There’s no fair way to compare all comics publishers, as they differ too greatly not only in size, but also in intent. There’s DC and Marvel, and then there’s everyone else. So I’m handing out two best publisher awards, one for the best big publisher and one for the best small press.
DC had a very mixed 2007, with successful launches for two promising new enterprises in the Minx line and the Zuda online comics contrasted against a continued lack of direction in the superhero books. On the superhero front, DC put all its chips in the Countdown pot, but that series didn’t serve as the narrative chassis so much as a millstone around the neck of many books.
Marvel had a few missteps this year – notably yet another failure to keep an event on schedule as World War Hulk dragged on and on and Spider-Man’s One More Day never got up and running. Still, Marvel managed to dominate DC in sales (at least till the end of the year) while also branching into some interesting territory. New series like Omega the Unknown and the literary adaptations and, of course, the Gunslinger Born mini show Marvel as a multi-faceted publisher. It wasn’t a very good year for mainstream comics, but caveat aside, Marvel is the choice for publisher of the year.
***
This was a great year for small press books, with one of the best ever crops of graphic novels. But that wealth of material came from a variety of publishers, with no one press releasing an inordinate amount of the best books. Last year the choice was easier, as First Second overwhelmed the competition with a thick catalog of great books.
Drawn & Quarterly came very close, as they put out two of my favorite books of the year in Exit Wounds and Aya, as well as another great volume of Moomin cartoons. Also within sniffing distance of the top of the list is Vertigo (I can’t help but separate them from DC proper). I’m a sucker for Vertigo books, but they outdid themselves this year with a trio of incredible graphic novels in Silverfish, Cairo and Sentences: The Life of MF Grimm.
But, in the small presses, 2007 was the year of Georgia’s own Top Shelf Comix. Chris Staros & Co. published two incredible volumes of Jeff Lemire’s Essex County trilogy, a quality edition of Staros’ Yearbook Stories, the wonderfully fun Lower Regions by Alex Robinson, the dreamy Black Ghost Apple Factory, the bizarre Micrographica, Korgi, Incredible Change Bots, and Matt Kindt’s Super Spy, which just may top my list for best graphic novel of the year (come back Thursday to find out).
Like I said, an extremely impressive year for small publishers, and special congrats to Top Shelf, the publisher of the year.
[...] He’s given us several nods in his 2007 year-in-review declarations. Best artist: Jeff Lemire. Best publisher: Top Shelf. Best graphic novel: Super Spy. He said it, not [...]