The 2011 International Best Comics Poll--Participant Lists T-Y

The International Best Comics Poll was first published at The Hooded Utilitarian in August of 2011. The material remains available at that site. I conceived, organized, and edited the project. I'm cross-publishing my posts and the participant lists here for personal archival purposes. Links to essay contributions by other writers will go to saved versions of The Hooded Utilitarian pages on www.archive.org.
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The following lists were submitted in response to the question, "What are the ten comics works you consider your favorites, the best, or the most significant?" All lists have been edited for consistency, clarity, and to fix minor copy errors. Unranked lists are alphabetized by title. In instances where the vote varies somewhat with the Top 115 entry the vote was counted towards, an explanation of how the vote was counted appears below it.

In the case of divided votes, only works fitting the description that received multiple votes on their own received the benefit. For example, in Jessica Abel's list, she voted for The Post-Superhero comics of David Mazzucchelli. That vote was divided evenly between Asterios Polyp and Paul Auster's City of Glass because they fit that description and received multiple votes on their own. It was not in any way applied to the The Rubber Blanket Stories because that material did not receive multiple votes from other participants.

Matthew Tauber
Writer, www.MattTauber.blogspot.com

• Barnaby, Crockett Johnson
• The Conan the Barbarian Stories, Kurt Busiek & Cary Nord
• The Daredevil Stories, Brian Michael Bendis & Alex Maleev
• The Fantastic Four Stories, John Byrne
• The MAD “Marginal” Cartoons, Sergio Aragonés
• The New Teen Titans Stories, Marv Wolfman & George Pérez
• Peanuts, Charles M. Schulz
• The Tarzan Stories, Joe Kubert
• Terry and the Pirates, Milton Caniff
• The Two-Fisted Tales Stories, John Severin
Counted as a vote for The EC Comics War Stories, Harvey Kurtzman & John Severin, Wallace Wood, Jack Davis, et al.


Ty Templeton
Cartoonist, Stig’s Inferno; illustrator, Batman Adventures

• The Arzach Stories, Jean “Moebius” Giraud
• A Contract with God and Other Tenement Stories, Will Eisner
• “Corpse on the Imjin,”, Harvey Kurtzman
Counted as a vote for The EC Comics War Stories, Harvey Kurtzman & John Severin, Wallace Wood, Jack Davis, et al.
• “The Dark Knight Returns,” Frank Miller, with Klaus Janson & Lynn Varley
Counted as a vote for Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
• “The Joker’s Five-Way Revenge,” Denny O’Neil & Neal Adams
• Maus: A Survivor’s Tale Art Spiegelman
• “The Pact!”, Jack Kirby, with Mike Royer
Counted as a vote for The Fourth World Stories, Jack Kirby, with Mike Royer, et al.
• Pogo, Walt Kelly
• “Superduperman,” Harvey Kurtzman & Wallace Wood
Counted as a vote for MAD #1-27, Harvey Kurtzman & Will Elder, Wallace Wood, Jack Davis, et al.
• Watchmen, Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons

COMMENTS

I decided that the best way to sum up a top ten (in no order of preference, since that would drive me to madness) was to list the creator (or team in the case of O'Neil and Adams) as a body of work, and then pick my favorite single issue to serve as an example of that artist. I hope that helps.

- Harvey Kurtzman’s complete work, focusing on MAD and the EC war books, and if I must bring it down to one story, it’s “Corpse on the Imjin,” from Frontline Combat.

- Jack Kirby’s complete body of work - but to reduce it to one single comic book series, it’s New Gods and down to one single issue it’s New Gods #7, "The Pact!".

- Moebius - Arzach, the collected stories.

- Denny O’Neil/Neal Adams, their complete collaborative works (including Green Lantern/Green Arrow, Batman, and Superman vs. Muhammad Ali). If I must reduce it to one issue, it’s Batman #251 "The Joker’s Five Way Revenge."

-Wally Wood’s body of work, focusing on EC and MAD magazine, and if I must narrow it down to a single story, I’ll pick “Superduperman” from the MAD comic book by Kurtzman and Wood.

- Alan Moore’s complete body of work, but pushing into just one choice, it’s Watchmen by Moore and Dave Gibbons.

- Maus by Spiegelman.

- Will Eisner’s complete body of work, but reduced to one choice it’s his graphic novel, A Contract with God.

- Frank Miller’s work on Daredevil, Ronin, some of Sin City, and most of his work on Batman (except Spawn/Batman and DK2, which were dreadful). If I must give it just one issue as an example it’s Batman: The Dark Knight Returns #1.

- Walt Kelly’s Pogo. From the first Albert and Pogo comics, to the syndicated strip, Pogo was perfect from inception to end. To pick just one specific page is impossible.


Jason Thompson
Author, Manga: The Complete Guide; co-creator & scriptwriter, King of RPGs;

• Achewood, Chris Onstad
• Beirusayu no Bara [The Rose of Versailles], Riyoko Ikeda
• Cerebus, Dave Sim & Gerhard
• The Doom Patrol Stories, Grant Morrison & Richard Case, with Scott Hanna, et al.
• Jojo no Kimyô na Bôken [Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure], Hirohiko Araki
• Meanwhile, Jason Shiga
• The New Yorker Cartoons, Roz Chast
• Peanuts, Charles M. Schulz
• Pogo, Walt Kelly
• Tintin, Hergé

COMMENTS

Here are my choices of ten great comics. They're all series that are either extremely well-crafted, very touching to me for personal reasons, or very powerful and cohesive in expressing the artist's persona, which is the best thing that can be said about any work of art (at least, right alongside and perpetually struggling with the other great goal of "being entertaining to the reader").


Kelly Thompson
Writer, www.1979SemiFinalist.wordpress.com; contributing writer, www.ComicBookResources.com

• (1.) The ACME Novelty Library #20 (“Lint”), Chris Ware
• (2.) Batwoman: Elegy, Greg Rucka & J. H. Williams III
• (3.) Black Hole, Charles Burns
• (4.) Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson
• (5.) Planetary, Warren Ellis & John Cassaday
• (6.) Love and Rockets, Gilbert Hernandez & Jaime Hernandez
Counted as a 0.5 vote each for The Locas Stories, Jaime Hernandez, and The Palomar Stories, Gilbert Hernandez
• (7.) Y: The Last Man, Brian K. Vaughan & Pia Guerra, with José Márzan, Jr., et al.
• (8.) Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E., Warren Ellis & Stuart Immonen
• 9. Maus: A Survivor’s Tale, Art Spiegelman
• (10.) Unlikely, Jeffrey Brown


Matt Thorn
Associate Professor, Faculty of Manga, Kyoto Seika University

• The Arzach Stories, Jean “Moebius” Giraud
• Happy Hooligan, Frederick Opper
• Histoire de M. Jabot [The Story of Mr. Jabot], Rodolphe Töpffer
Counted as a vote for Works, Rodolophe Töpffer
• Kinkin Sensei Eiga no Yume [Master Flashgold’s Splendiferous Dream], Harumachi Koikawa
• Little Nemo in Slumberland, Winsor McCay
• The Little Lulu Stories, John Stanley, with Irving Tripp & Charles Hedinger
• Metropolis, Osamu Tezuka
• “Tanjô!”, Yumiko Ôshima
• Terry and the Pirates, Milton Caniff
• Watchmen, Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons

COMMENTS

These are not my personal favorites, but rather ten comics I think are historically important, either because of their influence on later work, or because they were groundbreaking.

1) Master Flashgold’s Splendiferous Dream (Kinkin Sensei Eiga no Yume), by Harumachi Koikawa, 1775, Japan. Possibly the world's first true graphic novel to reach a wide audience and turn a profit for its creator and publisher. Unlike most early European sequential art, the text is in incorporated within the image. Printed using the sophisticated woodblock technology of the day, this bestseller kicked off the entire genre of single-volume "kibyôshi" ("yellow covers") and multi-volume "gôkan" ("combined volumes") that remained hugely popular among merchant-class Japanese until moveable type pretty much killed the woodblock print.

2) The Story of Mr. Jabot (Histoire de M. Jabot), by Rodolphe Töpffer, 1833, Switzerland. Is there any doubt that popular Western sequential art pretty much begins with Töpffer? Sure, there are earlier examples of sequential art, but nothing came close to the popular success and impact of Töpffer's works, which are still hilarious and inspiring today.

3) Happy Hooligan, by Fred Opper, 1900-1932, U.S.A.. I think it's fair to say that Opper was the first to bring all the major elements of modern comics together, consistently, and make them the lingua franca of the newspaper funnies and early comic books. Speech balloons? Check. No distracting narration outside the panels? Check. Lines and other devices to illustrate motion, impact, and other "invisible" elements? Check. Whether or not you think the work has aged well is a matter of taste, I suppose.

4) Little Nemo in Slumberland" by Winsor McCay, 1905-1914, U.S.A.. McCay couldn't write a coherent line of dialogue to save his life, but, oh, Prunella, could that guy draw some wicked stuff. He expanded the visual grammar of comics exponentially. A century later, it still makes for brilliant eye candy.

5) Terry and the Pirates, by Milton Caniff, 1934-1946, U.S.A.. The funnies grow up. And an artist stands up for creator rights.

6) Little Lulu, written by John Stanley, drawn by Stanley, Irving Tripp and Charles Hedinger, 1945-1959, U.S.A.. Stanley's Little Lulu is probably the smartest, funniest, most carefully crafted children's comic book ever created, with the possible exception of Carl Barks' duck books. And Lulu was probably the ideal role model for postwar American girls. Compared to Lulu, almost every other comic created for children in the history of the medium seems like greasy kids' stuff. At least until Jill Thompson gave us the Scary Godmother.

7) Metropolis, by Osamu Tezuka, 1949, Japan. This, along with Tezuka's Lost World (1948) and The World to Come (Kitaru Beki SekaiA Contract With God in 1978. They were for kids, sure, but they had genuine, complex themes. Good and evil were not cut-and-dried. Characters died. Readers were moved. When the young Tezuka showed his work to one of the most influential children's manga artists of the day, the man was so appalled he told Tezuka, "It's your own business if you want to make this stuff, but I hope it doesn't catch on."

8) "Birth!" ("Tanjô!"), by Yumiko Ôshima, 1970, Japan. This profound and moving short story about a pregnant high-school girl struggling to decide whether or not to have an abortion took "girls" comics" to a whole new plane, and had an enormous influence on other young Japanese women cartoonists. Within a few short years, Japanese girls' comics were transformed from an object of scorn to the cutting edge of the manga world.

9) Arzach, by Jean "Moebius" Giraud, 1975, France. Gorgeous detail! Psychedelic pterosaurs! Flopping penises! The sophistication and (dare I say) miss en scène of Moebius' sci-fi vision continues to exert mind-boggling influence on creators working in a wide range of media, all over the world.

10) Watchmen, by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, 1986-1987, U.S.A.. This is probably on most people's lists, but I think it's hard to overstate how brilliant this book is on so many levels. Too bad Warner Bros. chose the single most inappropriate director for the film. Who would look at Gibbons' stoic, tic-tac-toe layouts and stifled characters and think, "Hey, let's get the guy who directed 300 to do this!"? I would have gone with Wim Wenders.


