(1) “Should Zurich ever hold a Worldcon, I think we’ve got the GOH’s hotel room,” says Tom Galloway. It’s the Grand Kameha’s Space Suite.
Always dreamed of going to space but never felt cut out for grueling astronaut training?
Soon it’ll be possible to (almost) indulge this fantasy without leaving Earth.
A hotel in Zurich, Switzerland, has just unveiled a new suite kitted out to look like the inside of a space station.
Grand Kameha’s Space Suite comes equipped with a “zero gravity” bed — built to look like it’s floating above the ground — and steam bath designed to simulate a view into the universe.
(2) Tor Books is celebrating 35 years with a new logo.
Ain’t no mountain high enough?
(3) Author Tom Purdom has been in the hospital since August 5 reports the Broad Street Review —
You may know Tom as the author of five acclaimed science fiction novels as well as novelettes that appear in Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine. More likely you know him as the peripatetic and prolific chronicler of Philadelphia’s diverse classical music groups, whose scene he has covered for this and other publications since 1988. Tom’s relentless curiosity has also blessed BSR readers with thoughtful explorations of countless other topics, from arms control to religion to professional soccer to the growing appeal of older women in his senior years. As the paragraph above suggests, even at 79, Tom retains a youthful appetite for the cultural rewards of urban life and an eagerness to go public with his enthusiasms.
Hit from behind
At least that was the case until last month. Tom’s byline hasn’t appeared in BSR or anywhere else since August 11. Nor is he now living a life that anyone would describe as satisfying. Instead, Tom has spent the past seven weeks in a hospital bed, most of that time with his head held aloft by a neck brace, his arms and body connected to tubes, his lungs fed oxygen from a tank….
On August 5, Tom was enjoying his daily three-mile stroll along Philadelphia’s new Schuylkill River Trail. Behind him on bicycles, unknown to Tom, were a grown woman, a schoolteacher, and her elderly father. The woman, noticing one of her students walking the trail, waved happily and called to her father to share her discovery. The father turned his head and, in his distraction, crashed into Tom from behind.
In an instant, the active life Tom had savored for decades was shut down, at least temporarily. The blow to his back caused spinal injuries; his fall to the pavement caused a concussion, an enormous bump on his forehead, and two black eyes. His diaphragm was paralyzed.
(4) “Pluto’s Big Moon Charon Reveals a Colorful and Violent History” – read about it on the NASA site.
At half the diameter of Pluto, Charon is the largest satellite relative to its planet in the solar system. Many New Horizons scientists expected Charon to be a monotonous, crater-battered world; instead, they’re finding a landscape covered with mountains, canyons, landslides, surface-color variations and more.
“We thought the probability of seeing such interesting features on this satellite of a world at the far edge of our solar system was low,” said Ross Beyer, an affiliate of the New Horizons Geology, Geophysics and Imaging (GGI) team from the SETI Institute and NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California, “but I couldn’t be more delighted with what we see.”
(5) Genevieve Valentine reviews Ancillary Mercy for NPR.
Breq has spent two books trying to bring down the head of the Radch, a galaxy-spanning empire. It’s complicated work (for one thing, the imperial civil war is between cloned iterations of the Empress herself), so it’s just as well for the series that Breq accidentally keeps falling into broken things that need fixing on a more local level: Her devoted lieutenant Seivarden, captaincy of a ship whose human crew has no idea of their leader’s past, a planetary assignment with the expected imperial prejudice, and a space station awash in all the cultural minutiae the Radchaai empire can offer. And luckily for readers, that’s quite a bit.
(6) George R.R. Martin previews his big investment in Santa Fe’s arts scene in “Meow Wolf Roars”.
The House of Eternal Return, long adrift is time and space, is spinning back towards earth and its eventual landing on the south side of Santa Fe… courtesy of the madmen and madwomen of Meow Wolf, the City Different’s wildest artist’s collective.
Remember Silva Lanes? That derelict bowling alley I bought last winter? If not, go back to January and February on this very Not A Blog and read the old posts. Or just Google “Silva Lanes” and my name, and you’ll find plenty of press coverage.
Anyway… work has been proceeding down on the south side ever since. My own construction crew has gutted the remains of the old structure, torn up the parking lot, and has been working day and night to bring everything up to code. Meanwhile, Meow Wolf’s artists have been across the street, making magic… and now they’ve moved in and started the installations. The two construction crews are working side by side.
(7) The local papers have also featured the development.
Santa Fe New Mexican – “Meow Wolf banks on returns with ambitious new exhibit”.
Take a kernel from the Children’s Museum, a wrinkle from an Explora science exhibit and a seam from Burning Man, and one has the inceptions of what Meow Wolf is hoping to create in Santa Fe.
But the exhibit that is being developed, designed, programmed, manufactured, cut and cobble together by the arts group in a 35,000 square foot former bowling alley is perhaps unlike what has ever come before.
The House of Eternal Return, an electronics- and sensory-heavy exhibit, will feature a Victorian house with passageways, forests, caves, treehouses, bridges, a light cloud, a sideways bus, an arcade and workship spaces.
As planned, visitors will be primed with lasers, smoke, touch sensors, color, story and fantasy.
Albuquerque Journal – “Meow Wolf’s latest futuristic project bends time and space”.
George R.R. Martin, who bought the old Silva Lanes bowling alley for $750,000 on agreement to lease it to Meow Wolf, is now financing a $1 million to $2 million renovation of the building.
“Meow Wolf’s project is going to be exciting and strange,” Martin said in an email. “It’s something the city has never seen before.
Once open, the fantasy house will allow visitors to touch hundreds of digital connections imbedded in everything from walls and doors to furniture and personal items. Sensors will trigger a range of visiual and audio experiences, providing in many cases elaborate, visual transport to wild places.
(8) I doubt this has changed for all values of “we”….
#WhenIWasYourAge We consumed Twinkles, Cool Whip, and Yoo-hoo, without questioning their chemical composition.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) October 5, 2015
(9) Everybody needs a hobby. Emily Stoneking’s is making “Cruelty-Free Knit Anatomy Specimens”.
Will R. adds, “The alien autopsy is pretty good.”
Uh, yeah….
(10) Larry Correia responded to a comment on his “Fisking the New York Times’ Modern Man” post —
Well, since I get far more traffic than File 770, somebody must care.
Really? Let’s see what Alexa has to say about that.
- Global Rank – 140,439
- Global Rank – 175,887
But in the interest of full disclosure, I will tell you who is way out in front of this race —
- Global Rank – 78,211
(11) Adam-Troy Castro’s review of Upside Down concludes —
A pretty dumb story partially redeemed by some downright amazing visuals, it’s actually the second best movie where Kirsten Dunst kisses a guy upside down…
(12) Dave Freer starts the week by sharing his opinions about “Cultural appropriation and Political Correctness in writing” at Mad Genius Club.
