Just a quick post to say that this week’s Flipped column will be delayed by a day or so. I’m dotting and crossing various letters. Nothing major, but I’d rather do it before the column drops than after, y’know?

The Comics Journal took an interesting approach to its Best of 2005 offerings in issue #275, asking a variety of critics, commentators, and professionals to offer their choices in a variety of formats. I thought it would be fun to put together a list of all the titles that got the nod and note how many times each was cited.

I was very, very wrong.

It’s not that the pieces aren’t interesting reading. It’s a lot of fun seeing all of the different perspectives and taking in the wide range of quality titles that came out last year. (And it’s nice to see so many manga titles recognized.)

It was just kind of a pain to filter through them all, and the copy editing of the various pieces didn’t help. Sometimes they included creator and publisher information, sometimes they didn’t. Sometimes the same book was referred to in a number of different ways, or words in the title were misspelled.

I was a little bug-eyed by the time I reached the last list, so forgive me if I’ve recreated any glitches or added new ones of my own. I flatly refused to include one contributor’s list of “books that probably would have made (his) best of list had (he) actually gotten around to reading them.”

The big winners were Black Hole (Pantheon) with 11 mentions, Epileptic (Pantheon) with 9, Walt & Skeezix 1921-22 (Drawn and Quarterly) with 8, Wimbledon Green with 7, and Tales Designed to Thrizzle (Fantagraphics) with 6.

Sometimes people would cite a title, while others would specify individual issues of that title, so I’ve listed those separately. For example, six different people cited Or Else (Drawn and Quarterly), but three favored the title as a whole, while three specified issue #2.

Here’s the key of contributors: Noah Berlatsky = NB; Johanna Draper Carlson = JDC; Tom Crippen = TC; Dirk Deppey = DD; Evan Dorkin = ED; Shaenon Garrity = SG; Paul Gravett = PG; Sammy Harkham = SH; R.C. Harvey = RCH; Jeet Heer = JH; Rich Kreiner = RK; Chris Mautner = CM; Calvin Reid = CR; Diana Schutz = DS; Adam Stephanides = AS; Craig Thompson = CT; Tom Underhill = TU; Kristy Valenti = KV; Rob Vollmar = RV; Kent Worchester = KW.

I’ll be posting the list in three parts: #-F, G-P, and Q-Y.

(Corrected, because spell check isn’t my friend, and I wasn’t nearly smart enough to catch that it was turning “Jeet” into “Janet.”)