Tom Tirabosco
Cartoonist, L’Émissiare [The Emissary], L’Oeil de la forêt [The Eye of the Forest]

• L’Ascension du haut-mal [Epileptic], David B.
• Asterios Polyp, David Mazzucchelli
• Black Hole, Charles Burns
• Blast, Manu Larcenet
• La Guerre d’Alan [Alan’s War], Emmanuel Guibert
• Haruka na Machi-e [A Distant Neighborhood], Jiro Taniguchi
• Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth, Chris Ware
• Monsieur Jean [Get a Life], Philippe Dupuy & Charles Berberian
• Pascin, Joann Sfar
• Tintin au Tibet [Tintin in Tibet], Hergé


Mark Tonra
Cartoonist, James, Top of the World

• Krazy Kat, George Herriman
• Peanuts, Charles M. Schulz
• Pogo, Walt Kelly
• Polly and Her Pals, Cliff Sterrett
• Thimble Theatre, starring Popeye, E. C. Segar
• Works, George Booth
• Works, Jules Feiffer
Counted as a vote for Feiffer and Sick, Sick, Sick
• Works, B. Kliban
• Works, Sempé
• Works, Saul Steinberg


Noel Tuazon
Cartoonist, Obese Obsessor; co-creator & illustrator, This Is Where I Am

• Barney et la note bleue [Barney and the Blue Note], Jacques Loustal & Philippe Paringaux
• Bouche du diable [Billy Budd, KGB], Jerome Charyn & François Boucq
• La Femme du magicien [The Magician’s Wife], Jerome Charyn & François Boucq
• Fuochi [Fires], Lorenzo Mattotti
• “The Hourman”, Matt Wagner, Steven T. Seagle, and Guy Davis
• Idyl, Jeffrey Catherine Jones
• Lloyd Llewellyn, Daniel Clowes
• The Sandman Mystery Theatre Stories, Steven T. Seagle & Guy Davis, et al.
• The Shadow Stories, Denny O’Neil & Michael W. Kaluta
• Swamp Thing, Len Wein & Bernie Wrightson


Carol Tyler
Cartoonist, You’ll Never Know, Late Bloomer

• Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary, Justin Green
• Nancy, Ernie Bushmiller
• Nancy and Sluggo Go to Summer Camp, John Stanley
• Works, R. Crumb (most things)
Counted as a 0.333 vote each for The Book of Genesis Illustrated, The Counterculture-Era Stories, and The Weirdo-Era Stories


Marguerite Van Cook
[Please consult Wikipedia for Marguerite Van Cook’s biography]

• The Brinkley Girls, Nell Brinkley
• Colin-Maillard [Heartthrobs], Max Cabanes
• Corto Maltese: La ballade de la mer salée [The Ballad of the Salt Sea], Hugo Pratt
• La Femme du magicien [The Magician’s Wife], Jerome Charyn & François Boucq
• “Hell and Back,” Frank Miller & Bill Sienkiewicz [Elektra: Assassin #1]
Counted as a vote for Elektra: Assassin, Frank Miller & Bill Sienkiewicz
• The ‘Nam, Doug Murray & Michael Golden, with John Beatty, et al.
• 100%, Paul Pope
• Rônin, Frank Miller, with Lynn Varley
• “A Small Place in Hell,” Jack Kirby, with D. Bruce Berry [Our Fighting Forces #152]


Stefan J. H. van Dinther
Cartoonist, Man and Guy, Allow to Infuse

• Arman & Ilva, Lo Hartog van Banda & Thé Tjong Khing
• Astérix le gaulois [Astérix the Gaul], René Goscinny & Albert Uderzo
• The Gospel Stories, Chester Brown
• Jimbo, Gary Panter
• “Life o’ Bub,” David Hornung
• The Lucky Luke Stories, Morris & René Goscinny
• The Rubber Blanket Stories, David Mazzucchelli
• Suske en Wiske [Willy and Wanda], Willy Vandersteen
• Thimble Theatre, starring Popeye, E. C. Segar
• Travel, Yuichi Yokoyama

COMMENTS

Here’s a list with comics that are important to me right now (rather different from what it was five years ago, and probably very different over five years).


Noah van Sciver
Cartoonist, Blammo

• (1.) Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth, Chris Ware
• (2.) Ice Haven, Daniel Clowes
• (3.) Misery Loves Comedy, Ivan Brunetti
• (4.) The Girl from H.O.P.P.E.R.S., Jaime Hernandez
Counted as a vote for The Locas Stories
• (5.) Louis Riel, Chester Brown
• (6.) The Complete Crumb Comics, Volume 17, R. Crumb
Counted as a vote for The Weirdo-Era Stories
• (7.) Funny Misshapen Body, Jeffrey Brown
• (8.) Map of My Heart, John Porcellino
Counted as a vote for King-Cat Comics and Stories
• 9. The Poor Bastard, Joe Matt
• (10.) My New York Diary, Julie Doucet

COMMENTS

I think my list is pretty boring. Nothing too special, but to hell with it.
Here are my top ten all time favorite comics that I read over and over.


Sara Varon
Cartoonist, Robot Dreams, Chicken and Cat

• Asterios Polyp, David Mazzucchelli
• Aya, Marguerite Abouet & Clement Oubrerie
• Le Chat du rabbin [The Rabbi’s Cat], Joann Sfar
• Fuzz and Pluck, Ted Stearn
• Goodbye, Chunky Rice, Craig Thompson
• Laika, Nick Abadzis
• Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi
• Skim, Mariko Tamaki & Jillian Tamaki
• Spaniel Rage, Vanessa Davis
• The Unsinkable Walker Bean, Aaron Renier


Mike Vosburg
Emmy-winning animator, Spawn; cartoonist, Lori Lovecraft; illustrator, G.I. Joe

• American Flagg!, Howard Chaykin
• The Hawkman Stories, Gardner Fox & Joe Kubert
• MAD #1-27, Harvey Kurtzman & Will Elder, Wallace Wood, Jack Davis, et al.
• The Spirit, Will Eisner
• Stuntman, Joe Simon & Jack Kirby
• The Uncle $crooge Stories, Carl Barks
• Weird Science-Fantasy, Al Feldstein, editor
Counted as a vote for The EC Comics Science-Fiction Stories, Al Feldstein & Wallace Wood, Al Williamson, Joe Orlando, et al.


David Welsh
Writer, www.MangaCurmudgeon.com

• Aruku Hito [The Walking Man], Jiro Taniguchi
• Castle Waiting, Linda Medley
• The Defenders Stories, Steve Gerber & Sal Buscema
• Doonesbury, Garry B. Trudeau
• Emma, Kaoru Mori
• Furûtsu Basaketto [Fruits Basket], Natsuki Takaya
• Kurosagi Shitai Takuhaibin [The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service], Eiji Ôtsuka & Housai Yamazaki
• MW, Osamu Tezuka
• One Piece, Eiichiro Oda
• Seiyô Kottô Yôgashiten [Antique Bakery], Fumi Yoshinaga


Mack White
Co-creator & illustrator, Texas Tales Illustrated; cartoonist, Villa of the Mysteries

• (1.) Little Nemo in Slumberland, Winsor McCay
• (2.) The Long Tomorrow, Dan O’Bannon & Jean “Moebius” Giraud
• (3.) Los Tejanos, Jack Jackson
• (4.) The Weirdo Stories, R. Crumb
• (5.) Krazy Kat, George Herriman
• (6.) Spider-Man, Stan Lee & Steve Ditko
• (7.) The Superman Stories, Mort Weisinger & Curt Swan, Wayne Boring, et al.
• (8.) “Here,” Richard McGuire
• (9.) Starstruck, Elaine Lee & Michael Kaluta
• (10.) Two-Fisted Tales, Harvey Kurtzman, editor
Counted as a vote for The EC Comics War Stories, Harvey Kurtzman & John Severin, Wallace Wood, Jack Davis, et al.


Qiana J. Whitted
Associate Professor of English and African-American Studies, University of South Carolina; co-editor, Comics and the U.S. South

• American Born Chinese, Gene Luen Yang
• Bayou, Jeremy Love
• Fun Home, Alison Bechdel
• Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth, Chris Ware
• “Judgment Day,” Al Feldstein & Joe Orlando
Counted as a vote for The EC Comics Science-Fiction Stories, Al Feldstein & Wallace Wood, Al Williamson, Joe Orlando, et al.
• Maus: A Survivor’s Tale, Art Spiegelman
• Nat Turner, Kyle Baker
• Stagger Lee, Derek McCulloch & Shepherd Hendrix
• Watchmen, Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons
• X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills, Chris Claremont & Brent Anderson

COMMENTS

I don't even know where to begin with a list of my personal favorites, but here are my top ten favorite comics to teach.


Karl Wills
Cartoonist, Jessica of the Schoolyard, Dr. Connie Radar, PhD

• The Biologic Show, Al Columbia
• Dr. Slump, Akira Toriyama
• Eightball, Daniel Clowes
Counted as a 0.2 vote each for Caricature: Nine Stories, David Boring, The Death Ray, Ghost World, and Ice Haven
• Krazy Kat, George Herriman
• The MAD Stories, Will Elder
Counted as a vote for MAD #1-27, Harvey Kurtzman & Will Elder, Wallace Wood, Jack Davis, et al.
• The New Yorker Cartoons, Charles Addams
• Prison Pit, Johnny Ryan
• Stardust the Super Wizard, Fletcher Hanks
• Thimble Theatre, starring Popeye, E. C. Segar
• Tintin, Hergé


Sean Witzke
Writer, www.Supervillain.wordpress.com

• Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo
• Black Kiss, Howard Chaykin
• Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson
• The Doom Patrol Stories, Grant Morrison & Richard Case, with Scott Hanna, et al.
• Elektra: Assassin, Frank Miller & Bill Sienkiewicz
• Le Garage hermétique [The Airtight Garage], Jean “Moebius” Giraud
• The Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Stories, Jim Steranko, with Joe Sinnott, et al.
• The Nikopol Trilogy, Enki Bilal
• Scud: The Disposable Assassin, Rob Schrab
• The Winter Men, Brett Lewis & John Paul Leon


Matthias Wivel
Writer, www.Metabunker.dk; contributing writer, www.HoodedUtilitarian.com

• The Disney Comics (c.1948-1954), Carl Barks
Counted as a vote for The Donald Duck and Uncle $crooge Stories, Carl Barks
• The Fourth World Stories, Jack Kirby, with Mike Royer, et al.
• Le Garage hermétique, Jean “Moebius” Giraud
• Hi no Tori [Phoenix], Osamu Tezuka
• Die Hure H [W the Whore], Katrin de Vries & Anke Feuchtenberger
• Krazy Kat, George Herriman
• The Locas Stories, Jaime Hernandez
• Mûno no Hito [The Talentless Man], Yoshiharu Tsuge
• Peanuts, Charles M. Schulz
• Tintin au Tibet [Tintin in Tibet], Hergé

COMMENTS

Here is my frustrating, impossible list. Neither fowl nor fish. Perhaps I shouldn’t have made it at all.

I could have definitely put ten other comics there and have a list I would find as satisfying/frustrating.

[About The Disney Comics of Carl Barks] If you want something specific: “Luck of the North”.

[About Hi no Tori [Phoenix]] If specific, Uchû-Hen [Karma].

[About Locas] If specific, The Death of Speedy.

[About Die Hure H] If specific, Die Hure H zieht ihre Bahnen [W the Whore Makes Her Tracks].


Douglas Wolk
Author, Reading Comics: How Graphic Novels Work and What They Mean; writer, www.Lacunae.com

• Big Numbers, Alan Moore & Bill Sienkiewicz
• Black Hole, Charles Burns
• Cerebus, Dave Sim & Gerhard
• Footnotes in Gaza, Joe Sacco
• The Frank Stories, Jim Woodring
• Fun Home, Alison Bechdel
• Judge Dredd, John Wagner, et al.
• Krazy Kat, George Herriman
• The Love and Rockets Stories, Jaime Hernandez
Counted as a vote for The Locas Stories
• Mister O, Lewis Trondheim


Jason Yadao
Columnist, Honolulu Star-Advertiser

• Battle Royale, Koushun Takami & Masayuki Taguchi
• Black Jack, Osamu Tezuka
• Dr. Slump, Akira Toriyama
• Groo the Wanderer, Sergio Aragonés, with Mark Evanier, Tom Luth, and Stan Sakai
• Maison Ikkoku, Rumiko Takahashi
• nemu*nemu, Audra Furuichi & Scott Yoshinaga
• Ôran Kôkô Hosuto Kurabu [Ouran High School Host Club], Bisco Hatori
• Peanuts, Charles M. Schulz
• Pearls Before Swine, Stephan Pastis
• Yotsuba&!, Kiyohiko Azuma


Chris York
Instructor, Pine Technical College; contributing writer, International Journal of Comic Art

• Batman #1, Bob Kane, Bill Finger, Jerry Robinson, et al.
• Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller, with Klaus Janson & Lynn Varley
• The Catwoman Stories, Ed Brubaker, et al.
• The Fall, Ed Brubaker & Jason Lutes
• “In Mortal Combat with the Sub-Mariner,” Stan Lee & Wallace Wood [in Daredevil #7 (1965)]
• em>It’s a Good Life, If You Don’t Weaken, Seth
• Mister X, Dean Motter, Gilbert Hernandez, and Jaime Hernandez
• The Sandman Mystery Theatre Stories, Matt Wagner & Guy Davis
• Tintin, Hergé
• The X-Men Stories, Chris Claremont & John Byrne, with Terry Austin