Enter the newest shibboleth of Arts world (along with 23 sexes) intended to divide and exclude.
Cultural appropriation.
I’m a wicked man because I talked about Yogurt (Turkic) and Matryoshka dolls (Russian) and shibboleth (Hebrew). These words, and a meaning of them have all become quite normal in English, understood, accepted… and maybe not quite what they meant (or still mean) in their root-culture.
But the culture of the permanently offended (the one I adopt nothing from, because yes, I consider it inferior, and overdue for the scrapheap of history.) has discovered it as a new and valuable thing to… you guessed it!… Be offended by. Demand reparations for the terrible damage done. Exclusivity even. Heaven help you if you’re not gay, and write about something that could be considered gay culture, or Aboriginal, or Inuit or quite possibly of sex number 23 (is that the one where you identify as coffee table?). Contrariwise, you are to be utterly condemned, pilloried, attacked, decried as a sexist, racist, homophobic misogynist if you don’t include all the possible groups (including number 23) in your books, in the prescribed stereotype roles.
(13) Do not be confused by the last post – the following movie is not a documentary. “’No Men Beyond This Point’ Sci-Fi Comedy Lands At Samuel Goldwyn”.
Samuel Goldwyn Films has acquired worldwide rights (excluding Canada) to writer-director Mark Sawers’ sci-fi comedy satire No Men Beyond This Point, which just had its North American premiere in the Vanguard section at the Toronto Film Festival. The pic is set in a world where women no longer need men in order to reproduce and are no longer giving birth to male babies, leaving the male population on the verge of extinction. A 2016 release is in the works.
(14) Today’s Birthday Boy –
1952 – Clive Barker
(15) Apex Magazine publisher Jason Sizemore has announced a significant change to the magazine’s publication model. Subscribers will continue to get the new eBook edition delivered via email or to their Kindle account on the first Tuesday of each month. While Apex Magazine’s content will still be available as a free read, instead of posting the entire issue’s contents on that first Tuesday, they will be released over the course of the month.
Example: On the first Tuesday of the month, the entire issue becomes available to our subscribers (and to those who pay $2.99 for our nicely formatted eBook edition through Apex or our other vendors). That day, we will only post one of that issue’s short stories. One Wednesday, we will publish one poem, and on Thursday we will publish a nonfiction piece. A week later on the following Tuesday, we will repeat the cycle.
We at Apex Magazine feel like this is an ideal situation for our readers and our administrators. It rewards subscribers further with early access to content. It also allows us to focus on each contributing author singularly each week on the website. Readers win, authors win, subscribers win, and Apex Magazine wins!
(16) Councilmember Mike Bonin represents the 11th District in the city of Los Angeles. And the councilman says he has “the best collection of Justice Society of America action figures in all of Los Angeles.”
[Thanks to Steven H Silver, Will R., James H. Burns, JJ, Tom Galloway, and John King Tarpinian for some of these stories. Title credit goes to File 770 contributing editor of the day Soon Lee.]
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IN JAPAN, “-A” IS NOT A FEMININE ENDING
Nimona, Noelle Stephenson
THE DARK KNIGHT VERSUS THE MOON ROACH
The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller
WE HAVE MET THE ENEMY…
Pogo, Walt Kelly
SO WHICH ONE WILL KURT HIMSELF VOTE FOR?
Astro City, Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson
IF WISHES WERE BEAGLES
Peanuts, Charles Schulz
THE RIPPER AND THE VEGETABLE
Swamp Thing 20-64, Alan Moore and Steve Bissette and John Totleben and Rick Veitch
POTTER VS. POTHEAD
Doonesbury, Gary Trudeau
GHOSTS AND ZOMBIES
Saga, Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
THESE SHADOW DEMONS ARE CRAZY
The Adventures of Asterix, René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo
NEAR FUTURE VS. FAR FUTURE
Legion of Super-Heroes: The Great Darkness Saga, Paul Levitz and Keith Giffen
ALL OUT METAL
Fullmetal Alchemist, Hiromu Arakawa
GUIDED BY DREAMS
The Sandman, Neil Gaiman and various
COSMIC, ATOMIC, IT’S ALL RADIATION
X-Men 94-150, Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum / John Byrne
GLOBE-TROTTING ADVENTURERS
pass
FAMOUS NAMES
Girl Genius, Phil & Kaja Foglio
THE SCHOOL AND THE SEA
pass
REVENGE OF THE NERDS
XKCD, Randall Munroe
DOG, CAT, BUNNY, MONKEY
pass
ALEXANDER’S EMPIRE
Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
STRONG-WILLED GIRLS
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Hayao Miyazaki
WOLFRIDERS AND RAT CREATURES
Bone, Jeff Smith
NEAR FUTURE VS. FAR FUTURE, DYSTOPIAN EDITION
V for Vendetta, Alan Moore and David Lloyd
KINDS OF POWER, KINDS OF RESPONSIBILITY
Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud
ANIMAL, VEGETABLE, OR MINERAL?
pass
OTHER REALMS
Little Nemo in Slumberland, Winsor McCay
DEALING WITH GODS
Digger, Ursula Vernon
OPPOSITE ENDS OF THE AXIS
Urusei Yatsura, Rumiko Takahashi
IT’S ALL IN THE STORIES YOU TELL
Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson
THE SIN-EATER AND THE DEMON’S DAUGHTER
The New Teen Titans, Marv Wolfman and George Perez
HEROES OF MYTH
Age of Bronze, Eric Shanower
THE FAR-FLUNG FUTURE! 1965 OR 2023?
Zot!, Scott McCloud
NEW STYLE VS. OLD
Krazy Kat, George Herriman
MaxL: Spoiler: Ancillary Mercy is pretty good, you guys
Also, Sean Bean does not die in it. 😉
IN JAPAN, “-A” IS NOT A FEMININE ENDING
Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo
THE DARK KNIGHT VERSUS THE MOON ROACH
Cerebus the Aardvark, Dave Sim
WE HAVE MET THE ENEMY…
Pogo, Walt Kelly
SO WHICH ONE WILL KURT HIMSELF VOTE FOR?
