hansel and Gretel,” and Charise Mericle Harper highlights a more obscure story with “The Small-Tooth Dog.” Hillary Brown
Kitaro
Writer/Artist: Shigeru Mizuki (translation by Jocelyne Allen)
Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly
Drawn & Quarterly’s compilation of late ‘60s supernatural manga by Shigeru Mizuki, Kitaro, is a delight. Somewhere between Tales from the Crypt and Scooby-Doo, these stories combine a mild spookiness with an entertaining taxonomy of monsters (plus some cameos by Westerners like Dracula and Frankenstein’s monster). Mizuki’s stories are an important part of Japanese manga culture, but they’re not homework. They’re goofy and cozy in equal parts, in a formula that can be found in some of Hayao Miyazaki’s films. D+Q previously issued NonNonBa, Mizuki’s autobiographical comic about his grandmother who taught him everything about yokai (supernatural beings), but Kitaro is more fun. If you enjoy the EC compilations, this is a considerably less gory and worldly version of the same material. Hillary Brown
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