Rafe York
Writer, www.FanboyScholar.blogspot.com

• Alias, Brian Michael Bendis & Michael Gaydos
• Amelia Rules!, Jimmy Gownley
• “Behold, the Vision!”, “Even an Android Can Cry,”, “The Name Is Yellowjacket,” and “‘Til Death Do Us Part,”, Roy Thomas & John Buscema, with George Klein [in The Avengers #57-60 (1968)]
• DC: The New Frontier, Darwyn Cooke
• The Doom Patrol Stories, Grant Morrison & Richard Case, with Scott Hanna, et al.
• “The Fatal Five” and “The Doomed Legionnaire,” Jim Shooter & Curt Swan, with George Klein [in Adventure Comics, featuring Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #352-353 (1966)]
• The Master of Kung Fu Stories, Doug Moench, et al.
• The Sandman Mystery Theatre Stories, Matt Wagner, Steven T. Seagle, Guy Davis, et al.
• The Sandman: Season of Mists, Neil Gaiman & Kelley Jones, et al.
• “Should Old Acquaintance Be Forgot?” and “Blood on the Moors,” Roger Stern & John Byrne, with Joe Rubinstein [in Captain America #253-254 (1980)]


Yidi Yu
Cartoonist, www.Deadend-Detour.com

• Asterios Polyp, David Mazzucchelli
• Batman: The Killing Joke, Alan Moore & Brian Bolland
• Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson
• Death Note, Tsugumi Ohba & Takeshi Obata
• Lackadaisy, Tracy Butler
• Onani Master Kurosawa, Yokota Takuma & Katsua Ise
• Rabu-Kon [Lovely Complex], Aya Nakahara
• Rice Boy, Evan Dahm
• Sinfest, Tatsuya Ishida
• xkcd, Randall Monroe


_____________

The 2011 International Best Comics Poll Index

The 2011 International Best Comics Poll--Participant Lists Sh-Sw

The International Best Comics Poll was first published at The Hooded Utilitarian in August of 2011. The material remains available at that site. I conceived, organized, and edited the project. I'm cross-publishing my posts and the participant lists here for personal archival purposes. Links to essay contributions by other writers will go to saved versions of The Hooded Utilitarian pages on www.archive.org.
_____________

The following lists were submitted in response to the question, "What are the ten comics works you consider your favorites, the best, or the most significant?" All lists have been edited for consistency, clarity, and to fix minor copy errors. Unranked lists are alphabetized by title. In instances where the vote varies somewhat with the Top 115 entry the vote was counted towards, an explanation of how the vote was counted appears below it.

In the case of divided votes, only works fitting the description that received multiple votes on their own received the benefit. For example, in Jessica Abel's list, she voted for The Post-Superhero comics of David Mazzucchelli. That vote was divided evenly between Asterios Polyp and Paul Auster's City of Glass because they fit that description and received multiple votes on their own. It was not in any way applied to the The Rubber Blanket Stories because that material did not receive multiple votes from other participants.

Joe Sharpnack
Editorial Cartoonist, Iowa City Gazette

• Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson
• Doonesbury, Garry B. Trudeau
• The Far Side, Gary Larson
• Iron Man, various writers and artists
• The Political Cartoons, Jeff MacNelly
• The Political Cartoons, Pat Oliphant
• The Political Cartoons, Joe Sharpnack
• The Political Cartoons, Tom Toles
• Reid Fleming, World’s Toughest Milkman, David Boswell
• Spider-Man, various writers and artists
Counted as a 0.5 vote each for Spider-Man, Stan Lee & Steve Ditko, and The Spider-Man Stories, Stan Lee & John Romita


Scott Shaw!
Co-creator, Captain Carrot & His Amazing Zoo Crew; cartoonist, Simpsons Comics

• (1.) The Fantastic Four, Stan Lee & Jack Kirby, with Joe Sinnott, et al.
• (2.) The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, Gilbert Shelton
• (3.) The Uncle $crooge Stories, Cark Barks
• (4.) Kona, Monarch of Monster Isle, Sam Glanzman
• (5.) The Little Lulu Stories, John Stanley, with Irving Tripp
• (6.) Tales Calculated To Drive You Bats, George Gladir & Orlando Busino
• (7.) The King’s Stilts, Dr. Seuss (Theodore Geisel)
• (8.) Hot Rod Monster T-Shirt and Decal Art, Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, Ed Newton, and Robert Williams
• (9.) Herbie, Richard E. Hughes & Ogden Whitney
• (10.) The Little Archie Stories, Bob Bolling


Mahendra Singh
Cartoonist, The Adventures of Mr. Pyridine; illustrator, Lewis Carroll’s The Hunting of the Snark

• The Arzach Stories, Jean “Moebius” Giraud
• The Codex Nutall, unknown Mixtec atelier
• Le Garage hermétique [The Airtight Garage], Jean “Moebius” Giraud
• Hamza-Namah, atelier of the Mughal Emperor Akbar
• Idyl, Jeffrey Catherine Jones
• Krazy Kat, George Herriman
• Lone Sloane, Philippe Druillet
• Le Mage acrylic [The Story of the Acrylic Magus and His Vibratory Perturbations], Serge Bihannic & Philippe Druillet
• A Rake’s Progress, William Hogarth
• Une Semaine de bonté [A Week of Kindness], Max Ernst


Ed Sizemore
Contributing writer, www.ComicsWorthReading.com

• (1.) Pluto, Naoki Urasawa
• (2.) Tetsuwan Atomu [Astro Boy], Osamu Tezuka
• (3.) Yotsuba&!, Kiyohiko Azuma
• (4.) Kôkaku Kidôtai [Ghost in the Shell], Masamune Shirow
• (5.) Mushishi, Yuki Urushibara
• (6.) Aruku Hito [The Walking Man], Jiro Taniguchi
• (7.) A Drunken Dream and Other Stories, Moto Hagio
• (8.) Gekiga Hyôryû [A Drifting Life], Yoshihiro Tatsumi
• (9.) Kaze no Tani no Naushika [Nausicäa of the Valley of the Wind], Hayao Miyazaki
• (10.) Buddha, Osamu Tezuka

COMMENTS

Here is Top Ten Favorite Manga List. I'm not pretending it's a best of this.


Shannon Blake Skelton
Contributing writer, The Journal of Popular Culture

• The Animal Man Stories, Grant Morrison & Chas Truog, with Doug Hazlewood
• Batman: Year One, Frank Miller & David Mazzucchelli, with Richmond Lewis
• A Contract with God and Other Tenement Stories, Will Eisner
• Essex County Trilogy, Jeff Lemire
• Ghost World, Daniel Clowes
• MAD #1-27, Harvey Kurtzman & Will Elder, Wallace Wood, Jack Davis, et al.
• Spider-Man, Stan Lee, et al.
Counted as a 0.5 vote each for Spider-Man, Stan Lee & Steve Ditko, and The Spider-Man Stories, Stan Lee & John Romita
• The Swamp Thing Stories, Alan Moore & Stephen R. Bissette, John Totleben, Rick Veitch, et al.
• The X-Men Stories, Chris Claremont, et al.
Counted as a 0.5 vote each for The X-Men Stories, Chris Claremont & John Byrne, with Terry Austin, and X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills, Chris Claremont & Brent Anderson
• Y: The Last Man, Bryan K. Vaughn & Pia Guerra, with José Marzán, Jr.


Caroline Small
Contributing writer, www.HoodedUtilitarian.com; Treasurer, Executive Committee Small Press Expo

• The Autobiographical Comics, Aline Kominsky-Crumb
• The Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Kim Deitch & Simon Deitch
• Campo di babà [The Bun Field], Amanda Vähämäki
• The Fate of the Artist, Eddie Campbell
• Faune [Wildlife], Aristophane
• Die Hure H Zieht Ihre Bahnen [W the Whore Makes Her Tracks], Katrin de Vries & Anke Feuchtenberger
• Michelle, Jason Overby
• The Passport, Saul Steinberg
Counted as a vote for Works, Saul Steinberg

COMMENTS

I know I’m missing things that would be my favorites that I just haven’t read yet. LOL, How ‘bout eight?

I don’t feel I’ve read enough comics to confidently make a list, but these are comics that made me love and value comics enough to keep reading in search of new favorites that I will love even more…


Kenneth Smith
Cartoonist, Phantasmagoria; contributing writer, The Comics Journal

• The Arzach Stories, Jean “Moebius” Giraud
• Bizarro, Dan Piraro
• The Famous Funnies [Buck Rogers] Cover Illustrations, Frank Frazetta
• Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson
• Idyl, Jeffrey Catherine Jones
• JIM and Other Collections, Jim Woodring
Counted as a 0.5 vote each for The Book of Jim and The Frank Stories
• Krazy Kat, George Herriman
• Pogo, Walt Kelly
• Space Clusters, Arthur Byron Cover & Alex Niño
• Weird Fantasy, Weird Science, Weird Science-Fantasy, and Incredible Science-Fiction, Wallace Wood, Al Williamson, et al.
Counted as a vote for The EC Comics Science-Fiction Stories, Al Feldstein & Wallace Wood, Al Williamson, Joe Orlando, et al.

COMMENTS

Here goes, in no particular priority of preference, the strips or comics or books or collections that impressed me as totally perfect in their own kind (obviously not every issue of the EC SF comics qualifies, of course: to me these works will forever breathe the living presence and free spirit of their creators, half of them alas already passed on.) If you were to have asked me two or three months down the road, I would think of perhaps another four things I should have added but damned if I know what would then have to be dropped. So, merely alphabetically--these are (a) works out of the prime of their creators, (b) things I would foist without reservation on anyone who asked me what the hell has been going in comics that is in some way great, and (c) productions that raised my own preconceptions about what the hell is really possible to do in comics.

Now I have to send this off fast while the list is still naively composed and I haven't had time to argue with myself about way too many great talents and superb works that are trying to elbow their way in.


Matthew J. Smith
Associate Professor of Communication, Wittenberg University

• (1.) Maus: A Survivor’s Tale, Art Spiegelman
• (2.) Watchmen, Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons
• (3.) The Spirit, Will Eisner
• (4.) The Fantastic Four, Stan Lee & Jack Kirby, with Joe Sinnott, et al.
• (5.) MAD #1-27, Harvey Kurtzman & Will Elder, Wallace Wood, Jack Davis, et al.
• (6.) Fun Home, Alison Bechdel
• (7.) Hi no Tori [Phoenix], Osamu Tezuka
• (8.) Palestine, Joe Sacco
• (9.) Bone, Jeff Smith
• (10.) The Sandman, Neil Gaiman, et al.


Michelle Smith
Contributing writer, www.MangaBookshelf.com, www.PopCultureShock.com

• Basara, Yumi Tamura
• Furûtsu Basaketto [Fruits Basket], Natsuki Takaya
• Hikaru no Go, Yumi Hotta & Takeshi Obata
• Mirai no Kioku [Future Lovers], Saika Kunieda
• Nana, Ai Yazawa
• Paradise Kiss, Ai Yazawa
• Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka, Naoki Urasawa
• Seiyô Kottô Yôgashiten [Antique Bakery], Fumi Yoshinaga
• Wild Adapter, Kazuya Minekura
• Yotsuba&!, Kiyohiko Azuma


Shannon Smith
Cartoonist, Addicted to Distraction

• American Splendor, Harvey Pekar, et al.
• The Daredevil Stories, Ann Nocenti & John Romita, Jr.
• The Green Arrow Stories, Mike Grell, et al.
• The Invisibles, Grant Morrison & Steve Yeowell, Phil Jiminez, et al.
• Louis Riel, Chester Brown
• Marshal Law, Pat Mills & Kevin O’Neill
• The Maxx, Sam Kieth & William Messner-Loebs
• The Star Wars Stories, Roy Thomas, Howard Chaykin, Archie Goodwin, Carmine Infantino, et al.
• THB, Paul Pope
• The Weirdo Stories, R. Crumb

COMMENTS

-Marvel's Star Wars. Thinking mostly of the Roy Thomas/Howard Chaykin and the Archie Goodwin/Carmine Infantino books. Roughly issues 1 through 54.