100%, DC/Vertigo (TU, KW – 2)
100 Bullets, DC/Vertigo (DS)
676 Apparitions of Killoffer (ED, PG, CM – 3)
99 Ways to Tell a Story: Exercises in Style (JDC)
Achewood, self-published (DD, SG – 2)
Acme Novelty Library, Pantheon (DD, ED, RK, AS, TU – 5)
Acme Novelty Library #16, self-published (DD, JH, RK, TU, RV – 5)
All-Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder (TU)
All-Star Superman, DC (SG, TU, RV – 3)
Alternative Comics: An Emerging Literature (RCH)
Angry Youth Comix Vol. 2 #8, Fantagraphics (NB)
Anywhere But Here, Fantagraphics (DD, KV – 2)
Attitude: Rehabilitating Mr. Wiggles, NBM (DD)
Avignon: Gods and Demons (JDC)
Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad Vol. 1, Tokyopop (CR)
Best Political Cartoons of the year, 2006 Edition (RCH)
Berlin (RK)
Big Questions, Drawn & Quarterly (DD)
Birth of a Nation: A Comic Novel, Random House (RV)
BJ and Da Dogs, Picture Box (SH)
Black Hole, Pantheon (DD, ED, SH, JH, RK, CM, CR, CT, TU, RV, KW – 11)
Black Panther #1-7, Marvel (RCH)
Blue Monday #4: Painted Moon, Oni Press (KV)
Blue Spring, Viz (DD, RV – 2)
Bolland Strips! Knockabout (PG)
Brother, Drama Queen (PG)
BRPD: The Black Flame, Dark Horse (SH, TU – 2)
Buddha, Vertical (ED, CM, DS, RV – 4)
Buja’s Diary, NBM (RV)
Burying Sandwiches, self-published (CM)
Capote in Kansas, Oni Press (JDC, RCH – 2)
Chip Kidd: Book One, Rizzoli (JH)
Clamp: North Side, Tokyopop (NB)
Comic Book Encyclopedia (RCH)
Comic Book Holocaust, self-published (NB)
The Comics Journal #269 – The Shoujo Manga Issue, Fantagraphics (RK)
The Complete Calvin and Hobbes (ED, RK, RV – 3)
The Complete Dennis the Menace 1951-1952, Fantagraphics (CM, RV, KW – 3)
The Complete Peanuts (ED, RK, DS, KW – 4)
The Complete Peanuts 1955-56, Fantagraphics (RV)
The Complete Peanuts Vols. 3-4, Fantagraphics (CM)
Complete Crumb Comics, Fantagraphics (DD)
Concrete: The Human Dilemma (RCH)
Copper, self-published (SG)
Countdown to Infinite Crisis, DC (TC, CM – 2)
Cromartie High School, ADV (ED, CM, RV – 3)
Dance of the Gods (RCH)
Daredevil: Decalogue, Marvel (TU)
The Dark Horse Book of the Dead (ED)
The Darkness, Kingly Books (PG)
Death Note, Viz (PG)
Demo, AiT/PlanetLar (RV)
Desolation Jones, DC (RV)
Diary of a Mosquito Abatement Man, La Mano (JH, RK, TU – 3)
Dicebox, self-published (SG)
Doc Frankenstein, Burlyman Entertainment (RV)
Dogs and Water, Drawn and Quarterly (TU)
Dr. Slump, Viz (CM)
L’Ecole Emportée, Glénat (PG)
Embroideries, Pantheon (CM)
Epileptic, Pantheon (DD, ED, RK, CM, CR, AS, CT, TU, KW – 9)
Ex Machina, DC/Vertigo (DS, KW – 2)
Ex Machina: The First Hundred Days, DC/Vertigo (CR)
The Eye of Dart-an-Gor (RCH)
Fell (RCH)
Flaming Carrot, Image (RV)
Flight 2, Image (SG)
Fluffy, Cabnon Press (PG)
Foul Play (ED)
Free Radicals, self-published (NB)
Frankenstein Now and Forever, Typocrat (AS
The Freebooters, Fantagraphics (DS)
From Eroica with Love, DC/CMX (SG)
Fruits Basket, Tokyopop (AS)
Funny Ladies (RCH)

Here’s the key of contributors: Noah Berlatsky = NB; Johanna Draper Carlson = JDC; Tom Crippen = TC; Dirk Deppey = DD; Evan Dorkin = ED; Shaenon Garrity = SG; Paul Gravett = PG; Sammy Harkham = SH; R.C. Harvey = RCH; Jeet Heer = JH; Rich Kreiner = RK; Chris Mautner = CM; Calvin Reid = CR; Diana Schutz = DS; Adam Stephanides = AS; Craig Thompson = CT; Tom Underhill = TU; Kristy Valenti = KV; Rob Vollmar = RV; Kent Worchester = KW.

(Corrected, because spell check isn’t my friend, and I wasn’t nearly smart enough to catch that it was turning “Jeet” into “Janet.”)