Astro City, Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson
IF WISHES WERE BEAGLES
Peanuts, Charles Schulz
THE RIPPER AND THE VEGETABLE
Swamp Thing 20-64, Alan Moore and Steve Bissette and John Totleben and Rick Veitch
THESE SHADOW DEMONS ARE CRAZY
The Adventures of Asterix, René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo
NEAR FUTURE VS. FAR FUTURE
Kingdom Come, Mark Waid and Alex Ross
just barely
ALL OUT METAL
Fullmetal Alchemist, Hiromu Arakawa
GUIDED BY DREAMS
The Sandman, Neil Gaiman and various
COSMIC, ATOMIC, IT’S ALL RADIATION
Fantastic Four 1-102, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
GLOBE-TROTTING ADVENTURERS
The Adventures of Tintin, Georges Remi
FAMOUS NAMES
Girl Genius, Phil & Kaja Foglio
REVENGE OF THE NERDS
XKCD, Randall Munroe
A vote more against The Invisibles
DOG, CAT, BUNNY, MONKEY
We3, Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely
ALEXANDER’S EMPIRE
Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi
WOLFRIDERS AND RAT CREATURES
Bone, Jeff Smith
KINDS OF POWER, KINDS OF RESPONSIBILITY
Amazing Spider-Man 1-38, Stan Lee and Steve Ditko
OTHER REALMS
Little Nemo in Slumberland, Winsor McCay
DEALING WITH GODS
Digger, Ursula Vernon
OPPOSITE ENDS OF THE AXIS
Maus, Art Spiegelman
IT’S ALL IN THE STORIES YOU TELL
Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson
NEW STYLE VS. OLD
Krazy Kat, George Herriman
Stop what you’re doing and read Naru Dames Sundar’s story in Strange Horizons. It’ll take you 10 or 15 minutes and you’ll be glad you spent the time.
Ooh ooh! Finally one I’m sufficiently well-versed in that I can answer more than half!
Time for round one of the Rory Root Memorial Comics Bracket!
[…]
IN JAPAN, “-A” IS NOT A FEMININE ENDING
Nimona, Noelle Stephenson
Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo
I love Stephenson’s visual style, but I feel that Otomo’s intensity wins out.
THE DARK KNIGHT VERSUS THE MOON ROACH
The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller
Cerebus the Aardvark, Dave Sim
Up through and including Jaka’s Story, Sim was doing amazing things with the medium. Unfortuantely – much of what followed I have a hard time revisiting.
WE HAVE MET THE ENEMY…
Why I Hate Saturn, Kyle Baker
Pogo, Walt Kelly
Exceptionally difficult choice, for I encountered Why I Hate Saturn at a particularly formative time and love that book dearly, but at best an honorable mention against the old master.
SO WHICH ONE WILL KURT HIMSELF VOTE FOR?
Astro City, Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson
Marvels, Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross
Abstain, but points for best category title.
IF WISHES WERE BEAGLES
Peanuts, Charles Schulz
Dragonball, Akira Toriyama
Nostalgia beats out nostalgia.
THE RIPPER AND THE VEGETABLE
Swamp Thing 20-64, Alan Moore and Steve Bissette and John Totleben and Rick Veitch
From Hell, Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell
The impossible choice – works so radically different and so deserving in their own right. And I surprise myself by siding with Swamp Thing.
POTTER VS. POTHEAD
The Tale of One Bad Rat, Bryan Talbot
Doonesbury, Gary Trudeau
Abstain – too very different to compare to each other.
GHOSTS AND ZOMBIES
Saga, Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
The Walking Dead, Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard
In a world where the zombie thing has been played out ad nauseum, The Walking Dead is a remarkable standout of storytelling. But – Saga is such a tour de force, even the fantastic Walking Dead has to take a back seat.
THESE SHADOW DEMONS ARE CRAZY
The Adventures of Asterix, René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo
Crisis on Infinite Earths, Marv Wolfman and George Perez
With a heavy heart, I abstain. I should have first-hand experience of both these works, and I do not.
NEAR FUTURE VS. FAR FUTURE
Kingdom Come, Mark Waid and Alex Ross
Legion of Super-Heroes: The Great Darkness Saga, Paul Levitz and Keith Giffen
I re-read Kingdom Come for the art, the story, the humanity probably once a season. If only one superhero comic had to survive, I might choose this one.
ALL OUT METAL
Fullmetal Alchemist, Hiromu Arakawa
Astro Boy, Osamu Tezuka
Abstain due to lack of first-hand experience with both titles.
GUIDED BY DREAMS
Nexus, Mike Baron and Steve Rude and various
The Sandman, Neil Gaiman and various
Although the art was often shaky, the story never was. And the story was revolutionary.
COSMIC, ATOMIC, IT’S ALL RADIATION
Fantastic Four 1-102, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
X-Men 94-150, Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum / John Byrne
Okay – seriously mad props for the high-quality bracketing. Any choice here feels wrong and open to endless debate, but at the very last I have to throw my weight behind this specific run of the X-Men.
GLOBE-TROTTING ADVENTURERS
The Adventures of Tintin, Georges Remi
Nextwave: Agents of HATE, Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen
Going to opt for the classics on this one, as much as I love Ellis’ storytelling.
FAMOUS NAMES
Girl Genius, Phil & Kaja Foglio
Superman: Secret Identity, Kurt Busiek and Stuart Immonen
I love what Phil and Kaja are doing with their story and look forward to each installment, but Superman: Secret Identity is the stronger entry.
THE SCHOOL AND THE SEA
PS238, Aaron Williams
Corto Maltese, Hugo Pratt
Abstain, due to having not experienced Corto Maltese. PS238 I found underwhelming, however.
REVENGE OF THE NERDS
XKCD, Randall Munroe
The Invisibles, Grant Morrison and various
XKCD has touched more hearts, but The Invisibles was a masterpiece of zeitgeist during its run.
DOG, CAT, BUNNY, MONKEY
American Splendor, Harvey Pekar and various
We3, Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely
Pekar is a master, and American Splendor is excellent, but We3 brought tears to my eyes. One only ever walks away from that book changed.
ALEXANDER’S EMPIRE
Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi
You’re going to make me pick again, aren’t you? As much as I love Persepolis and the time it captures, I still pick up my old copy of Watchmen far more often. Although less shocking now, it was a radical and important twist on the genre when it first appeared.
STRONG-WILLED GIRLS
Omaha the Cat Dancer, Reed Waller and Kate Worley
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Hayao Miyazaki
No contest. Nausicaa is a masterwork and should be required reading.
WOLFRIDERS AND RAT CREATURES
Bone, Jeff Smith
Elfquest, Richard and Wendy Pini
Seriously – do you do hypothetical brackets for a living? Both excellent, but I have to give the nod to Jeff Smith for ease of entry – the sort of story that can entrance both children and adults.