-The Invisibles. Grant Morrison and pretty much every artist that caught a check from Vertigo at that time.

-Daredevil. Ann Nocenti and John Romita, Jr.

-THB. Paul Pope.

-R. Crumb. In the spirit of breaking it down to specific works I'll take his work in Weirdo.

-American Splendor. Harvey Pekar. Again, to break it down to specific comics I'd say roughly the stuff collected in that Doubleday book The Life and Times of Harvey Pekar.

-Green Arrow. Mike Grell. That would be issues 1 through 80 of that version plus the annuals, The Wonder Year and The Longbow Hunters. (Eddie Fryers was a great supporting character.)

-The Maxx. Sam Kieth and Bill Messner-Loebs.

-Marshal Law. Pat Mills and Kevin O'Neill.

-Louis Riel. Chester Brown.

And can I get an 11th? I want to throw Peanuts in there but, really, isn't that just a given? Shouldn't Peanuts just be assumed in any best of anything comics related?


Nick Sousanis
Instructor, Teachers College, Columbia University; writer, www.SpinWeaveAndCut.blogspot.com

• All-Star Superman, Grant Morrison & Frank Quitely
• Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller, with Klaus Janson & Lynn Varley
• Cages, Dave McKean
• The Dreamer, Will Eisner
• From Hell, Alan Moore & Eddie Campbell
• Maus: A Survivor’s Tale, Art Spiegelman
• Paul Auster’s City of Glass, Paul Karasik & David Mazzucchelli
• Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud
• V for Vendetta, Alan Moore & David Lloyd
• Watchmen, Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons


Ryan Standfest
Editor, Rotland Press

• The Adventures of Phoebe Zeit-Geist, Michael O’Donaghue & Frank Springer
• Breakdowns, Art Spiegelman
• Eightball, Daniel Clowes
Counted as a 0.2 vote each for Caricature: Nine Stories, David Boring, The Death Ray, Ghost World, and Ice Haven.
• Goodman Beaver, Harvey Kurtzman & Will Elder
• Hey, Look!, Harvey Kurtzman
• Humbug, Harvey Kurtzman, editor
• Jungle Book, Harvey Kurtzman
• MAD #1-27, Harvey Kurtzman & Will Elder, Wallace Wood, Jack Davis, et al.
• The New Yorker Cartoons, Charles Addams
• The Playboy Cartoons, Gahan Wilson


Rob Steen
Illustrator, Flanimals, Elephantmen

• “Jenifer,” Bruce Jones & Bernie Wrightson
• Laika, Nick Abadzis
• The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume II, Alan Moore & Kevin O’Neill
• Preacher, Garth Ennis & Steve Dillon
• Pride of Baghdad, Brian K. Vaughan & Niko Henrichon
• “Red Nails,” Roy Thomas & Barry Windsor-Smith, after Robert E. Howard, and “Worms of the Earth,” Roy Thomas & Barry Windsor-Smith and Tim Conrad, after Robert E. Howard
Counted as a vote for The Conan the Barbarian Stories, Roy Thomas & Barry Windsor-Smith, with Sal Buscema, et al.
• The Silver Surfer Stories, Stan Lee & John Buscema, with Jack Kirby, et al.
• Strange Embrace, David Hine
• Stray Bullets, David Lapham


Matteo Stefanelli
Research Fellow, Media Studies, Università Cattolica di Milano; writer, www.Fumettologicamente.wordpress.com

• El Eternauta, Héctor Germán Oesterheld & Francisco Solano López
• Le Garage hermétique [The Airtight Garage], Jean “Moebius” Giraud
• Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth, Chris Ware
• Krazy Kat, George Herriman
• Little Nemo in Slumberland, Winsor McCay
• Maus: A Survivor’s Tale, Art Spiegelman
• Quadratino, Antonio Rubino
• The Shakespeare Trilogy, Gianni De Luca
• Tintin, Hergé
• The Uncle $crooge Stories, Carl Barks


Joshua Ray Stephens
Cartoonist, The Moth or the Flame

• The Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Kim Deitch & Simon Deitch
• The Death Ray, Daniel Clowes
• Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth, Chris Ware
• Kaze no Tani no Naushika [Nausicäa of the Valley of the Wind], Hayao Miyazaki
• Little Nemo in Slumberland, Winsor McCay
• Pinocchio, Winshluss
• Salammbô, Philippe Druillet
• Skibber Bee Bye, Ron Regé, Jr.
• The Squirrel Machine, Hans Rickheit
• Watchmen, Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons

COMMENTS

This is a very difficult query, if taken seriously, which is my wont. I would like to write a little caveat:

First of all the reasons and criteria for judging the best anything quickly become manifold once one begins rooting around in the domain of those that inhabit the realm of “The Best.” So, that is already a major factor to consider.

Secondly, I am very well read in comics from their beginnings to now, in our country and internationally. However, I by no means consider myself an encompassing authority on the medium. I am aware of large gaps in my knowledge. And there are certain areas I have little to no interest in.

Thirdly, there are a number of works not on my list that I personally consider to be just as worthy, but I chose the final ten based on variety and potential controversy.

That being said, this is not merely a favorites list. I would call this “the best ten comics opuses out of what I have read.” These do tend to be my favorites, because I make a habit of seeking out and befriending work that I consider to be excellent and not which merely appeals to my ego. My main criteria for judging, in a field which, let’s face it, still has a long way to go before attaining the loftiest heights of art or literature, but which also has the potential to synthesize both, are these: 1) Is the work fertile? Does it activate the imagination? Does it challenge the reader? Does it grow beyond what is merely explicitly there? 2) Does the work have lasting value? Does it endure? Does it merit and reward multiple readings? 3) Does the work achieve formal excellence? In art and/or writing? Does it challenge the medium in one way or another?

Finally, I would like to point out that there are three works missing from my list which should be mentioned. The big three: Krazy Kat, Peanuts, and Pogo. I have no doubt that these are great examples of comics mastery. But first of all they are always mentioned and anyone in the field knows that they are worth seeking out. I presume one of the main points in asking for a list like this is to get a sense of what should be being read, but with it limited to ten I see no point in wasting three on works that are so universally lauded. And to be perfectly honest I don’t really consider myself on intimate enough terms with any of these three works to feel justified in ranking them in my top ten. I have read a mere smattering of all of them and have a long way to go before I know them fully.

P.S. I consider Moebius to be perhaps the greatest true artist in the comics field to date, but, based on the rules that I can’t choose an artist’s entire body of work, I can’t pick a single work of his that I honestly think is one of the best examples of comics. I just felt that had to be said, because Moebius is truly amazing.


Mick Stevens
Cartoonist, The New Yorker

• The Magazine Cartoons, Charles Barsotti
• The Magazine Cartoons and Illustrations, Barry Blitt
• The Magazine Cartoons, Roz Chast
• The Magazine Cartoons, Drew Dernavich
• The Magazine Cartoons, Matt Diffee
• The Magazine Cartoons, Victoria Roberts
• The Magazine Cartoons, David Sipress
• The Magazine Cartoons, Barbara Smaller
• The Magazine Cartoons, P.C. Vey
• The Magazine Cartoons, Jack Ziegler

COMMENTS

I'm not into comics that much, though I do like them in general. As far as people in my little corner of the cartoon universe, magazine cartoons, I do have many favorites, and way more than ten. Here's a stab at narrowing the list to ten, though: Jack Ziegler, David Sipress, Victoria Roberts, Roz Chast, Barbara Smaller, Charles Barsotti, Drew Dernovich, Matt Diffee, P.C. Vey... That's nine, and apologies to all my other faves not listed. I also really like Barry Blitt. He's not, strictly speaking, a cartoonist, but he does do great ones in the form of his New Yorker cover art, in addition to being a terrific illustrator and watercolorist, in my estimation, so I'd like to make him my number ten.


Tom Stiglich
Editorial Cartoonist

• (1.) Peanuts, Charles M. Schulz
• (2.) The Far Side, Gary Larson
• (3.) Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson
• (4.) The Editorial Cartoons, Michael Ramirez
• (5.) Non Sequitur, Wiley Miller
• (6.) The Editorial Cartoons, Jeff MacNelly
• (7.) Doonesbury, Garry B. Trudeau
• (8.) Krazy Kat, George Herriman
• (9.) Pogo, Walt Kelly
• (10.) Mutts, Patrick McDonnell


Tucker Stone
Writer, www.FactualOpinion.com; contributing writer, www.comiXology.com, The Comics Journal

• The ACME Novelty Library, Chris Ware
Counted as a 0.25 vote each for “Building Stories,” Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth, Quimby the Mouse, and Rusty Brown, including “Lint”.
• Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson
• Daredevil: Born Again, Frank Miller & David Mazzucchelli
• Domu: A Child’s Dream, Katsuhiro Otomo
• Gasoline Alley, Frank King
• Jimbo, Gary Panter
• Kozure Ôkami [Lone Wolf and Cub], Kazuo Koike & Goseki Kojima
• Krazy Kat, George Herriman
• OMAC: One Man Army Corps, Jack Kirby, with Mike Royer
• The 2001: A Space Odyssey Stories, Jack Kirby, with Mike Royer


Betsey Swardlick
Cartoonist, Dilbert Stress Toy, Poor, Poor Angsty Hungarian

• Corto Maltese, Hugo Pratt
• The Desert Peach, Donna Barr
• Doukyuusei, Nakamura Asumiko
• Dykes to Watch Out For, Alison Bechdel
• Gaston LaGaffe, André Franquin
• The Justice League International Stories, Keith Giffen, J. M. DeMatteis, et al.
• Love and Rockets, Gilbert Hernandez & Jaime Hernandez
Counted as a 0.5 vote each for The Locas Stories, Jaime Hernandez, and The Palomar Stories, Gilbert Hernandez
• Ore Wa Mada Honki Dashiteinai Dake [I’ll Give It My All… Tomorrow], Aono Shunju
• The Shade, the Changing Man Stories, Peter Milligan & Chris Bachalo
• Tank Girl, Jamie Hewlett & Alan Martin


Jeff Swenson
Cartoonist, Swenson Funnies

• (1.) Thimble Theatre, starring Popeye, E. C. Segar
• (2.) Bloom County, Berkeley Breathed
• (3.) Jesus and Mo’, Anonymous (for obvious reasons)
• (4.) Reverend Fun, Anonymous
• (5.) Logicomix, Apostolos Doxiadis, Christos H. Papadimitriou, Alecos Papadatos, and Annie di Donna
• (6.) Hate!, Peter Bagge
Counted as a vote for The Bradleys and The Buddy Bradley Stories
• (7.) Battle Royale, Koushan Takami & Masayuki Taguchi
• (8.) Skippy, Percy Crosby
• (9.) The Jack T. Chick Cartoon Gospel Tracts, various artists (fun to read)
• (10.) Weird War Tales, Joe Orlando, et al., editors


_____________

The 2011 International Best Comics Poll Index

The 2011 International Best Comics Poll--Participant Lists Q-Se

The International Best Comics Poll was first published at The Hooded Utilitarian in August of 2011. The material remains available at that site. I conceived, organized, and edited the project. I'm cross-publishing my posts and the participant lists here for personal archival purposes. Links to essay contributions by other writers will go to saved versions of The Hooded Utilitarian pages on www.archive.org.
_____________

The following lists were submitted in response to the question, "What are the ten comics works you consider your favorites, the best, or the most significant?" All lists have been edited for consistency, clarity, and to fix minor copy errors. Unranked lists are alphabetized by title. In instances where the vote varies somewhat with the Top 115 entry the vote was counted towards, an explanation of how the vote was counted appears below it.

In the case of divided votes, only works fitting the description that received multiple votes on their own received the benefit. For example, in Jessica Abel's list, she voted for The Post-Superhero comics of David Mazzucchelli. That vote was divided evenly between Asterios Polyp and Paul Auster's City of Glass because they fit that description and received multiple votes on their own. It was not in any way applied to the The Rubber Blanket Stories because that material did not receive multiple votes from other participants.

