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CBG SATELLITES
The ADD Blog by Alan David Doane
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 The Comic Book Galaxy Best of 2005 by Christopher Allen and Alan David Doane ADD: Every year since the end of 2000, I have opined about what I thought were the highlights of the year in comics. While neither Chris nor myself has the time to really do a comprehensive overview of the year just ending, we did want to make sure that our thoughts on the most noteworthy graphic novels, collections and comics of the year were recorded for posterity. So as long as you know that this probably won't be as ambitious as previous years, let's dive into to the 2005 pile. CA: Whereas I really am not that into Best Of Lists (ironic given that by the time this is posted, it will be announced I'm an Eisner judge), partly because I often tend to miss at least a couple of great books every year, and partly because I don't like to single anyone out over others. ...But what the hell. Let's do it. ORIGINAL GRAPHIC NOVEL OF THE YEAR
CA: No argument here. And not to diminish Moore's and Ha's work in any way, but with no brand-new graphic novels from the likes of Gilbert Hernandez, Dan Clowes, Chris Ware, etc., and a rather lighthearted effort from Seth in Wimbledon Green, you gotta give it to The Forty-Niners. I didn't get moist like Alan did, but I did find it to be a very tight, humane graphic novel, with Ha really one of Moore's best collaborators, investing the work with as much joy and abundant ideas as Moore. And forget Top Ten continuity (though that adds another layer of enjoyment): if you can wrap yourself around the theme of people standing up for ideals and compassion, you'll like this. COLLECTION OF THE YEAR
CA: And something I respected about the book, aside from the obsessive mastery Burns has over his brush, is just how simple the story is. It's really about adolescence and how everyone experiencing it is banded together in creepiness as these horrible, exciting changes are occurring to their bodies. I also have to mention Yoshihiro Tatsumi's The Push Man and Other Stories, which brings Tatsumi's disturbing tales of alienation to a new audience to discover. That book was right up my alley, and I can't wait for the next volume. ADD: I'll completely agree with that sentiment. From the design to the content and packaging, The Push Man was one of the most impressive releases of the year. If we could get one volume in the series every month, I'd be thrilled. CA: There's also Absolute Watchmen, which, despite Alan Moore's lack of involvement, is the best way to experience the book. And the release of the F.F. movie prompted the release of a number of related books, the best among them Fantastic Four Omnibus, which collections the first thirty issues and first annual of the Lee/Kirby run in a beautiful, oversized format, and Maximum F.F., which reprints the first issue as one meticulously enlarged panel per page, broken up at a couple points by interesting essays by novelist and F.F. fan Walter Mosley and longtime comics writer and Kirby authority Mark Evanier. Last, but not least, I'm really happy to finally have Mike Baron's and Steve Rude's seminal Nexus to begin to be collected in Dark Horse's lovely Nexus Archives. COMIC STRIP COLLECTION OF THE YEAR
ADD: Boy, this is a tough category to call. I guess I would split my vote three ways between Peanuts, Dennis and Walt & Skeezix, so Frank King takes this category with something like 65 percent of the vote. The publication at last of some of these key Gasoline Alley strips really does justify all the praise that has been heaped upon them for years by folks like Chris Ware. I do have to thank Fantagraphics for continuing to make my son's life a little bit brighter every few months with a new Peanuts volume, though. ALL-AGES BOOK OF THE YEAR
ADD: This was really a surprise, and a welcome addition to the amazingly deep Fantagraphics catalog of graphic novels. Who would have thought a few years ago that the parent company of Eros Comix would also consistently produce such great children's literature? CA: You're being whimsical, but I really have a theory about that. I think most people have these different sides to them, and to some extent, pornography and fetishistic sex have real childish origins to them, real retarded aspects of sexuality, and so it's no wonder those filthmongers at Eros (kidding) would want to redeem themselves by putting something pure out there for the kiddies. Maybe this wasn't the best place to introduce this theory. Ah, well. On we go! AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE YEAR
CA: It's an excellent overview that really captures the best of Crumb's work, even covering some non-comics work such as his paintings, sketchbooks and his experiences with Hollywood and the fine art world. As I was talking about above (not this again!), we've all got these different sides, and here readers can see the deviant, perverted Crumb as well as the curmudgeon, social critic, serious artiste, musicologist, loving husband and doting father. SUPERHERO COMIC OF THE YEAR
CA: Were those series even in 2005? Seems like a long time ago. I really haven't read any other superhero series this year that knocked me out, unless we want to count the finite series of Morrison's Seven Soldiers saga. Some of the first issues of those have been even better than All Star Superman, but Morrison and Quitely still do some very good work on that first issue. MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR
CA: I could be wrong, but I would give more credit to Deppey, as Groth's written contributions are often rote, and there are still disturbing holdovers from when the book was more his baby, like the ridiculous jargonazi Ken Smith. The increased budget for glossy inserts and choice reprints is a great addition, but the magazine is still very slow to react to new books, when there's no reason they couldn't have quality reviews of much-anticipated works out in issues timed to the books' releases. Comics are still a pretty small medium of entertainment and shouldn't be that hard to cover; case in point: there's only one regular-published magazine about comics that's worth a damn. ONGOING TITLE OF THE YEAR
CA: I just recently started reading this, and before it John Porcellino's King-Cat Comics & Stories, and couldn't really say which I like better. And I really don't have to, do I? It's no different for me in discovering people like Eggers and the McSweeneys guys -- I like bright people with purpose, who take delight in sharing their worlds, ideas and a few laughs with you, without trying to beat you into submission with it. Inviting and delighting. DEBUT OF THE YEAR
CA: It's funny; I remember the first time I reviewed anything of Soto's was a short piece in the Project: Superior anthology, and while I'm sure I wouldn't have been as hard on it had I seen The Secret Voice first, that doesn't mean the story was any good. But he kept working at it, and is now creating this immensely entertaining, commanding yet still open and naive, series that reminds one just how much fun a good floppy can be. On the horizon, the only ongoing series that has me expecting anything as good as Secret Voice, Or Else or King-Cat is the new series from Jordan Crane for Fantagraphics. TRADE PAPERBACK OF THE YEAR
CA: I guess to some people, CBG's activism for the series has become kind of a joke, or an irritant, but unfortunately, there really weren't a lot of books to compete with it, or even join it on the dais, in the past year, so what can you do? Jim Rugg will almost certainly produce more good comics in the future, but there really was something special here, the initial rush of energy and watch-me-top-this bravado that will be hard to recapture. BIOGRAPHY OF THE YEAR
ADD: Reading the entire novel in collected form definitely gave me the sense that Anderson's reach exceeded his grasp, but King represents exactly the sort of bold ambition that comics should aspire to. It's inevitable that not every work will reach the pinnacle that its creator hopes for, but it's gratifying and exciting to see gifted creators try. I also want to mention Rick Geary's The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln (NBM), which managed to be wickedly entertaining and enlightening at the same time. An epic tale by a master storyteller.
ADD: 2005 was going to be the year of Bluesman, really it was -- except that its initial publisher went out of business after publishing the first volume. NBM has taken the baton, though, and the title should be available in comics shops and elsewhere within the next few weeks. Rob Vollmar and Pablo Callejo's work deserve the wider awareness NBM will no doubt bring to this great work about travelling blues musicians who encounter darkness and violence in Depression-era America. And as much as I enjoyed Kevin Huizenga's Or Else in 2005, it behooves me to mention that his Ignatz-format (gorgeous oversized comics from Fantagraphics) Ganges comic will debut in the months ahead, as well. CA: And so another year is over for comics. I'm not really sure what to make of it yet, and I'll probably just leave that for people smarter than me. Mainly, for me it was about discovering some great talents--new ones and ones I knew of but had previously ignored or overlooked. I certainly indulged my nostalgic side (I've actually been reading Essential Werewolf By Night the past month, though it really is pretty dreadful), but the lack of a lot of excitement from Marvel or DC has made me look outward more than ever before, and it's really been rewarding. Here's to 2006 being an even better year, for the comics industry, and the comics medium. Christopher Allen's comics criticism has appeared in The Comics Journal, and at websites such as Movie Poop Shoot and others. He is the managing editor of Comic Book Galaxy and this year was chosen as an Eisner Awards judge. Alan David Doane has been a broadcast journalist for the past 20 years, and has contributed comics criticism to The Comics Journal, as well as Silver Bullet Comics and other websites. He is the Executive Editor of Comic Book Galaxy.
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ADD: No other work in this
category this year even comes close to 
ADD: Despite having followed the single
issues almost from the beginning, the mammoth Black Hole
(
CA: The success of Fantagraphics' The Complete Peanuts has led to
other ambitious reprint projects, with 
CA: Though it didn't receive a ton of
attention, Jordan Crane's The Clouds Above -- his first work for
ADD: One of the most impressive and
sprawling career retrospectives of 2005 was The R. Crumb
Handbook (
ADD: Not that there was any competition to speak of, but All
Star Superman (
ADD: As much as 
ADD: No other regular title had me as eagerly
waiting for the next issue like 
ADD: Zack Soto's 
ADD: As much as I loved 
CA: And for quite a different kind of book,
we shouldn't overlook Ho Che Anderson's passionate, mercurial graphic
biography, 
BOOK TO WATCH IN 2006