NEAR FUTURE VS. FAR FUTURE, DYSTOPIAN EDITION
The Incal, Alejandro Jodorowsky and Moebius and various
V for Vendetta, Alan Moore and David Lloyd
I can’t even anymore. I feel Jodorowsky and Moebius are already
under-appreciated outside of their domain, but I feel V for Vendetta has more important reach across time. I love much of what both Jodorowsky and Moebius do, but know that it is a more specialized cup of tea.
KINDS OF POWER, KINDS OF RESPONSIBILITY
Amazing Spider-Man 1-38, Stan Lee and Steve Ditko
Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud
Gamechanger.
ANIMAL, VEGETABLE, OR MINERAL?
Tales of the Beanworld, Larry Marder
Animal Man 1-26, Grant Morrison and Chas Truog
I LOVE TALES OF THE BEANWORLD AND MISS IT SO MUCH>
OTHER REALMS
Little Nemo in Slumberland, Winsor McCay
Fourth World (New Gods, Forever People, Jimmy Olsen), Jack Kirby
Abstain
DEALING WITH GODS
Digger, Ursula Vernon
The Authority, Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch
Abstain – missed both of these
OPPOSITE ENDS OF THE AXIS
Urusei Yatsura, Rumiko Takahashi
Maus, Art Spiegelman
Two entirely different kinds of cultural import. I have to side with Maus.
IT’S ALL IN THE STORIES YOU TELL
Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson
Fables, Bill Willingham and Mark Buckingham and various
Fablesis excellent, but C&H touched far more hearts
THE SIN-EATER AND THE DEMON’S DAUGHTER
Finder, Carla Speed McNeil
The New Teen Titans, Marv Wolfman and George Perez
Both excellent, but Finder ranks higher in my final count.
HEROES OF MYTH
Age of Bronze, Eric Shanower
Mage: The Hero Discovered, Matt Wagner
I tried hard to like Wagner’s stuff, but bounced off of it. Age of Bronze put all the old stories in an entirely new light for me.
THE FAR-FLUNG FUTURE! 1965 OR 2023?
The Nikopol trilogy, Enki Bilal
Zot!, Scott McCloud
Abstain, as I’m not familiar with the Nikopol trilogy.
NEW STYLE VS. OLD
Planetary, Warren Ellis and John Cassady
Krazy Kat, George Herriman
Again with the impossible choices! I’m going to have to go with Planetary. So many have tried to do that story both before and after, but in my mind Planetary still ranks highest for most satisfying implementation of the concept.
Apex: entirely reasonable, and what other, similar zines do.
Dave Freer: living textbook example of psychological projection.
Ooh, more brackets! Lots of which I know!
1. Akira (not as good as the anime, tho)
2. Cerebus (but close to an abstention. Early years only.)
3. POGO!!! Always!
4. Astro City
5. Peanuts
6. ugh. abstain.
7. Doonesbury
8. Saga
9. Asterix (by a moustache hair)
10. abstain
11. Astro Boy
12. abstain
13. Fantastic Four (before they got cursed with bad movies)
14. Tintin
15. Forehead cloths. Girl Genius. (Would have lost to All-Star Supes, tho)
16. abstain
17. xkcd
18. We3
19. Persepolis
20. Omaha the Cat Dancer
21. Elfquest
22. abstain
23. Understanding Comics
24. abstain
25. grarrghhh…. (flips coin) Little Nemo
26. Digger!!!
27. Maus
28. Calvin and Hobbes, duh.
29. abstain
30. Age of Bronze (the art!)
31. abstain
32. Krazy Kat
I am super-traditional and old-school.
For my abstentions, I require “Bloom County” and “Hark a Vagrant”.
Bruce Baugh, well, here you go: clearly, a lot of Filers have read a lot of comics. I’m shocked at how so much has obviously been read by so many people.
I could wonder what’s wrong with me that comics have no appeal for me — but I think I’ll just opt for “other peoples’ thing, but not my thing”, and leave it at that.
ETA: I’ll eat just about anything but not marmite or vegemite, either. 😉
@Jonathan Edelstein
Thank you. Holy crap, that’s good. It reminds me a lot of “Dinosaur,” but no complainers can complain that it’s not fantasy.
When I mentioned ANYA’S GHOST by Vera Bristol, that was Autocorrect helping me out.
It’s actually by Vera Bristol. Bristol. Bristol. Bristol.
B R O S G O L.
Vera Brosgol.
Hey, it learned!
@Ray: Thanks for linking to Leckie’s AMA!
@Dave Goldfarb: Oh yeah, “A Distant Soil” by Colleen Doran gets my vote for inclusion as a bonus to the next bracket.
@Hampus & @Cally: I see bold in Firefox/Mac on this blog, but it’s only a little different from non-bold – I had to look twice to notice. Regular uses font-weight 300 and bold uses 400. I’m not sure if it’s purely Firefox (it looks fine in Chrome & Safari…) at fault, or if the font and/or style sheet contribute to the barely-bolder-than-regular of ‘b’ here. But b (bold) is a pretty core element of HTML to not be properly rendering. Weird. Our gracious host could probably adjust his style sheet to make bold show as, well, proper bold (I believe my company’s web site actually sets bold to bolder than standard, but I don’t know why). /ramble
Well, so far we have a few predictable blowouts, a few close races, and a couple that have surprised me. Persepolis is doing surprisingly well against Watchmen, and wins the award for Unluckiest Draw. Only one work has no votes so far, which I find gratifying. (And that one is, I think, one of the weaker works matched up against one of the very strongest.)
I’m planning to close the bracket at about 11 PM CDT tomorrow night; I’ll get the second round up as soon after as I can. (May depend on how hard it is to come up with category titles. I have huge new respect for Kyra.)
Anyway, here’s how I’m voting:
IN JAPAN, “-A” IS NOT A FEMININE ENDING
Nimona, Noelle Stephenson
Akira, Katsuhiro OtomoAkira started off very strong, but then after the mid-story turning point it eventually became clear that Otomo had no sense of where to take it or how to end it. Nimona wins because it’s a real story.
THE DARK KNIGHT VERSUS THE MOON ROACH
The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller
Cerebus the Aardvark, Dave SimMiller from before his decadence beats Dave Sim before, during, and after. (Point to the person who said this should have been BATTLE OF THE MISOGYNISTS.)
WE HAVE MET THE ENEMY…
Why I Hate Saturn, Kyle BakerPogo, Walt Kelly
This bracket is full of hard decisions for me, because the vast majority of stuff on it is things I put on it because I love them. Pogo by a whisker.
SO WHICH ONE WILL KURT HIMSELF VOTE FOR?
Astro City, Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson
Marvels, Kurt Busiek and Alex RossA relatively easy one: a strong early work versus an entire life’s work.