Andrea Queirolo
Editor, www.ConversazioniSulFumetto.wordpress.com

• Alack Sinner, José Muñoz & Carlos Sampayo
• Black Hole, Charles Burns
• Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson
• A Contract with God and Other Tenement Stories, Will Eisner
• Daredevil: Born Again, Frank Miller & David Mazzucchelli
• David Boring, Daniel Clowes
• Love and Rockets, Gilbert Hernandez & Jaime Hernandez
Counted as a 0.5 vote each for The Locas Stories, Jaime Hernandez, and The Palomar Stories, Gilbert Hernandez
• Peanuts, Charles M. Schulz
• Tintin, Hergé
• The Uncle $crooge Stories, Carl Barks


Casey Rae-Hunter
Contributing writer, www.HoodedUtilitarian.com; Deputy Director, Future of Music Coalition

• The Adventures of Luther Arkwright, Bryan Talbot
• Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller, with Klaus Janson & Lynn Varley
• From Hell, Alan Moore & Eddie Campbell
• Ghost World, Daniel Clowes
• The Hellblazer Stories, Garth Ennis & Steve Dillon, William Simpson, et al.
• The Invisibles, Grant Morrison & Steve Yeowell, Phil Jiminez, et al.
• Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth, Chris Ware
• Preacher, Garth Ennis & Steve Dillon
• The Sandman, Neil Gaiman, et al.
• The Swamp Thing Stories, Alan Moore & Stephen R. Bissette, John Totleben, Rick Veitch, et al.


Ted Rall
Pulitzer-nominated editorial cartoonist; author, To Afghanistan and Back, 2024, Silk Road to Ruin

• The Far Side, Gary Larson
• Feiffer and Sick, Sick, Sick, Jules Feiffer
• Fun Home, Alison Bechdel
• The Lascaux Cave Drawings
• Life in Hell, Matt Groening
• Peanuts, Charles M. Schulz
• The Pompeii Graffiti
• The Post-War Editorial Cartoons, Bill Mauldin
• Tom the Dancing Bug, Ruben Bolling
• Weird War Tales, Joe Orlando, et al., editors

COMMENTS

The cave cartoons at Lascaux, France, because cartoons invented Art.

The obscene political cartoons about Roman officials found on walls at Pompeii, the oldest known editorial cartoons and bawdier than anything a newspaper would run today.

The postwar editorial cartoons of Bill Mauldin, roughly 1945-1955 (many are collected in the book Back Home), which are constructed using modern tropes and bravely call out American cultural hypocrisy.

Peanuts by Charles Schulz, the first truly modern comic strip, and consistently entertaining and philosophical.

The Far Side by Gary Larson, often forgotten today but still the most consistently funny comic I've read.

Jules Feiffer's cartoons from 1955 to 1975-ish, which established the genre of alternative newspaper comics.

Life in Hell by Matt Groening, particularly the 1980s era that opened the field to new artistic approaches.

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel, the first graphic novel to fulfill the form's potential as literature.

Weird War Tales comics of the 1970s not because they're objectively great. I just love them. So trashy, so fun. I wish there was a reissue.

Tom the Dancing Bug by Ruben Bolling, the best syndicated cartoon in the U.S.

Honorable Mentions: Stephanie McMillan's experimental environmental comics, Matt Bors' editorial cartoons and graphic novel(s), Tom Tomorrow, Ward Sutton's The Onion satires.


Martin Rebas
Cartoonist, Sömnlös [Sleepless], Ledsen

• The Arrival, Shaun Tan
• Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller, with Klaus Janson & Lynn Varley
• Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson
• Daredevil: Born Again, Frank Miller & David Mazzucchelli
• The Fantastic Four, Stan Lee & Jack Kirby, with Joe Sinnott, et al.
• The Locas Stories, Jaime Hernandez
• The Ultimates 2, Mark Millar & Bryan Hitch
• Uzumaki, Junji Ito
• Vakuumneger [Black Vacuum], Max Andersson
• Yotsuba&!, Kiyohiko Azuma

COMMENTS

I went for a list of "coup de coeur" favorites; comics that I love, rather than trying for an objective list of best or most significant works (which would have looked very different). I wasn't sure if the last vote should go to the Donald Duck comics of Carl Barks, or Krigstein's “Master Race,” so instead, I threw Mark Millar's Ultimates 2 in there, because I think it's better than it gets credit for, and I had a hunch that Millar wouldn't get many votes.

As someone who reads comics largely for the artwork and visual storytelling, there were lots of artists I wish I could have mentioned in the list — e.g. Dave McKean, Blutch, Mike Mignola, Moebius, Man Arenas — but none of their stories (that I have read) have really grabbed me. And while I actually prefer non-genre fiction and slice-of-life stories, I haven't been able to find much of that in comics. Works like Asterios Polyp, From Hell, Cages, Blankets, Cinq mille kilomètres par seconde [5000 Kilometers Per Second], and Heute ist der letzte Tag vom Rest deines Lebens [Today Is the Last Day of the Rest of Your Life] get pretty close to what I'm looking for, but there's something missing.

So far, Locas is the best I've found. I also had to include Yotsuba&! on my list — while its slice-of-life stories tend to the cute and innocent side, you have to respect a comic that spends a chapter showing a child trying to make pancakes, and makes it riveting.


Charles Reece
Contributing writer, www.Amoeba.com

• The ACME Novelty Library, Chris Ware
Counted as a vote for “Building Stories,” Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth, Quimby the Mouse, and Rusty Brown, including “Lint”
• Black Hole, Charles Burns
• David Boring, Daniel Clowes
• Flex Mentallo, Grant Morrison & Frank Quitely
• From Hell, Alan Moore & Eddie Campbell
• Ici même [You Are There], Jean-Claude Forest & Jacques Tardi
• The Locas Stories, Jaime Hernandez
• Shôjo Tsubaki [Mr. Arashi’s Amazing Freak Show]. Suehiro Maruo
• Uzumaki, Junji Ito
• Watchmen, Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons


Hans Rickheit
Cartoonist, The Squirrel Machine, Ectopiary

• (1.) JIM, Jim Woodring
Counted as a 0.5 vote each for The Book of Jim and The Frank Stories
• (2.) No Such Things as Monsters, Stephen Holman
• (3.) The Adventures of Mr. Pyridine, Mahendra Singh
• (4.) Robot Comics, Bob Burden
• (5.) Cerebus, Dave Sim
• (6.) The Fantastic Four, Stan Lee & Jack Kirby, with Joe Sinnott, et al.
• (7.) From Hell, Alan Moore & Eddie Campbell
• (8.) Little Nemo in Slumberland, Winsor McCay
• (9.) Moonshadow, J. M. DeMatteis & Jon J Muth
• (10.) I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets, Fletcher Hanks


Oliver Ristau
Contributing writer, Der Tagespiegel, Der Freitag

• Flash Gordon, Alex Raymond
• Fuochi [Fires], Lorenzo Mattotti
• In the Shadow of No Towers, Art Spiegelman
• Krazy Kat, George Herriman
• “Lost in the Andes,” starring Donald Duck Carl Barks
Counted as a vote for The Donald Duck and Uncle $crooge Stories, Carl Barks
• “Master Race,” Bernard Krigstein & Al Feldstein
•”More Than Human,” Doug Moench & Alex Niño
• “The Story of Gerhard Shnobble,” Will Eisner
Counted as a vote for The Spirit, Will Eisner
• Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud
• V for Vendetta, Alan Moore & David Lloyd

COMMENTS

Krazy Kat, George Herriman - Admired by one no less than Picasso and declared as America´s only contribution to art, this newspaper strip shows that the medium was mature long before it grew up. Sounds contradictory, but at least that’s the whole essence of Krazy Kat. A bizarre love triangle with anarchistic humor and a complete refusal to mass appeal that it could only be continued publishing through the coverage of a patron. And if it even had that, it must have been art. The scribbly but well composed lines of Herriman fit the crazy genius of his protagonists as well as the melancholic moments in their relationships.

Flash Gordon, Alex Raymond - From three of the great masters in the field of newspaper-adventure-strips, the vote goes for Alex Raymond. Although Hal Foster impresses much by his clean and perfect style on Prince Valiant, and Burne Hogarth was even called at times a Michelangelo of comics and featured a savage style which fit his Tarzan adventures well. Flash Gordon maybe a pulpy and trivial work with racist undertones, but purity and mastership in style were rarely achieved ever again. Creating fantastic worlds in breathtaking views that almost come to life by his use of background lines take the reader hostage on his escape trip.

"The Story of Gerhard Shnobble," Will Eisner - His works since A Contract With God brought the medium back to a higher level again, after it seemed to have lost its spirit for a while. But speaking of "spirit," his use of cinematic views, lettering, and creating front-page arrangements that are copied until today plus the heartwarming tone in this story, which combines humor and tragic to form a dramatic masterpiece was state of the art at that time.

"Master Race," Bernie Krigstein - His stylish use of screen-splitting and his lines reminiscent of expressionism make one of the darkest chapters in human history come horribly to life and puts the reader in a dizzy mode. The twisted shock ending defines also the end of the EC era of storytelling for using it in such a heavyweight theme in a medium that once seduced the innocent. It remains therefore also an ironic comment on the seduction of a whole country by his (voted) leader.

"Lost in the Andes," Carl Barks - One of Disney´s most gifted storytellers and artist in one person (next to Romano Scarpa and Don Rosa) shows perfectly the elemental indegredients for the often used recipe of the Duck-Tale about an adventure in a foreign land. The humorous, fast-paced plot (where even square bubbles can be made by junior woodchucks if they´re only clever enough) never slows down. Also the endless gags about the square eggs show a sense of comedy and timing that is missed painfully in countless stories by other artists that came later on.

"More Than Human," Doug Moench & Alex Niño - To honor an artist´s artist, recommended by the likes of Chaykin and Steranko, here’s a piece of illustrated fiction adapted by Alex Niño and Doug Moench. Moench’s runs on "darker" DC heroes like Batman or Deadman with Kelley Jones showed his sometimes excellent writing abilities later on. This classic Theodore Sturgeon novel is unequalled in the science-fiction of the Fifties for its depth and declaration of humanity. Niño shows a sense for visuals that look almost organic. (Until today and most recently in 2010’s "Dead Ahead" by avoiding conventional arrangements his sketches seem to flow over the pages.) The sheer beauty in the illustrations of this parable about equality adds a remaining value to Sturgeon´s timeless classic.

V For Vendetta, Alan Moore & David Lloyd - Before the essence of Moore's manner in intelligent graphic storytelling came to life in landmark works like Watchmen and From Hell there was this work. The original black-and-white magazine version that began running in 1982 shows that Moore’s plotting and the gorgeous artwork of David Lloyd complement one another. Lloyd’s drawings, which put black silhouettes before white backgrounds and vice versa, set the tone for an unbound gruesome political lesson. After finishing the book readers may ask themselves if the end justifies the means. And recognize how real this dystopian tale can become in reality anytime, anywhere...

In The Shadow Of No Towers, Art Spiegelman - Though Maus was groundbreaking and even won the Pulitzer Prize, this one is, by using one of the greatest traditions in American comic history, the newspaper strip, in the truest meaning of the word, a great work of art. The oversized format stands symbolic for the subject matter.

Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud - Using the medium itself for explaining it is a very clever and consistent move that even outdoes Eisner’s Comics And Sequential Art, where this concept was only done halfheartedly. It attracts even readers who are outside the comics field and will remain as a standard textbook for many years to come.

Fires, Lorenzo Mattotti - One of the few artists who tells stories not only by words and pictures, but rather through his use of colours and shapes in an almost cubist way where the shape defines the content. Fires remains as an orgiastic trip which sometimes burns your eyes and is art without crying this fact out loud and provoking it on every second page.

...and there still are McCay, Feininger, Schulz, Gaiman, Hugo Pratt, Toth, Kurtzman, Druillet, Moebius, Bilal and legions of others like Kohlsaat, Yelin and Schultheiss missing. But that´s the deal, right?


