Infinite Prison by Matt Seneca
Somber characters in vaguely super-heroic outfit move through a quiet post-apocalyptic environment. I’m not sure I understand this comic, but it felt epic and haunting and is beautifully drawn. Read it here.
Vivisectionary by Kate Lacour
Lacour’s single page comics transform medical drawings and diagrams into hilarious and disturbing comic strips. Funny and gross and terrifying.
Clue: Candlestick by Dash Shaw
A three-issue comic based on the game. Full of puzzles and formal play that I really enjoyed.
Smoke Signals/Cowboy Henk by Herr Seele and Kamagurka
Brooklyn comic shop Desert Island published newspaper-sized Cowboy Henk comics. I love Cowboy Henk, and this contained a lot of strips I had never seen before, in a format I’m always happy read. (This was put out for free, but I had to pay to have it sent to Southern California.)
Bubbles
A zine about comics. I didn’t get ALL of them, but I really enjoyed the three or so that I did buy. It’s just a dude writing about comics he likes and doing informal, charming, and detailed interviews with cartoonists.
Nancy by Olivia Jaimes
Didn’t keep up with it regularly, but dug all the ones I came across, even the “not special” ones.
Spiralbound Edited by Edith Zimmerman
I had a lot of my own work in Spiralbound, but I also think it doesn’t get enough attention. Online and sort of behind a paywall, Spiralbound publishes a lot of great and interesting work by established and up-and-coming creators, sometimes as much as three times a week. More people should be reading it. Below are some links to a few of my faves from this year.
Ganges/The River at Night by Kevin Huizenga
Serialized over the last decade at least, I’ve lived with and loved this comic by one of my favorite cartoonists. A dude tries to go to sleep for hundreds of pages. I’m happy it was collected as a single book this year, so I can recommend it and lend it out. Best of the decade, along with...
Best of the Decade: In the Kitchen with Alain Passard by Christophe Blain
This book literally changed my life, and I have bought multiple copies to give as gifts and to replace my own lent out copies. I even have a copy in the original French. The reason I am making my own cooking comics (see below).
Best Podcast Category- Your Kickstarter Sucks
Nothing this year made me laugh as hard or as much. Check out episode 99 if you’re new!
Best of My Own Stuff
I put out a lot of comics in a lot of places this year. Here’s a few of my favorites-
My friend Sean Krell was just so effortlessly hilarious when talking about his love for Oreo cookies. I hope I was able to capture that.
I’ve been pushing my technique and range with my own recipes this year, and this was one of the hardest to do, cooking wise. Also, I think it looks fabulous.
I love the show Chopped, and so I had to make a grisly Halloween fan comic about it. Ted Allen called it “genius” and tweeted it at Martha Stewart.
My last comic of the year, and a fusion of my cooking comics and autobiography. My sister said reading this comic was a great summary of me as a dude.
Also I’m doing a webcomic/serialized graphic novel. It is still ongoing, and will be for quite some time. I’m outrageously proud of this. (If you'd rather read it on instagram, you can do it here too.)
That’s it. Happy new year.
Oh also I started a pop up restaurant in my yard, but it’s on holiday hiatus at the moment, so I have been forgetting about it. Check out Hot Dog Panic-it is returning soon.