IF WISHES WERE BEAGLES
Peanuts, Charles Schulz
Dragonball, Akira ToriyamaYeah, no contest. Sorry, Toriyama fans, but something had to go up against Peanuts.
ANATOMY LESSONS
Swamp Thing 20-64, Alan Moore and Steve Bissette and John Totleben and Rick Veitch
From Hell, Alan Moore and Eddie CampbellOne is violently fresh and original, while the other is well-crafted but smells a bit of the lamp.
POTTER VS. POTHEAD
The Tale of One Bad Rat, Bryan Talbot
Doonesbury, Gary TrudeauGary Trudeau never made me cry.
GHOSTS AND ZOMBIES
Saga, Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
The Walking Dead, Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore and Charlie AdlardTHESE SHADOW DEMONS ARE CRAZY
The Adventures of Asterix, René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo
Crisis on Infinite Earths, Marv Wolfman and George PerezCrisis was very influential, and made a big impact on me when it was coming out, but looking back it doesn’t hold up that well.
NEAR FUTURE VS. FAR FUTURE
Kingdom Come, Mark Waid and Alex RossLegion of Super-Heroes: The Great Darkness Saga, Paul Levitz and Keith Giffen
If I voted against the best Legion story ever told, they’d take away my flight ring. (Both of them.)
ALL OUT METAL
Fullmetal Alchemist, Hiromu Arakawa
Astro Boy, Osamu Tezuka
Abstain. I haven’t read Astro Boy; I’ve seen the FMA anime, but wasn’t so stunned by it that I would vote it against something I haven’t read.
GUIDED BY DREAMS
Nexus, Mike Baron and Steve Rude and variousThe Sandman, Neil Gaiman and various
…and something had to go up against Sandman. There’s lots of things here I’d vote Nexus over, but Sandman is emphatically not one of them.
COSMIC, ATOMIC, IT’S ALL RADIATION
Fantastic Four 1-102, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
X-Men 94-150, Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum / John ByrneThe X-Men run was formative for me, but Claremont and Byrne were standing on Lee and Kirby’s shoulders.
GLOBE-TROTTING ADVENTURERS
The Adventures of Tintin, Georges Remi
Nextwave: Agents of HATE, Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen
Abstain. Again, not a large enough fan of Tintin to vote him over something I haven’t read.
FAMOUS NAMES
Girl Genius, Phil & Kaja Foglio
Superman: Secret Identity, Kurt Busiek and Stuart ImmonenAdd my voice to the “Sorry, Kurt” chorus. I really liked S:SI but I love Girl Genius. If it’s any consolation, there’s very little in this bracket that’ll make me vote against Astro City.
THE SCHOOL AND THE SEA
PS238, Aaron Williams
Corto Maltese, Hugo PrattC’mon, Moonshadow! You can come from behind!
REVENGE OF THE NERDS
XKCD, Randall Munroe
The Invisibles, Grant Morrison and variousThe Invisibles always seemed to me a bit pretentious. XKCD is lots of things, but never that.
DOG, CAT, BUNNY, MONKEY
American Splendor, Harvey Pekar and various
We3, Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely
Abstain.
ALEXANDER’S EMPIRE
Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
Persepolis, Marjane SatrapiI must have read and re-read Watchmen more than a dozen times, and I kept finding new things in it.
STRONG-WILLED GIRLS
Omaha the Cat Dancer, Reed Waller and Kate WorleyNausicäa of the Valley of the Wind, Hayao Miyazaki
Omaha is fun, but Nausicäa is a masterpiece.
WOLFRIDERS AND RAT CREATURES
Bone, Jeff Smith
Elfquest, Richard and Wendy PiniBone didn’t quite stick the landing, but it’s funnier and has better-developed characters.
NEAR FUTURE VS. FAR FUTURE, DYSTOPIAN EDITION
The Incal, Alejandro Jodorowsky and Jean Giraud and variousV for Vendetta, Alan Moore and David Lloyd
I’ve only ever seen the first volume of The Incal, but it’s hard to imagine it surpassing V.
KINDS OF POWER, KINDS OF RESPONSIBILITY
Amazing Spider-Man 1-38, Stan Lee and Steve DitkoUnderstanding Comics, Scott McCloud
A tough one, but I’m not as big a Ditko fan as many people seem to be. And McCloud did something really new and important.
ANIMAL, VEGETABLE, OR MINERAL?
Tales of the Beanworld, Larry Marder
Animal Man 1-26, Grant Morrison and Chas TruogMorrison’s metafiction was brilliant, but Beanworld is another of the books I really love.
OTHER REALMS
Little Nemo in Slumberland, Winsor McCay
Fourth World (New Gods, Forever People, Jimmy Olsen), Jack KirbyWe could have called this one THE BATTLE OF THE WRITERS WHO CAN’T DO DIALOGUE. Nemo wins because he’s just so pretty.
Check out Eric Shanower and Gabriel Rodriguez on Little Nemo: Return to Slumberland, by the by. It’s excellent.
DEALING WITH GODS
Digger, Ursula Vernon
The Authority, Warren Ellis and Bryan HitchREMEMBER TUNNEL 17!
OPPOSITE ENDS OF THE AXIS
Urusei Yatsura, Rumiko TakahashiMaus, Art Spiegelman
Maus was another huge game-changer. Uruboshi was fun, but not remotely in the same class.
IT’S ALL IN THE STORIES YOU TELL
Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson
Fables, Bill Willingham and Mark Buckingham and variousAnother titan.
THE SIN-EATER AND THE DEMON’S DAUGHTER
Finder, Carla Speed McNeil
The New Teen Titans, Marv Wolfman and George PerezFinder is bold and original and gets my vote. New Teen Titans was excellently-done superhero work, few better, but it just doesn’t measure up.
HEROES OF MYTH
Age of Bronze, Eric Shanower
Mage: The Hero Discovered, Matt WagnerI cast the tying vote! Age of Bronze is amazingly well-researched, and a joy to read.
THE FAR-FLUNG FUTURE! 1965 OR 2023?
The Nikopol trilogy, Enki BilalZot!, Scott McCloud
Zot! is one of my favorite books ever, and I am willing to vote it over something I haven’t read.
NEW STYLE VS. OLD
Planetary, Warren Ellis and John CassadyKrazy Kat, George Herriman
Another vote for the ground-breaking and the original.
Add either Bechdel, Hark a Vagrant and Tamara Drewe
Tamara Drewe is online at the Gurdiana
http://www.theguardian.com/books/series/tamara-drewe?page=4
Over on the 10/6 thread, Hampus Eckeman has suggested Oglaf as a possibility for adding in. That is also one I would support:
Oglaf, Trudy Cooper and Doug Bayne
Oh, yeah, Oglaf has had some great bits.