Chris Roberson
Scriptwriter, iZombie, Cinderella: From Fabletown

• Astro City, Kurt Busiek & Brent Anderson, with Alex Ross, et al.
• Daytripper, Fabio Moon & Gabriel Bá
• DC: The New Frontier, Darwyn Cooke
• Fables, Bill Willingham & Mark Buckingham, et al.
• Finder, Carla Speed McNeil
• Hicksville, Dylan Horrocks
• Mage: The Hero Discovered and Mage: The Hero Defined [Mage II], Matt Wagner
• Planetary, Warren Ellis & John Cassaday, et al.
• Seven Soldiers of Victory, Grant Morrison, et al.
• Tom Strong, Alan Moore & Chris Sprouse, et al.


John L. Roberson
Cartoonist, Vitriol, Vladrushka

• The Alec Stories, Eddie Campbell
• American Flagg!, Howard Chaykin
• Cerebus, Dave Sim & Gerhard
• The Doom Patrol Stories, Grant Morrison & Richard Case, with Scott Hanna, et al.
• From Hell, Alan Moore & Eddie Campbell
• Histoire d’O [The Story of O.], Guido Crepax
• Howard the Duck, Steve Gerber & Val Mayerik, Gene Colan, et al.
• The MAD Stories, Harvey Kurtzman & Will Elder and Wallace Wood
• Shock SuspenStories, Al Feldstein, editor
• Tomb of Dracula, Marv Wolfman & Gene Colan


Sean Michael Robinson
Contributing writer, www.HoodedUtilitarian.com, The Comics Journal

• L’Ascension du haut-mal [Epileptic], David B.
• The Cartoon History of the Universe, Larry Gonick
• Cerebus, Dave Sim & Gerhard
• La Femme 100 têtes [Hundred Headless Woman], Max Ernst
• Flower of Life, Fumi Yoshinaga
• Gasoline Alley, Frank King
• Hi no Tori [Phoenix], Osamu Tezuka
• Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea, Guy Delisle
• The Short Stories, Bernard Krigstein
Counted as a vote for “Master Race” and Other EC Comics Stories, Bernard Krigstein, et al.
• Touch, Mitsuru Adachi

COMMENTS

Well, this was really painful for me, but here you go...

The more the field opens up, the more good material that is available, the more a list like this fractures, splintering into an incoherent mess. At least, that was my experience! Some of these I've included because I love them, some because they point the way to other possible futures of comic making.


James Romberger
For James Romberger’s biography, please consult Wikipedia.

• (1.) “The Glory Boat” (The New Gods #6), Jack Kirby, with Mike Royer
Counted as a vote for The Fourth World Stories, Jack Kirby, with Mike Royer, et al.
• (2.) “F-86 Sabre-Jet” (from Frontline Combat #12), Harvey Kurtzman & Alex Toth
Counted as a vote for The EC Comics War Stories, Harvey Kurtzman & John Severin, Wallace Wood, Jack Davis, et al.
• (3.) “At the Stroke of Midnight” (from Tower of Shadows #1), Jim Steranko
Counted as a vote for TheNick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Other Marvel Comics Stories, Jim Steranko, with Joe Sinnott, et al.
• (4.) “CidOpey,” (from Up from the Deep #1), Richard Corben
• (5.) “Harzak” (Episode #4; from Metal Hurlant #5), Jean “Moebius” Giraud
Counted as a vote for The Arzach Stories, Jean “Moebius” Giraud
• (6.) Jimbo [1982 RAW One-Shot], Gary Panter
• (7.) “Spring 1982” (from Love and Rockets #31), Jaime Hernandez
Counted as a vote for The Locas Stories, Jaime Hernandez
• (8.) “Quimby the Mouse” (from The ACME Novelty Library #2), Chris Ware
• (9.) The Death Ray (Eightball #23), Daniel Clowes
• (10.) Storeyville, Frank Santoro


Joshua Rosen
Cartoonist, Edwitch

• Aporo no Uta [Apollo’s Song], Osamu Tezuka
• Black Hole, Charles Burns
• Cul de Sac, Richard Thompson
• Dirty Plotte, Julie Doucet
• Goodbye, Chunky Rice, Craig Thompson
• Gus [Gus and His Gang], Christophe Blain
• I Never Liked You, Chester Brown
• Love and Rockets, Gilbert Hernandez & Jaime Hernandez
Counted as a vote for The Locas Stories, Jaime Hernandez, and The Palomar Stories, Gilbert Hernandez
• Panorama of Hell, Hideshi Hino
• Peanuts, Charles M. Schulz

COMMENTS

Jesus was it hard pairing this list down to just ten books. At times it sort of felt like murdering children.


Marcel Ruijters
Cartoonist, Troglodytes

• Les Aventures extraordinaires d’Adèle Blanc-Sec: Momies en folie [The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec: A Dusting of Mummies], Jacques Tardi
• Box Office Poison, Alex Robinson
• The Bradleys, Peter Bagge
• Cocco Bill, Benito Jacovitti
• The Death of Speedy, Jaime Hernandez
Counted as a vote for The Locas Stories, Jaime Hernandez
• Ed the Happy Clown, Chester Brown
• Ibicus, Pascal Rabaté
• The Laughing Vampire, Suehiro Maruo
• Polonius, Jacques Tardi & Jean-Patrick Picaret
• Trailer Trash, Roy Tompkins

COMMENTS

[About Trailer Trash] There was a collection of Harvey the Hillbilly Bastard in preparation at one time, but that sadly never happened.


Johnny Ryan
Cartoonist, Angry Youth Comix

• Berserk, Kentaro Miura
• From Hell, Alan Moore & Eddie Campbell
• Hate!, Peter Bagge
Counted as a vote for The Bradleys and the Buddy Bradley Stories, Peter Bagge
• Hyôryû Kyôshitsu [The Drifting Classroom], Kazuo Umezo
• MAD, UGOI [The Usual Gang of Idiots]
Counted as a vote for MAD #1-27, Harvey Kurtzman & Will Elder, Wallace Wood, Jack Davis, et al., The MAD Cartoons, Sergio Aragonés, and The MAD Stories, Mort Drucker
• Nancy, Ernie Bushmiller


Giorgio Salati
Scriptwriter, Disney Italia

• Astérix le gaulois [Astérix the Gaul], René Goscinny & Albert Uderzo
• Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson
• Dylan Dog, Tiziano Sclavi
• Maus: A Survivor’s Tale, Art Spiegelman
• The Mickey Mouse Newspaper Strips, Floyd Gottfredson & Bill Walsh
• The Mickey Mouse Stories, Tito Faraci
• Peanuts, Charles M. Schulz
• Sin City, Frank Miller
• The Uncle $crooge Stories, Carl Barks
• Watchmen, Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons

COMMENTS

As you can guess, I had to cut out a big number of my favourite comics, as for example I love almost all of Alan Moore's stories like V for Vendetta, The Killing Joke, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Top 10... And I also love The Dark Knight Returns, 300, and Ronin by Frank Miller, but I wanted to report only once the name of an author, so I didn't have to delete some authors just to leave room for more comics by the same author.


M. Sauter
Cartoonist, Pints and Panels

• Achewood, Chris Onstad
• Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo
• Asterios Polyp, David Mazzucchelli
• Berlin: City of Stones, Jason Lutes
• Blankets, Craig Thompson
• Bottomless Belly Button, Dash Shaw
• Monsters, Ken Dahl
• The New Yorker Cartoons, Peter Arno
• Watchmen, Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons
• Works, David Shrigley


Kevin Scalzo
Cartoonist, Aw, Nuts!, Sugar Booger

• Dick Tracy, Chester Gould
• Eightball, Daniel Clowes
Counted as a 0.2 vote each for Caricature: Nine Stories, David Boring, The Death Ray, Ghost World, and Ice Haven
• The Fantastic Four, Stan Lee & Jack Kirby, with Joe Sinnott, et al.
• Gasoline Alley, Frank King
• Hey, Look!, Harvey Kurtzman
• The MAD Stories, Will Elder
Counted as a vote for MAD #1-27, Harvey Kurtzman & Will Elder, Wallace Wood, Jack Davis, et al.
• Nancy, Ernie Bushmiller
• The New Yorker Cartoons, Charles Addams
• Peanuts, Charles M. Schulz
• The Weirdo Stories, R. Crumb


Val Semeiks
Illustrator, Marvel Entertainment, DC Comics

• (1.) Prince Valiant, Hal Foster
• (2.) The Uncle $crooge Stories, Carl Barks
• (3.) The Fantastic Four, Stan Lee & Jack Kirby, with Joe Sinnott, et al.
• (4.) Lieutenant Blueberry, Jean-Michel Charlier & Jean “Moebius” Giraud
• (5.) Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson
• (6.) The Conan the Barbarian Stories, Roy Thomas & Barry Windsor-Smith, with Sal Buscema, et al.
• (7.) The X-Men Stories, Chris Claremont & John Byrne, with Terry Austin
• (8.) 100 Bullets, Brian Azzarello & Eduardo Risso
• (9.) The Far Side, Gary Larson
• (10.) Fables, Bill Willingham & Mark Buckingham, et al.


Matt Seneca
Cartoonist, Affected; contributing writer, The Comics Journal

• Driven by Lemons, Josh Cotter
• The EC Comics Stories, Bernard Krigstein
Counted as a vote for “Master Race” and Other EC Comics Stories, Bernard Krigstein, et al.
• Flex Mentallo, Grant Morrison & Frank Quitely
• Tutto riconomicò con un’estate Indiana [Indian Summer], Hugo Pratt & Milo Manara
• The Jimbo Stories, Gary Panter
• Krazy Kat, George Herriman
• Little Nemo in Slumberland, Winsor McCay
• Nipper, Doug Wright
• Terry and the Pirates, Milton Caniff
• Valentina, Guido Crepax

COMMENTS

Matt Seneca writes about his list here.


_____________

The 2011 International Best Comics Poll Index

The 2011 International Best Comics Poll--Participant Lists Me-P

The International Best Comics Poll was first published at The Hooded Utilitarian in August of 2011. The material remains available at that site. I conceived, organized, and edited the project. I'm cross-publishing my posts and the participant lists here for personal archival purposes. Links to essay contributions by other writers will go to saved versions of The Hooded Utilitarian pages on www.archive.org.
_____________

The following lists were submitted in response to the question, "What are the ten comics works you consider your favorites, the best, or the most significant?" All lists have been edited for consistency, clarity, and to fix minor copy errors. Unranked lists are alphabetized by title. In instances where the vote varies somewhat with the Top 115 entry the vote was counted towards, an explanation of how the vote was counted appears below it.

In the case of divided votes, only works fitting the description that received multiple votes on their own received the benefit. For example, in Jessica Abel's list, she voted for The Post-Superhero comics of David Mazzucchelli. That vote was divided evenly between Asterios Polyp and Paul Auster's City of Glass because they fit that description and received multiple votes on their own. It was not in any way applied to the The Rubber Blanket Stories because that material did not receive multiple votes from other participants.

Ray Mescallado
Writer, www.PleasurePrincipled.com; erstwhile columnist, The Comics Journal

• The Donald Duck and Uncle $crooge Stories, Carl Barks
• Dykes to Watch Out For, Alison Bechdel
• Feiffer, Jules Feiffer
• “Flies on the Ceiling,” Jaime Hernandez
Counted as a vote for The Locas Stories, Jaime Hernandez
• From Hell, Alan Moore & Eddie Campbell
• The Jughead Stories, Samm Schwartz
• 100 Bullets, Brian Azzarello & Eduardo Risso
• Partie de chasse [The Hunting Party], Pierre Christin & Enki Bilal
• “Short Story,” Roger Langridge & Andrew Langridge
• WRAB: Pirate Television, Matt Howarth

COMMENTS

My list hasn’t changed all that much from my TCJ Top 100 list many years ago. I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing.


Jason Michelitch
Contributing Writer, www.ComicsAlliance.com, www.HoodedUtilitarian.com

• The Alec Stories, Eddie Campbell
• Bone, Jeff Smith
• A Contract with God and Other Tenement Stories, Will Eisner
• The Fourth World Stories, Jack Kirby, with Mike Royer, et al.
• From Hell, Alan Moore & Eddie Campbell
• Hark! A Vagrant, Kate Beaton (the webcomics, not the to-be-published collection)
• Krazy Kat, George Herriman
• Love and Rockets, Gilbert Hernandez & Jaime Hernandez
Counted as a 0.5 vote each for The Locas Stories, Jaime Hernandez, and The Palomar Stories, Gilbert Hernandez
• Maus: A Survivor’s Tale, Art Spiegelman
• Spider-Man, Stan Lee & Steve Ditko

COMMENTS

ON PICKING TEN: You're bastards, the lot of you. Ten comics? I could pick ten movies. I could pick ten albums. I could even pick ten people to kill, somewhere in the world, just by pressing a button in this here box, and in return I'll receive ten million dollars and a subscription to The New Yorker, and I'll magically be imbued with the ability to find the cartoons funny. I could do all that. But ten comics? You might as well ask me to pick ten fingers and cut off the rest.