Ganges #1, Fantagraphics (SH)
Gaylord Phoenix #3, self-published (NB)
Gemma Bovery (RK, CM, CR, KW – 4)
Genshiken Vol. 3, Del Rey (CR)
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence Ani-manga, Viz (CR)
Ghost in the Shell 2: Man-Machine Interface, Dark Horse (CR)
Godland, Image (CM)
Graphic Novels: Everything You Need to Know (RCH)
Hikaru No Go (JDC)
Hikaru No Go Vol. 5 (CR)
Hogan’s Alley (RK)
Hopeless Savages: B-Sides: The Origin of the Dusted Bunnies (JDC)
Hot Gimmick, Viz (JDC)
I”s Vol. 4, Viz (CR)
Ice Haven, Pantheon (JH, RK, TU, KW – 4)
The Innocents, Fantagraphics (TU)
International Journal of Comic Art (RK)
Iron Wok Jan, DrMaster (RV)
It’s Superman! Chronicle Books (KW)
The Island (ED)
Jack Cross (RCH)
Jeff Hawke’s Cosmos, JH Club (PG)
JSA Classified #1-3, DC (RCH)
Justice N Mercy: the Concept Art of Min-Woo Hyung, Tokyopop (NB)
King, Fantagraphics (DD, CR, RV – 3)
Krazy & Ignatz 1935-1936, Fantagraphics (RCH, AS, CM, RV – 4)
Krazy Kat (RK)
El Largo Tren Oscuro, La Luz (PG)
The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, Gemstone (CM)
Likewise #3, Slave Labor Graphics (NB)
Little Lulu (ED, JH, RK- 3)
Little Nemo in Slumberland: So Many Splendid Sundays (DD, ED, RCH, JH, RV – 5)
Livewires, Marvel (RV)
The Long Haul, Oni Press (DS)
Love and Rockets (ED, RK, CM, DS – 4)
Luba #10 (RK)
Magic Beach (RCH)
Maximum Fantastic Four, Marvel (CR)
MBQ, Tokyopop (CR)
The Merchant of Dennis the Menace (ED)
Modern Arf (RCH)
Modern Masters: Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, TwoMorrows (RCH)
Mome, Fantagraphics (CM)
Mome, Vols. 1 and 2, Fantagraphics (DS)
Mutts (RK)
Nana Vol. 1, Viz (DD, CR – 2)
Nat Turner (RCH, KW – 2)
New West (RCH)
New Yorker Book of Art Cartoons (RCH)
Night Fisher, Fantagraphics (CR, KW – 2)
Nil, Slave Labor Graphics (DD)
Now Who Do We Blame? (RK)
Optic Nerve #10, Drawn and Quarterly (JH, AS – 2)
Ordinary Victories, NBM (CM, CT – 2
Or Else, Drawn and Quarterly (CM, RV, KW – 3)
Or Else #2, Drawn and Quarterly (SG, RK, TU – 3)
Or Else #3, Drawn and Quarterly (SG)
Owly: Just a Little Blue, Top Shelf (JDC)
Owly: Flying Lessons, Top Shelf (JDC)
Palookaville (RK, DS – 2)
Paul Moves Out (KW)
Perfect Example (KW)
La Perdida, Fantagraphics (DS)
The Pin-Up Art of Dan DeCarlo, Fantagraphics (NB, KV – 2)
Planetary, DC/Wildstorm (RK, RV – 2)
Planetes, Tokyopop (JDC, TU – 2)
The Plot (RCH, KW – 2)
Pluto Vol. 2, Shogakukan (DD)
Powers, Marvel (DS)
Promethea, ABC/Wildstorm (RV)
The Punisher, Marvel (KW)
Pure Trance, Last Gasp (DD, RV – 2)
The Push Man and Other Stories, Drawn and Quarterly (ED, CM, RV – 3)Pyongyang, Drawn and Quarterly (CM, CT, TU, RV – 4)

Here’s the key of contributors: Noah Berlatsky = NB; Johanna Draper Carlson = JDC; Tom Crippen = TC; Dirk Deppey = DD; Evan Dorkin = ED; Shaenon Garrity = SG; Paul Gravett = PG; Sammy Harkham = SH; R.C. Harvey = RCH; Jeet Heer = JH; Rich Kreiner = RK; Chris Mautner = CM; Calvin Reid = CR; Diana Schutz = DS; Adam Stephanides = AS; Craig Thompson = CT; Tom Underhill = TU; Kristy Valenti = KV; Rob Vollmar = RV; Kent Worchester = KW.

(Corrected, because spell check isn’t my friend, and I wasn’t nearly smart enough to catch that it was turning “Jeet” into “Janet.”)