Oh, and regarding female comic creators: Has any one tried out Ming Doyles new Hellblazer? I stopped reading the old version when they more or less destroyed Constantine as a flawed, but good character. It turned terribly bad during Peter Milligans run.
If I had to pick four…
The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage (also eligible for Hugo nomination, I think, hint hint)
Oglaf
Hark, A Vagrant
Something by Gail Simone – Birds of Prey or Secret Six, maybe? Wonder Woman? Oooh, how about Welcome to Tranquility? That was a great comic, plus she was the creator for that one.
And, bonus one, Hyperbole and a Half.
(Conincidentally, all ladies, but that wasn’t actually something I was aiming for.)
IN JAPAN, “-A” IS NOT A FEMININE ENDING
Nimona, Noelle Stephenson
Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo
THE DARK KNIGHT VERSUS THE MOON ROACH
The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller
Cerebus the Aardvark, Dave Sim
IF WISHES WERE BEAGLES
Peanuts, Charles Schulz
Dragonball, Akira Toriyama
At this stage, I no longer actually like either…
POTTER VS. POTHEAD
The Tale of One Bad Rat, Bryan Talbot
Doonesbury, Gary Trudeau
Marginal.
ALL OUT METAL
Fullmetal Alchemist, Hiromu Arakawa
Astro Boy, Osamu Tezuka
Now that is cruel. Make it Black Jack by Teduka Osamu and you get a different answer…
GUIDED BY DREAMS
Nexus, Mike Baron and Steve Rude and various
The Sandman, Neil Gaiman and various
REVENGE OF THE NERDS
XKCD, Randall Munroe
The Invisibles, Grant Morrison and various
Marginal again…
ALEXANDER’S EMPIRE
Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi
STRONG-WILLED GIRLS
Omaha the Cat Dancer, Reed Waller and Kate Worley
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Hayao Miyazaki
NEAR FUTURE VS. FAR FUTURE, DYSTOPIAN EDITION
The Incal, Alejandro Jodorowsky and Moebius and various
V for Vendetta, Alan Moore and David Lloyd
OPPOSITE ENDS OF THE AXIS
Urusei Yatsura, Rumiko Takahashi
Maus, Art Spiegelman
IT’S ALL IN THE STORIES YOU TELL
Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson
Fables, Bill Willingham and Mark Buckingham and various
Hmm, these really are very different things…
DMS : “Oh, yeah, Oglaf has had some great bits.”
Attached to interesting characters too.
Given the general NSFW nature of Oglaf and a sufficiently dirty mind, there are all sorts of ways those ‘bits’ can be read now…
I abstained from a bunch of categories, including ones I wanted to vote for (“Maus”) where I hadn’t read the other title.
THE DARK KNIGHT VERSUS THE MOON ROACH
The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller
Cerebus the Aardvark, Dave Sim
I own a copy of the famous 180-something issue of Cerebus where Dave Sim went off the rails.
WE HAVE MET THE ENEMY…
Why I Hate Saturn, Kyle Baker
Pogo, Walt Kelly
Still holds up.
SO WHICH ONE WILL KURT HIMSELF VOTE FOR?
Astro City, Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson
Marvels, Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross
Astro City forever!
IF WISHES WERE BEAGLES
Peanuts, Charles Schulz
Dragonball, Akira Toriyama
Snoopy may be one of my favorite fictional writers ever, and Peanuts had an astonishing capacity to change–in the 2000s, Charlie Brown famously hit the game-winning home run for the first time in the strip’s 50-year history.
POTTER VS. POTHEAD
The Tale of One Bad Rat, Bryan Talbot
Doonesbury, Gary Trudeau
I devoured Doonesbury as a kid, and few have done long-form serialized aging of characters as well as Trudeau.
GHOSTS AND ZOMBIES
Saga, Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
The Walking Dead, Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard
The Walking Dead just got too nihilistic after a while.
THESE SHADOW DEMONS ARE CRAZY
The Adventures of Asterix, René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo
Crisis on Infinite Earths, Marv Wolfman and George Perez
Damn those Romans!
GUIDED BY DREAMS
Nexus, Mike Baron and Steve Rude and various
The Sandman, Neil Gaiman and various
Please don’t put Sandman up against Calvin & Hobbes. Please don’t put Sandman up against Calvin & Hobbes. Please don’t put Sandman up against Calvin & Hobbes…
REVENGE OF THE NERDS
XKCD, Randall Munroe
The Invisibles, Grant Morrison and various
Write-in vote: Questionable Content, an online comic that surpasses XKCD in a lot of crucial ways (plot, character, artwork…)
DOG, CAT, BUNNY, MONKEY
American Splendor, Harvey Pekar and various
We3, Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely
Groundbreaking autobiographical comics when no one was doing them.
ALEXANDER’S EMPIRE
Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi
TIE. Two masterpieces.
WOLFRIDERS AND RAT CREATURES
Bone, Jeff Smith
Elfquest, Richard and Wendy Pini
Superb, and one of my favorite self-publishing success stories.
KINDS OF POWER, KINDS OF RESPONSIBILITY
Amazing Spider-Man 1-38, Stan Lee and Steve Ditko
Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud
Understanding Comics is such an unusual book, and yet so clear-minded at the same time. Imagine being Scott McCloud in the early 1990s and thinking, “I’m going to spend a year of my life writing a book-length comic about comics. This may never sell. I’ll do it anyway.”
DEALING WITH GODS
Digger, Ursula Vernon
The Authority, Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch
IT’S ALL IN THE STORIES YOU TELL
Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson
Fables, Bill Willingham and Mark Buckingham and various
Fables is a darn good comic, but kids will still be devouring Calvin and Hobbes 200 years from now.
HEROES OF MYTH
Age of Bronze, Eric Shanower
Mage: The Hero Discovered, Matt Wagner
Mage! I’m glad this made it onto the list. Really well done.
NEW STYLE VS. OLD
Planetary, Warren Ellis and John Cassady
Krazy Kat, George Herriman
Krazy Kat is the first great American comic, and still enormously fun to read. (throws brick)
My husband still babbles about Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage so +1
Gail Simone anything +1
Hyperbole and a Half +1
Maybe we need to do a quick runoff of the women and Eisner to add? IRV Bracket for each name where multiple works.
I know we are asking a lot David. We really appreciate all the work you are putting into this. But ya know we are SJWs – VD says so. 😉
Okay, closing the bracket in about an hour. Any last minute votes, take note.
@Meredith: You want me to count a 4-way IRV by hand? Don’t ask for much, do you…? Yeah, I’ll probably do it. So that’s going to delay round two by about a day.