I don't know what it is about comics—that they're such a strangely personal and direct form of popular narrative entertainment, that the medium has developed in the most scattershot and confounding ways, that there's such a diverse array of expression that I find it maddening to try and compare an issue of Batman to a Calvin and Hobbes Sunday strip to Evan Dorkin's "Merv Griffin" single-pager to Frank Santoro's Incanto mini-comic to Kyle Baker's Why I Hate Saturn. Maybe it's because, of all the art forms I love, I understand comics the least (which only makes me love them more).

Whatever it is, picking ten comics has been awfully hard. I think I botched the job. I ended up with what looks like an awfully safe, middlebrow list. But what am I to do? It feels right. It's the closest I can get the weird alchemical mixture of personal enjoyment, historical importance, and artistic significance (all filtered through my own subjective point of view, of course). I had to kill a lot of darlings. I really, really wanted to include at least one totally stupid pick, ideally the 1992 64-page DC self-mocking Ambush Bug Nothing Special by Giffen, Fleming, and Gordon, which is full of nothing but deliberately dumb jokes about '90s comics. But I just couldn't fit it in. I also would have really liked to have a more diverse list—more women, more creators of color, some European comics, some manga—but apparently I'm a sexist, racist, nationalist thug when it comes to taste in comics. Who knew? But I feel okay enough about my list. I can at least come up with a decent defense of each entry.

Krazy Kat—An ur-text for so much of what makes comics great. Simple iconography against lavish backdrops, slammed together over and over in deranged conflict, at once completely personal and effortlessly universal.

Amazing Spider-Man—The best super-hero character, a neurotic adolescent dumped unceremoniously into a science-fiction adulthood, in which he has to learn how to balance his family, his passions, his job, and his conscience. Sweaty, twisted, frustrated muscles and awkward, terrified, bugged-out eyes. It stayed good after Ditko left, but what it gained in Romita's ability to draw pretty girls, it lost in Ditko's pure feverish tension.

The Fourth World Saga—For a certain type of reader, and I confess I'm one of them, you can't have comics without Kirby. And this is Kirby's apex: His most successful, uninhibited exploration of his relationship to heroics, gods, myths, and war. One of the attendants at the sprawling, awkward birth of super-hero comics three decades previous, Kirby in 1970 delivers the ultimate expression of the original super-hero form. Historical artistic markers almost never line up perfectly with actual chronology, and Kirby is no exception, but The Fourth World is in many ways the last burst of original creation in a genre already dedicating itself to nostalgia, self-reference, and self-reverence. Stan Lee may have been a smoother crafter of dialogue, but Kirby reveals himself to be the better writer, in that his dedication is to exploring ideas and feelings, rather than cleverly re-packaging adventure tropes. The haphazard and unfinished production of the saga serves as much to its benefit as its detriment—Kirby's concerns were not with conclusions or structure, but rather with firing off his idea-cannons with frenetic speed, and exorcising his deep passion and rage in crackling, frighteningly powerful lines. The best range of Kirby's art is on display here—the first parts inked by Vince Colletta, who, though he unforgivably deletes portions of Kirby's layouts, provides a smooth, humanizing touch to faces and a fine, feathery line reminiscent of antiquity to those drawings he deemed worthy of inking; the second parts inked by Mike Royer, providing what most would say is the rawest, most "pure" embellishment of Kirby's pencils ever printed. Kirby is a seismic psychological event, and the ripples of his impact can be seen throughout the history and geography of comics. The Fourth World is the epicenter.

A Contract with God—I'm a sucker for ambition, and for shots fired across the bow. Will Eisner consciously forced Western comics to change the way they look at themselves. I'm also a sucker for the drowning sumptuousness of Will Eisner's rain, one page of which alone would be worth a spot on this list.

Maus—Maybe the biggest target of cries of "overrated," I keep returning to Maus. Its core creative choice, the central visual metaphor, is deceptively simple, often slandered as "easy," but the effects it achieves are monumental—the cartoon animals are instantly empathetic, but the non-human anonymity drains the work of the melodrama that chokes most other holocaust-based narratives, and the self-referential "comic bookiness" creates a dialogue among the reader, the work, and the medium, as well as a self-interrogating dialogue between the artist and the qualities of realism, honesty, and iconography that permeate the book.

Love and Rockets—Hands down, the best modern American comic. Innovative, energetic, beautiful, influential, complex, human, funny, moving—all the adjectives you normally throw at stuff nowhere near as transcendent as the work of Los Bros.

Alec—A relentless thinker about the form trying just as consciously as Eisner to muscle comics into new territory, wielding sketchy, "unfinished" panels in a dense and super-functional 9-panel grid, mining the raw viscera of his own life for romantic, half-drunk, observational fiction. Comics' own On the Road, except the rambling hero eventually matures, settles, and becomes more bemused than besotted. I don't love anyone's comics more than I love Eddie Campbell's.

Bone—I don't know where Bone currently stands with critics—not sure if this is a safe pick or an odd one. But is there anything more perfect than the first chapter of Jeff Smith's all-ages fantasy adventure? From the first panel of the three Bones lost in the desert, the rhythm never misses a beat. The pinging dialogue, the falling layer of snow, and of course, the stupid, stupid rat creatures. Maybe this is a sentimental choice, but it's also the very first book I thought to put on this list, and I never even considered taking it off.

From Hell—Coming at comics, as I do, from the background of your typical American comics fan, Alan Moore is tremendously important to me. I think that his talent holds up when looking from outside that particular community, but there's no way for me to be sure. So I trudge on, wowed by his genius, of which From Hell is the most focused, sustained, and successful example. Eddie Campbell often wished he was working on Moore's other great graphic novel at the time, Big Numbers (still and likely forever unfinished), but his sooty, ink-stained touch is so perfectly suited for the setting and subject matter, and his realistic, homely characters so necessarily defusing of titillating spectacle, that I can't imagine anyone imagining the book existing any other way.

Hark! A Vagrant—One important aspect of comics is the varied and scattered ways in which different audiences interact with them. Mini-comics traded at convention booths, newspaper comics, spot illustrations in magazines, Jack Chick tracts left in bathrooms, webcomics posted to someone's LiveJournal...comics to me are so often not discrete works of art to approach one at a time, but a sea of snippets and glances of pages and panels. A single daily dose of a great comic strip can be as deeply rewarding as a thousand-page graphic novel. A photocopied handmade mini-comic can run circles around a professionally printed, digitally colored commercial comic book. Comics are everywhere, comics are huge, but comics are still very small and personal when they need to be. They're an incredibly direct delivery system of individual expression. This entry could have been any one of a number of different comics that I have primarily interacted with in short and infrequent doses through non-traditional means, but I chose the one I did because no one makes me laugh harder than Kate Beaton.


Eden Miller
Writer, www.ComicsGirl.com; Ignatz Awards coordinator, Small Press Expo

• American Born Chinese, Gene Luen Yang
• Bone, Jeff Smith
• Cages, Dave McKean
• Elfquest, Wendy Pini & Richard Pini
• Nana, Ai Yazawa
• Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi
• Skim, Mariko Tamaki & Jillian Tamaki
• The Tick, Ben Edlund
• Why I Hate Saturn, Kyle Baker
• Zot!, Scott McCloud


Gary Spencer Millidge
Cartoonist, Strangehaven

• Cages, Dave McKean
• Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson
• Cerebus, Dave Sim & Gerhard
• The Fantastic Four, Stan Lee & Jack Kirby, with Joe Sinnott, et al.
• La Femme du magicien [The Magician’s Wife], Jerome Charyn & François Boucq
• From Hell, Alan Moore & Eddie Campbell
• Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth, Chris Ware
• Krazy Kat, George Herriman
• The Palomar Stories, Gilbert Hernandez
• The Spirit, Will Eisner


Evan Minto
Editor-in-Chief, www.AniGamers.com

• Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo
• Black Jack, Osamu Tezuka
• Buddha, Osamu Tezuka
• Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi
• Pluto, Naoki Urasawa
• Solanin, Inio Asano
• One Piece, Eiichiro Oda
• Yûnagi no Machi, Sakura no Kuni [Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms], Fumiyo Kouno


Wolfen Moondaughter
Contributing writer, www.SequentialTart.com

• Courtney Crumrin, Ted Naifeh
• Deadpool, Joe Kelly & Ed McGuinness
• Elfquest, Wendy Pini and Richard Pini
• Journey Into Mystery, Kieren Gillen, Doug Braithwaite, and Ulises Arreola
• Mars, Fuyumi Soryo
• Paradise Kiss, Ai Yazawa
• Ranma ½, Rumiko Takahashi
• Real, Takehiko Inoue
• The X-Men Stories, Chris Claremont & Jim Lee
• The X-Men Stories, Scott Lobdell & Joe Madureira


Pat Moriarity
Cartoonist, Big Mouth

• American Splendor, Harvey Pekar, et al.
• The Book of Genesis Illustrated, R. Crumb
• Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson
• The Caricatures, Basil Wolverton
• The EC Comics Stories, Wallace Wood
Counted as a 0.333 vote each for The EC Comics Science-Fiction Stories, Al Feldstein & Wallace Wood, Al Williamson, Joe Orlando, et al., The EC Comics War Stories, Harvey Kurtzman & John Severin, Wallace Wood, Jack Davis, et al., and MAD #1-27, Harvey Kurtzman & Will Elder, Wallace Wood, Jack Davis, et al.
• The Editorial Cartoons, Edward Sorel
• The Far Side, Gary Larson
• The Frank Stories, Jim Woodring
• Hate!, Peter Bagge
Counted as a vote for The Bradleys and the Buddy Bradley Stories
• Trots and Bonnie, Shary Flenniken


Pedro Moura
Writer, www.LerBD.blogspot.com

• The Alec Stories, Eddie Campbell
• O diário de K. [The Diary of K.], Filipe Abranches
• Fun Home, Alison Bechdel
• La Guerre d’Alan [Alan’s War], Emmanuel Guibert
• “Here,”, Richard McGuire
• L’histoire de M. Vieux-Bois [The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck], Rodolphe Töpffer
Counted as a vote for Works, Rodolphe Töpffer
• Krazy Kat, George Herriman
• Mort Cinder, Héctor Germán Oesterheld & Alberto Breccia
• Mûno no Hito [The Talentless Man], Yoshiharu Tsuge
• Le Portrait, Edmond Baudoin


Todd Munson
Associate Professor of Asian Studies, Randolph-Macon College

• American Splendor, Harvey Pekar, with R. Crumb, et al.
• Astro City, Kurt Busiek & Brent Anderson, with Alex Ross, et al.
• Doonesbury, Garry B. Trudeau
• Fables, Bill Willingham & Mark Buckingham, et al.
• Hi no Tori [Phoenix], Osamu Tezuka
• Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth, Chris Ware
• The Little Lulu Stories, John Stanley, with Irving Tripp
• Peanuts, Charles M. Schulz
• The Uncle $crooge Stories, Carl Barks
• Watchmen, Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons


Rachel Nabors
Cartoonist, Rachel the Great

• Bishôjo Senshi Sêrâ Mûn [Sailor Moon], Naoko Takeuchi
• Bizenghast, M. Alice LeGrow
• Bleach, Tite Kubo
• The Boondocks, Aaron McGruder
• The Catwoman Stories, all creative personnel
• Gen 13, J. Scott Campbell, et al.
• < Rachel the Great, Rachel Nabors
• Sky Doll, Alessandro Barbucci & Barbara Canepa
• W.I.T.C.H., Elisabetta Gonne & Alessandro Barbucci

COMMENTS

Sky Doll, Barbucci.

W.I.T.C.H, also Barbucci, but through Disney. This series showed that you can successfully sell graphic novels to girls. They are quite popular in Europe and all over the world. Why? Because Disney knows how to sell to this demographic, preteens without credit cards but with $5 allowances.