The Quitter, DC/Vertigo (CM, KW – 2)
The R. Crumb Handbook (ED)
The Rabbi’s Cat, Pantheon (CM, CR, CT, RV, KW – 5)
Rocky Vol. 1 (KW)
Rusty Brown (KW)
Saikano, Viz (RV)
Salamander Dream, AdHouse Books (CM)
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Oni Press (JDC, ED, CM, CR – 4)
Seaguy, DC/Vertigo (TU)
The Secret Voice, AdHouse Books (CM)
Secrets and Shadows: The Life and Art of Gene Colan, TwoMorrows (RCH)
Seeing Things (ED)
Sensual Phrase, Viz (JDC)
Seven Soldiers, DC (RK, CM, TU, RV – 4)
Sexy Voice and Robo, Viz (DD)
Showcase Presents The Green Arrow, DC (KW)
Showcase Presents Superman Vol. 1, DC (RV)
Skaggy the Lost, Slave Labor Graphics (RV)
Skyscrapers of the Midwest, AdHouse Books (TU)
Skyscrapers of the Midwest #2, AdHouse Books (DD)
Sleeper, DC/Wildstorm (TU)
Sleeper: The Road Home, DC/Wildstorm (CM)
Sock Monkey: That Darn Yarn (RK)
Solo, DC (SG)
Solo #6, DC (RK)
Solstice (JDC)
Spaz, self-published (KV)
Spiral Bound, Top Shelf (CM)
Steinberg at the New Yorker (RCH)
Street Angel, Slave Labor Graphics (CR, RV – 2)
Der Struwwelmaakies (RK, KW – 2)
Stuff of Dreams #3, Fantagraphics (SH, KW – 2)
Sugar Sugar Rune, Del Rey (RV)
Swan, DC/CMX (RV)
Swiminy Purpose, self-published (PG)
Tales Designed to Thrizzle #1, Fantagraphics (NB, ED, CM, AS, TU, RV – 6)
Tales of Green Fuzz, Amos (SH)
Thimble Theatre, published in The Comics Journal, Fantagraphics (ED)
Thrilling Tom and the Dancing Bug Stories (KW)
The Times of Botchan, Fanfare/Ponent Mon (RV)
The Times of Botchan Vol. 1, Fanfare/Ponent Mon (DD)
Top 10: The 49ers, DC/Wildstorm (CM)
Tramps like Us, Tokyopop (JDC)
A Treasury of Victorian Murder: The Murder of Abraham Lincoln, NBM (SG, TU – 2)
Tricked, Top Shelf (JDC, TC, CM, DS – 4)
Ultimates 2, Marvel (KW)
“Walkin’ in the Streets,” published in Zap #15, Last Gasp (SH)
The Walking Dead, Image (TU)
Walt & Skeezix 1921-22, Drawn and Quarterly (DD, ED, SH, RCH, RK, CM, RV, KW – 8)
War’s End (KW)
We3, DC/Vertigo (RK, CR, TU, RV – 4)
We All Die Alone (ED)
Why Are You Doing This? (DS)
Wimbledon Green, Drawn and Quarterly (ED, SG, JH, CM, DS, RV, KW – 7)
Will You Still Love Me If I Wet the Bed? Top Shelf (JDC)
Winsor McCay: His Life and Art, Abrams (KW)
The World on Sunday: Graphic Art in Joseph Pulitzer’s Newspaper (1898-1911), Bullfinch (RCH, JH – 2)
World War 3 Illustrated, self-published (RV)
Y: The Last Man, DC/Vertigo (RCH, KW – 2)
Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou Vol. 13, Kodansha (DD)
Yotsuba&!, ADV (CM, AS – 2)

Here’s the key of contributors: Noah Berlatsky = NB; Johanna Draper Carlson = JDC; Tom Crippen = TC; Dirk Deppey = DD; Evan Dorkin = ED; Shaenon Garrity = SG; Paul Gravett = PG; Sammy Harkham = SH; R.C. Harvey = RCH; Jeet Heer = JH; Rich Kreiner = RK; Chris Mautner = CM; Calvin Reid = CR; Diana Schutz = DS; Adam Stephanides = AS; Craig Thompson = CT; Tom Underhill = TU; Kristy Valenti = KV; Rob Vollmar = RV; Kent Worchester = KW.

(Corrected, because spell check isn’t my friend, and I wasn’t nearly smart enough to catch that it was turning “Jeet” into “Janet.”)

The PC version of Oblivion, that is. After fiddling with the video card (more specifically, after my partner replaced it entirely), I can now lose countless hours of my life to nerdish, RPG joy.

I’m sure I’ll regret it sooner or later and start over from scratch, but I’ve opted for one of those delightful lizard people for purely aesthetic reasons. I decided to go with what the game suggested, so I’m now the frumpiest lizard assassin in all of Tamriel. I have no idea how such an eyesore of a character manages to sneak around so effectively, but mine is not to reason why. Mine is but to hide in shadows and fire arrows into the backs of bandits’ heads from a very great distance.

