Here are some comics that I liked a lot in 2018.
BTTM FDRS by Ezra Claytan Daniels and Ben Passmore.
Once again I’m ahead of my time, over here scooping the 2019 Best of lists by a whole year. Fantagraphics is supposed to publish this fantastic gentrification horror (just to boil it down a little too much) in June but I got to read it in 2018. Buy it when it comes out. I will. If you’re exactly woke enough to realize with terror that you identify with the white character in the RAP hat, this book is for you.
Homunculus by Joe Sparrow.
This was a well drawn, poignant comic published by ShortBox. There are a lot of references to 2001, and I am A-OK with that. It’s got artificial intelligence and the passage of time, two of my favorite subjects! I admired everything I read from ShortBox this year but this was the one I went back to.
Plaguers Int’l by Max Huffman.
The lines and the colors in this comic are perfect. It’s mad weird and super genre all at the same time. Who the hell is Max making this for, me? I don’t think he would be able to pander to the tastes of the people if his life depended on it. I’m calling it now: Max is going to achieve that most dubious of fates, to be known as an “artist’s artist.” Sorry, Max.
Passing For Human by Liana Finck.
I found this surreal memoir to be very affecting. The gimmick she used between chapters was appropriate and funny.
Shit is Real by Aisha Franz.
This is a delightful story about finding yourself in the real world despite the overwhelming presence of social media. The point was made flawlessly without the heavy-handed earnestness I’ve come to expect from any comic that has something to say in the twenty-first century.
Upgrade Soul by Ezra Claytan Daniels.
This slow burn science fiction is well drawn and expertly paced, plus it’s legitimately weird and accessible at the same time, which is what I like.
Why Art? by Eleanor Davis.
Eleanor Davis’s drawings are enough to make her one of my favorite cartoonists working, but the sincerity and kindness with which she imbues her work really pushes it to the next level.
Young Frances by Hartley Lin.
What if a comic reminded you of the great alt-indie comics of the nineties without seeming like a needless obsessive regurgitation? And what if the artist who made it could draw the shit out of it? I almost forgot this one because I read it earlier in serialized form but the collected edition itself is beautifully designed and deserves mention.
I liked some other comics too, but those are the ones that most stuck with me!
And hey! I drew some comics in 2018. I drew 117 pages of Meeting Comics and collected them into 4 minicomics, which you can buy at my webstore. You can also check out meetingcomics.com to learn more!