Okay, results. The top 12 vote-getters will be seeded into the next round and not face each other. (So, that person pleading “Please don’t put Sandman against Calvin & Hobbes“, you get your wish – for THIS round. But remember, the dice hunger for your tears!)
IN JAPAN, “-A” IS NOT A FEMININE ENDING
Nimona, Noelle Stephenson, 11
Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo, 20
I suspect that Nimona was handicapped by its relative recency, and by not having had a well-known movie.
THE DARK KNIGHT VERSUS THE MOON ROACH
The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller, 22
Cerebus the Aardvark, Dave Sim, 17
Close throughout.
WE HAVE MET THE ENEMY…
Why I Hate Saturn, Kyle Baker, 9
Pogo, Walt Kelly, 26
A surprisingly good showing for Kyle Baker.
SO WHICH ONE WILL KURT HIMSELF VOTE FOR?
Astro City, Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson, 26
Marvels, Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross, 7
Not really close, even though Kurt abstained.
IF WISHES WERE BEAGLES
Peanuts, Charles Schulz, 43 (seeded)
Dragonball, Akira Toriyama, 0
Charlie Brown pitches the only shutout of his life.
ANATOMY LESSONS
Swamp Thing 20-64, Alan Moore and Steve Bissette and John Totleben and Rick Veitch, 33 (seeded)
From Hell, Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell, 5
I honestly thought this one would be closer.
POTTER VS. POTHEAD
The Tale of One Bad Rat, Bryan Talbot, 12
Doonesbury, Gary Trudeau, 34 (seeded)
I expected this one to be a walkover for Doonesbury, and looking at the final total you could be forgiven for thinking that was so. But actually Tale surprised me by taking an early lead. Once Doonesbury caught up, though, it never looked back.
GHOSTS AND ZOMBIES
Saga, Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples, 38 (seeded)
The Walking Dead, Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard, 3
THESE SHADOW DEMONS ARE CRAZY
The Adventures of Asterix, René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo, 35 (seeded)
Crisis on Infinite Earths, Marv Wolfman and George Perez, 8
NEAR FUTURE VS. FAR FUTURE
Kingdom Come, Mark Waid and Alex Ross, 20
Legion of Super-Heroes: The Great Darkness Saga, Paul Levitz and Keith Giffen, 10
A convincing win for Waid and Ross. Sigh.
ALL OUT METAL
Fullmetal Alchemist, Hiromu Arakawa, 11
Astro Boy, Osamu Tezuka, 13
Astro Boy led throughout. FMA kept threatening it but never quite got there.
GUIDED BY DREAMS
Nexus, Mike Baron and Steve Rude and various, 3
The Sandman, Neil Gaiman and various, 38 (seeded)
To nobody’s surprise, I think.
COSMIC, ATOMIC, IT’S ALL RADIATION
Fantastic Four 1-102, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, 12
X-Men 94-150, Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum / John Byrne, 28 (seeded)
I expected an easy win for the FF. I wasn’t taking into account the age groups: a lot of people here, like me, grew up reading X-Men but are too young for that Fantastic Four run.
GLOBE-TROTTING ADVENTURERS
The Adventures of Tintin, Georges Remi, 23
Nextwave: Agents of HATE, Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen, 13
FAMOUS NAMES
Girl Genius, Phil & Kaja Foglio, 24
Superman: Secret Identity, Kurt Busiek and Stuart Immonen, 7
Stuart can’t catch a break.
THE SCHOOL AND THE SEA
PS238, Aaron Williams, 8
Corto Maltese, Hugo Pratt, 10
Corto Maltese is a lot more popular than I thought. I guess I need to check it out.
REVENGE OF THE NERDS
XKCD, Randall Munroe, 31(seeded)
The Invisibles, Grant Morrison and various, 10
DOG, CAT, BUNNY, MONKEY
American Splendor, Harvey Pekar and various, 7
We3, Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely, 17
ALEXANDER’S EMPIRE
Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, 34
Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi, 13
Persepolis gave a surprisingly strong showing; it might well have won the first round if the dice weren’t against it.
STRONG-WILLED GIRLS
Omaha the Cat Dancer, Reed Waller and Kate Worley, 7
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Hayao Miyazaki, 31 (seeded)
WOLFRIDERS AND RAT CREATURES
Bone, Jeff Smith, 33 (seeded)
Elfquest, Richard and Wendy Pini, 9
I’m not surprised that Bone won, but I expected a bit more love for Elfquest.
NEAR FUTURE VS. FAR FUTURE, DYSTOPIAN EDITION
The Incal, Alejandro Jodorowsky and Moebius and various, 5
V for Vendetta, Alan Moore and David Lloyd, 23
KINDS OF POWER, KINDS OF RESPONSIBILITY
Amazing Spider-Man 1-38, Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, 16
Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud, 25
This one was much closer than the final total makes it look: in the early voting it was neck-and-neck. McCloud took his lead in the late stages.
Aside to Heather Rose Jones: you call McCloud a genius on the basis of Understanding Comics, but haven’t read Zot!? That’s like calling Shakespeare a genius on the basis of Henry V and Julius Caesar without having read Hamlet or A Midsummer Night’s Dream: true as far as it goes, but you’re missing out on a lot.
(No, I’m not implying that McCloud is as good a writer as Shakespeare.)
ANIMAL, VEGETABLE, OR MINERAL?
Tales of the Beanworld, Larry Marder, 12
Animal Man 1-26, Grant Morrison and Chas Truog, 13
Kurt is revenged for my vote against Lev Grossman. 🙁
OTHER REALMS
Little Nemo in Slumberland, Winsor McCay, 21
Fourth World (New Gods, Forever People, Jimmy Olsen), Jack Kirby, 8
DEALING WITH GODS
Digger, Ursula Vernon, 22
The Authority, Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch, 13
OPPOSITE ENDS OF THE AXIS
Urusei Yatsura, Rumiko Takahashi, 4
Maus, Art Spiegelman, 37 (seeded)
Quite a strong showing for Uruboshi, considering its opponent!
IT’S ALL IN THE STORIES YOU TELL
Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson, 38 (seeded)
Fables, Bill Willingham and Mark Buckingham and various, 9
Another easy one to predict.
THE SIN-EATER AND THE DEMON’S DAUGHTER
Finder, Carla Speed McNeil, 8
The New Teen Titans, Marv Wolfman and George Perez, 17
HEROES OF MYTH
Age of Bronze, Eric Shanower, 11
Mage: The Hero Discovered, Matt Wagner, 12
And again the one I was rooting for loses by one vote. In this category and the one a few above, it was awfully tempting to “misplace” one vote.
THE FAR-FLUNG FUTURE! 1965 OR 2023?