I’ve never much gone for sneaky characters before. I generally always hate the portions of RPGs that require stealth or coordination or similar qualities (none of which I possess in real life), preferring instead to blow enormous holes in things with a variety of startlingly available spells and enchantments. (People are so careless with their scrolls, rings, and staffs, don’t you find?) And obviously, I reserve the right to revert to those old behaviors in the future, but what could it hurt to branch out a bit? It’s not like I’m getting graded for it, or anything.

But I do predict I’ll be wasting an unseemly amount of time with this game.

Oh, look… it’s Wednesday. When did that happen?

It seems to be a week of collections of great comics that I already own, but that shouldn’t stop you.

Oni Press offers the trade paperback version of Andi Watson’s Little Star, a sweet, low-key look at fatherhood.

Marvel has the softcover version of its first Young Avengers collection, Sidekicks. (Waiting for the trade is getting really complicated, isn’t it? Hardcover? Softcover? Great big hardcover?)

For those of you who prefer hardcover to soft, the sturdier version of the fourth volume of Girl Genius arrives this week from Airship. (I bought the softcover last week. It’s delightful.)

Look! It’s a trade I actually waited for! The second volume of Crimson Hero (Viz – Shojo Beat) arrives. I enjoyed the first installment a lot, at least partly because I like saying “volleyball manga.”

Who can resist a comic that features the caption “René Descartes!” Not me, so I’ll definitely be tracking down a copy of Evil Twin’s Action Philosophers! Hate the French! You can view a sample chapter here.

Last but not least is The Comics Journal #275 (Fantagraphics), which features an article called “Disastrous Success.” What could that be about, I wonder? It’s also the “Best Comics of 2005” issue and features an interview with David (Epileptic) B.

After reading some of the responses to the developing Friends of Lulu Empowerment Fund, I feel like I was premature in linking to it.

The thread at The Engine features a great deal of food for thought (and more than a few deleted posts). Johanna Draper Carlson and Nicholas Ellis both raise excellent points. As Nicholas Ellis says,

“It always seems like a fine line between honestly wanting to help, or discuss the issue, and a puffing out our chests and seeing who can be the best at protecting the women. Which, yeah, as (Johanna) point(s) out, is exactly the opposite of what would help.”

One thing that I’ve found disturbing about this whole discussion from the beginning is the ardent desire of people to “go set the bastards’ face on fire and then put it out with an ice pick” or similar. The way to rectify criminal violence is to fantasize about committing more? Yikes. (Kudos to Lea Hernandez for pointing out how unproductive that is.)

But the most valuable commentary for me has come from Katherine Keller, both in her comments at The Engine and at her LiveJournal:

“But who’s the general counsel? Are my donations tax deductable? Who’s on the board for this fund? What are their criteria for taking on cases? How do they plan to let us know how the money’s being used; where’s the accountablity?

“These are all questions I want answered before this fund is going to see a dime from me. Don’t get me wrong. I think a fund like this is a LONG OVERDUE idea. I want to support it.”

Some people might find the questions about the fund “too nitpicky,” but I think the answers are essential if the fund is to succeed. And I really want it to succeed. I think it’s a wonderful idea and could be a valuable resource for people who desperately need support to get through an incredibly difficult experience. But it has to be more comprehensively conceived than setting up a PayPal account.

Okay, now this would qualify as a coup. Decreasingly reclusive manga superstars CLAMP will be guests of honor at this year’s Anime Expo. Looking at some of the sponsors of CLAMP’s visit (Del Rey, Tokyopop, and FUNimation), I wonder if there won’t be some major anime or manga release announcement associated with the event.

*

Speaking of conventions, I’d completely forgotten that the Pittsburgh Comicon is coming up April 21 to 23. I had a lovely time last year, but that was largely due to the presence of Ed, Rose, and Steven. Even if I weren’t going to be out of town that weekend, I’d probably pass on it. Looking at the event’s site, I don’t think I’ll be missing a whole lot. I mean, a panel on comics covers featuring Greg Horn? “Don’t let anatomical impossibility or complete inappropriateness of tone keep you from expressing your creative vision.”

*

The Friends of Lulu will launch a new fund for “for women in the industry who wish to pursue legal action in sexual assault cases, by helping to provide money for representation and also emotional support when needed.” The fund kick-off will take place at this year’s Comics and Pop Culture Expo May 6 in Dallas.