Five Titles That Define Comics Right Now

Comics Reporter Tom Spurgeon kicked off this list, and in addition to my response, Sean T. Collins and Christopher Butcher have provided their own thoughts. Tom, Sean and Christopher are literally three of the people whose taste in comics I trust most in the world (others include Chris Allen, Rob Vollmar and Jason Marcy), so, it's nice to have us all there on the same page. Or maybe it's just incest, you be the judge. But now that I've mentioned incest and that none of those other guys are cousins of mine, thus insuring massive Google hits for this post, here are five of the titles I think define the state of comics right now:

1. Or Else -- The status quo of artcomix is represented in this experimental, lovely ongoing title from Drawn and Quarterly; one of the best things they've brought to the marketplace in years. Kevin Huizenga joins the pantheon of creators I'll follow for life, in the footsteps of Crumb, Clowes, Moore, Hornschemeier and Ware.

2. Sea of Red -- Would this even exist if not for The Walking Dead, and the entire Steve Niles/IDW axis of horror comics? There's a large, untapped market for nicely-illustrated horror comics, and Sea of Red typifies what that market is looking for.

3. The R. Crumb Handbook -- We are in an era of beautiful, landmark collections and retrospectives concerning some of the greatest talents in comics history. From B. Krigstein Vol. 1 to the Chris Ware monograph to Comic Art magazine and Levin's Rebels and Outlaws book, now is the time to read in-depth examinations of the greatest works in the artform and the creators that made them happen.

4. Sleeper -- This one is representative of corporate comics' inability to nurture and grow quality titles by some of their most gifted creators. That Sleeper, or Human Target, to name a similar case, are unable to find an audience is an indictment of the approach and priorities of the powers that be at the highest levels of corporate comics. The failure of these great books is a dark stain on the records of incompetent executives and marketing personnel, and heads should be fucking rolling, not to put too fine a point on it.

5. Comics Festival -- This Free Comic Book Day offering, which I recently reviewed, is a joyous "So what?" to my point about Sleeper: Here's Darwyn Cooke, who should be all rights be a superstar in corporate comics, delivering in just a few panels the definitive statement on current trends at DC and Marvel. Here's many of the best comics creators working today giving their all in a free comic that shows the world how great an artform we have. Everyone heading out to a comic shop tomorrow should pick up Comics Festival and Funny Book (from Fantagraphics), as they are two of the finest examples of what can be achieved in comics, if you actually just care a little.