The Nikopol trilogy, Enki Bilal, 3
Zot!, Scott McCloud, 19
NEW STYLE VS. OLD
Planetary, Warren Ellis and John Cassady, 20
Krazy Kat, George Herriman, 17
New style wins a close race.
Slight emendation: the edit window timed out on me before I could change it. X-Men is not seeded; it was the top non-seed. My apologies for the error.
@David Goldfarb
Aww, I wouldn’t make you. I just liked the idea of coming up with My Best Four (That Weren’t Already In The Brackets). 🙂 Don’t forget that if you add four rather than three you can cheat and use pairs instead of IRV, though. You don’t have to pick the hard route. 😉
Okay, here is the list of items that have gotten more than one recommendation in the thread above. (Modulo that I have semi-arbitrarily reduced Bechdel and Eisner to one each.)
Captain Marvel, Kelly Sue DeConnick and various
A Distant Soil, Colleen Doran
Empowered, Adam Warren
Fun Home, Alison Bechdel
Hark! A Vagrant, Kate Beaton
Hyperbole and a Half, Allie Brosh
Ms. Marvel, G. Willow Wilson and various
Narbonic, Shaenon Garrity
Oglaf, Trudy Cooper and Doug Bayne
Relish, Lucy Knisley
Smile, Raina Telgemeir
The Spirit, Will Eisner and various
Tamara Drewe, Posy Simmonds
My first impulse, I will admit, was to say “You want IRV? You got it! Rank these from 1-13, and we’ll use Hugo voting rules. Oh, and if we don’t get at least 10 votes we’re calling it a wash.”
On slightly more mature reflection, I think the way to go here is approval voting. Everyone post, listing as many of the above as you want. Every listing counts as one vote. The top four vote-getters make it into round 2.
My own preference:
Hark! A Vagrant, Kate Beaton
Oglaf, Trudy Cooper and Doug Bayne
The Spirit, Will Eisner and various
And not on the list:
Hellblazer – Dangerous Habits
Modesty Blaise
Judge Dredd
Love and Rockets
I think these should make it into Round 2. I haven’t heard of most of the ones listed. I don’t know which Bechdel this is, but I did like some of her “Dykes To Watch Out For,” so I’ll vote for her on the strength of that.
A Distant Soil, Colleen Doran
Fun Home, Alison Bechdel
Oglaf, Trudy Cooper and Doug Bayne
But to be honest, Will Eisners best work is not the Spirit, but “A Contract With God” and that is the one that got most recommendations in orevious threads.
Hark! A Vagrant, Kate Beaton
Hyperbole and a Half, Allie Brosh
Ms. Marvel, G. Willow Wilson and various
The Spirit, Will Eisner and various
Supplementary bracket:
Captain Marvel, Kelly Sue DeConnick and various
Empowered, Adam Warren
Ms. Marvel, G. Willow Wilson and various
Narbonic, Shaenon Garrity
Oglaf, Trudy Cooper and Doug Bayne
I’ll also support addition of “The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage”.
Fun Home, Alison Bechdel
Hark! A Vagrant, Kate Beaton
Hyperbole and a Half, Allie Brosh
Tamara Drewe, Posy Simmonds
The Spirit, Will Eisner and various
The Spirit.
Another +1 for “The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage” here
And Tamara Drewe (although I think other Simmons work is stronger, this is probably her most consistent longform piece.)
[I’d stick my hand up for Groo the Wanderer, which has been making me laugh out loud for more than thirty years, despite only actually being the same joke each time.]
Captain Marvel, Kelly Sue DeConnick and various
A Distant Soil, Colleen Doran
Fun Home, Alison Bechdel
Hark! A Vagrant, Kate Beaton
Hyperbole and a Half, Allie Brosh
Ms. Marvel, G. Willow Wilson and various
Narbonic, Shaenon Garrity
Oglaf, Trudy Cooper and Doug Bayne
Fun Home, Alison Bechdel
Ms. Marvel, G. Willow Wilson and various
OK my additions
Fun Home, Alison Bechdel*
Hark! A Vagrant, Kate Beaton
Ms. Marvel, G. Willow Wilson and various
Oglaf, Trudy Cooper and Doug Bayne’
The Spirit, Will Eisner and various
Tamara Drewe, Posy Simmonds*
* – indicates I haven’t read the specific work but am voting for the person on the basis of other stuff
‘ – indicates ‘oh my goodness! rude bits!’
A Distant Soil, Colleen Doran
Ms. Marvel, G. Willow Wilson and various
Oglaf, Trudy Cooper and Doug Bayne
The Spirit, Will Eisner and various
Revenged? I voted for BEANWORLD.
As for the additions, I vote for all of them, which won’t move the needle any.
Captain Marvel, Kelly Sue DeConnick and various
Hark! A Vagrant, Kate Beaton
Ms. Marvel, G. Willow Wilson and various
Oglaf, Trudy Cooper and Doug Bayne
Ms. Marvel, G. Willow Wilson and various
Narbonic, Shaenon Garrity
Hyperbole and a Half, Allie Brosh
Love and Rockets write in.
(If any of my votes for any work other than Fun Home would somehow end up keeping it off the ballot, please invalidate them.)
@ David
My appreciation for Understanding Comics comes via being a linguist and loving the way he has explained the non-verbal semiotics of comics as a communicative medium. I have no idea whether I would enjoy Zot! but I don’t think it’s axiomatic that I would. Form and content are different things, and I could easily imagine appreciating someone’s mastery of the theory of form without necessarily enjoying a specific instantiation of their content. (Not saying whether I think I would one way or the other, just that I don’t think the two are linked.)
Regarding the votes for overlooked additions, I’ll put in my bid for the following:
A Distant Soil, Colleen Doran
Fun Home, Alison Bechdel
Hark! A Vagrant, Kate Beaton
Hyperbole and a Half, Allie Brosh
Ms. Marvel, G. Willow Wilson and various
A Distant Soil, Colleen Doran
And, not on the list, but I love them anyway:
Wandering Star, Teri S Wood
Starchild, James A Owen
Dark Town, Kaja Blackley
What can I say? I’m old and my favorite comic book experiences were in the ’90’s.
All right:
Fun Home
Ms. Marvel
Hyperbole and a Half
Fun Home, Alison Bechdel
Hyperbole and a Half, Allie Brosh
Ms. Marvel, G. Willow Wilson and various
Write in: The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage
Captain Marvel, Kelly Sue DeConnick and various
A Distant Soil, Colleen Doran
Fun Home, Alison Bechdel
Hark! A Vagrant, Kate Beaton
Hyperbole and a Half, Allie Brosh
Ms. Marvel, G. Willow Wilson and various
The Spirit, Will Eisner and various