Rachel the Great, because I made it and I still get heartwarming "your comics changed my life" emails.

Bizengast, by M. Alice LeGrow, because I enjoyed reading it.

Bleach, by Tite Kubo, because he's so damn good at drawing hot guys. Rawr. If only there were more Ulquiorra!

Gen 13, the parts done by J. Scott Campbell. The series went meh when he moved on, but it was my favorite comic as a pre-teen. My favorite character was Fairchild, the Amazonian redhead with smarts. (I wonder why?)

Catwoman, any incarnation. She's just rawr no matter how you look at her or who is drawing her. She's an anti-hero, and I loved every minute of her escapades growing up.

Sailor Moon, by Naoko Takeuchi introduced myself and a whole generation of girls to the idea that women could be heroines and that there were comics out there, in Japan, where women were as prolific authors and artists as men. Changed the face of comics.

The Boondocks.


Mark Newgarden
Cartoonist, We All Die Alone; co-creator, Garbage Pail Kids

• Dauntless Durham of the U.S.A., Harry Hershfeld
• Dick Tracy, Chester Gould
• < Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend, Winsor McCay
• He Done Her Wrong, Milt Gross
• Hey, Look!, Harvey Kurtzman
• Krazy Kat, George Herriman
• The Little Man with the Eyes, Crockett Johnson
• Nancy, Ernie Bushmiller
• Peanuts, Charles M. Schulz
• Thimble Theatre, starring Popeye, E. C. Segar


Eugenio Nittolo
Writer, La Carotte

• Astérix le gaulois [Astérix the Gaul], René Goscinny & Albert Uderzo
• Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson
• Corto Maltese, Hugo Pratt
• Maus: A Survivor’s Tale, Art Spiegelman
• Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi
• La Peur du rouge [The Red Scare], Fred Neidhardt
• Pogo, Walt Kelly
• Polly and Her Pals, Cliff Sterrett
• Shenzhen: A Travelogue from China, Guy Delisle
• Works, Ralf König

COMMENTS

Your idea—it’s very funny.

For Ralf König, I don’t know the English edition but I very much love Wie die Karnickel [Like Rabbits].

Rick Norwood
Editor, Comics Revue

• (1.) Prince Valiant, Hal Foster
• (2.) The Donald Duck Stories, Carl Barks
• (3.) The Uncle $crooge Stories, Don Rosa
• (4.) Pogo, Walt Kelly
• (5.) The Tarzan Newspaper Strips, Russ Manning
• (6.) The Sandman, Neil Gaiman, et al.
• (7.) The Cartoon History of the Universe, Larry Gonick
• (8.) Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson
• (9.) Casey Ruggles, Warren Tufts
• (10.) V for Vendetta, Alan Moore & David Lloyd

COMMENTS

It is hard, really hard, to limit my list to 10.

How are you going to count the votes? For example, suppose you have one vote for Watchmen and one vote for "comic books written by Alan Moore." If you combine them, you give prolific creators an advantage. If you don't, then prolific creators have an extreme disadvantage, because their vote is split among so many different titles. It might be best to list the ten best comic creators of all time instead of the top ten comics.

Another way to go would be this. Combine the votes of each creator to get a list of the top 100 creators, then next to each creator list just the title that got the most votes, and have a second round of voting.


José-Luis Olivares
Cartoonist, End of Eros, The Cannibal

• Buddha, Osamu Tezuka
• Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson
• The Far Side, Gary Larson
• Gasoline Alley, Frank King
• Goodbye, Chunky Rice, Craig Thompson
• Hicksville, Dylan Horrocks
• It’s a Good Life, If You Don’t Weaken, Seth
• Skibber Bee Bye and Other Works, Ron Regé, Jr.
• Uzumaki, Junji Ito
• Works, Frans Masereel


Tim O’Neil
Writer, www.WhenWillTheHurtingStop.blogspot.com; contributing writer, www.PopMatters.com, The Comics Journal

• Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary, Justin Green
• Cerebus, Dave Sim & Gerhard
• The Donald Duck Stories, Carl Barks
• The Fantastic Four, Stan Lee & Jack Kirby, with Joe Sinnott, et al.
• Louis Riel, Chester Brown
• Love and Rockets, Gilbert Hernandez & Jaime Hernandez
Counted as a 0.5 vote each for The Locas Stories, Jaime Hernandez, and The Palomar Stories, Gilbert Hernandez
• Maggots, Brian Chippendale
• Terry and the Pirates, Milton Caniff
• Thimble Theatre, starring Popeye, E. C. Segar
• The Weirdo Stories, R. Crumb


Jim Ottaviani
Scriptwriter, Feynman, T-Minus: Race to the Moon

• American Flagg!, Howard Chaykin
• Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson
• Doonesbury, Garry B. Trudeau
• It’s a Good Life, If You Don’t Weaken, Seth
• Maus: A Survivor’s Tale, Art Spiegelman
• Peanuts, Charles M. Schulz
• Prince Valiant, Hal Foster
• Spider-Man, Stan Lee & Steve Ditko
• Terry and the Pirates, Milton Caniff
• Watchmen, Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons


Jason Overby
Cartoonist, Jessica, Exploding Head Man

• The American Splendor Stories, Harvey Pekar & R. Crumb
• David Boring, Daniel Clowes
• The Disgusting Room, Austin English
• “Helder” and “Showing Helder”, Chester Brown
• I Never Liked You, Chester Brown
• Jimbo in Paradise, Gary Panter
• King-Cat Comics and Stories, John Porcellino
• The Krazy Kat Sunday Color Strips, George Herriman
• “Sneaking Out”, Lynda Barry
Counted as a vote for Ernie Pook’s Comeek and The RAW Stories, Lynda Barry
• Supermonster #7, Kevin Huizenga

COMMENTS

[About Supermonster #7] This was such a big one for me. It hit me pretty strongly at a time when I was really disillusioned with comics (what else is new). It was probably my introduction to mini-comics, crummy on the surface but secretly amazing. It's a perfect Zen monologue where a guy is just walking around his neighborhood, taking in the random bits of data with all his senses. I bought the original art for the first page from Kevin years ago, and it's the only piece of original art I own.


Joshua Paddison
Assistant Professor of American Studies, Indiana University

• L’Ascension du haut-mal [Epileptic], David B.
• Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary, Justin Green
• A Child’s Life and Other Stories, Phoebe Gloeckner
• I Never Liked You, Chester Brown
• Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth, Chris Ware
• Little Nemo in Slumberland, Winsor McCay
• Maus: A Survivor’s Tale, Art Spiegelman
• Nancy, Ernie Bushmiller
• Peanuts, Charles M. Schulz
• The Sketchbooks, R. Crumb


Nick Patten
Cartoonist, Unreachable Beasts

• Black Jack, Osamu Tezuka
• Le Combat ordinaire [Ordinary Victories], Manu Larcenet
• Ed the Happy Clown, Chester Brown
• Fatal Faux-Pas, Samuel C. Gaskin
• Hellboy, Mike Mignola
• Isaac le pirate [Isaac the Pirate], Christophe Blain
• Moomin, Tove Jansson
• The Mourning Star, Kazimir Strzepek
• Poor Sailor, Sammy Harkham
• Tiempos Finales [End Times], Samuel Hiti


Marco Pellitteri
Author, The Dragon and the Dazzle; contributing writer, The Comics Journal

• Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller, with Klaus Janson & Lynn Varley
• Buddha, Osamu Tezuka
• Corto Maltese, Hugo Pratt
• El Eternauta, Héctor Germán Oesterheld & Francisco Solano López
• Fuochi [Fires], Lorenzo Mattotti
• Hadashi no Gen [Barefoot Gen], Keiji Nakazawa
• L’Incal, Alexandro Jodorowsky & Jean “Moebius” Giraud
• Little Nemo in Slumberland, Winsor McCay
• Maus: A Survivor’s Tale, Art Spiegelman
• Watchmen, Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons

COMMENTS

Here are my titles. I focused on general works (series, etc.) or specific books, not specific story arcs or particular stories of long series. I have followed these criteria: 1) content relevance; 2) aesthetic relevance; 3) linguistic relevance; 4) historical relevance; 5) popularity relevance; 6) geographical distribution—and tried to ponder over in my mind.


Michael Pemberton
Professor of Writing and Linguistics, Georgia Southern University

• (1.) The Fantastic Four, Stan Lee & Jack Kirby, with Joe Sinnott, et al.
• (2.) Watchmen, Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons
• (3.) The Spirit, Will Eisner
• (4.) The Uncle $crooge Stories, Carl Barks
• (5.) Doonesbury, Garry B. Trudeau
• (6.) Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller, with Klaus Janson & Lynn Varley
• (7.) Astérix le gaulois [Astérix the Gaul], René Goscinny & Albert Uderzo
• (8.) Peanuts, Charles M. Schulz
• (9.) Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson
• (10.) Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud

COMMENTS

Thanks for the opportunity to participate in your survey (I think). You have caused me to do some teeth-gnashing, hair-pulling, and head-banging in trying to limit my selections to a mere 10. I’ve managed to narrow down my list by deciding to include comics work that I felt was (a) brilliantly written, (b) skillfully drawn, and (c) either culturally significant or that had a dramatic impact on the comics field.


Kai Pfeiffer
Instructor, Kassel Art Academy; cartoonist, Realm; editor, Plaque

• L’Ascension du haut-mal [Epileptic], David B.
• Le Bar à Joe [Joe’s Bar], José Muñoz & Carlos Sampayo
• Bleu transparent [Clear Blue], Oji Suzuki
• Chance in Hell, Gilbert Hernandez
• Faire semblant, c’est mentir [Pretending Is Lying], Dominique Goblet
• From Hell, Alan Moore & Eddie Campbell
• Le Garage hermétique [The Airtight Garage], Jean “Moebius” Giraud
• Jimbo, Gary Panter
• Lettres au maire de V. [Letters to the Mayor of V.], Alex Barbier
• Valentina, Guido Crepax

COMMENTS

This “canon” is an almost arbitrary choice from a much larger list of books that hit me just as hard (Krazy Kat, Jimmy Corrigan, Black Hole, The Fate of the Artist, Ici même [You Are There], Le Royaume [The Kingdom], Georges et Louis Romanciers [George and Louis, Novelists], Yume no q-saku…)

Greetings from Berlin—love your blog, expressly for the highly opinionated content.


Stephanie Piro
Cartoonist, Fair Game, Six Chix

• (1.) Peanuts, Charles M. Schulz
• (2.) Works, Edward Gorey (not really comics, but were very influential on me, anyway)
• (3.) The St. Trinian’s Cartoons, Ronald Searle
• (4.) The Betty and Veronica Stories, Dan DeCarlo, et al. (1950s and ‘60s)
• (5.) Moon Mullins, Ferd Johnson
• (6.) Pogo, Walt Kelly
• (7.) Chickens Don’t Have Chairs, Copi
• (8.) Superman of the 1950s/’60s (I believe Wayne Boring and Curt Swan were the artists during this time period)
Counted as a vote for The Superman Stories, Mort Weisinger & Curt Swan, Wayne Boring, et al.
• (9.) Brenda Starr, Dale Messick
• (10.) The Moomintroll Books and Comics, Tove Jansson
Counted as a vote for Moomin, Tove Jansson

COMMENTS

I also used to love Rivets by George Sixta, and Dondi by Irwin Hasen in the papers as a kid. Just putting in a plug for two sort-of-forgotten strips.


John Porcellino
Cartoonist, King-Cat Comics and Stories, Perfect Example

• (1.) Eightball #22 [Ice Haven], Daniel Clowes
• (2.) Gasoline Alley, Frank King
• (3.) Strange Growths, Jenny Zervakis
• (4.) Krazy Kat, George Herriman
• (5.) OMAC: One Man Army Corps, Jack Kirby, with Mike Royer
• (6.) Ernie Pook’s Comeek, Lynda Barry
• (7.) The Monster Stories, Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
• (8.) Dirty Plotte, Julie Doucet
• (9.) Caricature: Nine Stories, Daniel Clowes
• (10.) Extraits naturels de carnets [Natural Extracts of Books], Laurent Lolmède


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The 2011 International Best Comics Poll Index