A lot of good books came out this year, or were at least finally collected and packaged into one nice volume. La Perdida by Jessica Abel is a collection of the entire La Perdidaseries, which tells the tale of an American woman trying to findherself and her heritage in Mexico City. The artwork is great, thestorytelling is pretty catchy, and overall it's a very compelling bookworth picking up.
Two of the more stand-out books that were released this year were Ode to Kirihito by Osamu Tezuka and The Mourning Star by Kazimir Strzepek. Kirihitois manga-Godfather Tezuka's gripping thriller about a disease thatturns humans into dog-beasts, finally translated into English for anAmerican audience. The Mourning Star is anincredible post-apocalyptic tale just started early this summer,revolving around a cast of Disney-like creatures coping with theincredibly violent and grim world in which they live one year after adevastating global catastrophe.
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel is an amazing autobiography from the author of Dykes to Watch Out For.It follows the author's adolescence as she copes with her gay father,who corrupts young boys. Her father's troubles often overshadowBechdel's own problems as she tries to come to terms with herhomosexuality and provide one tense and hard-to-put-down tale.
The latest release from Scott McCloud, author of Understanding Comics, is Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels.For anyone who has ever been interested in the comics industry, McClouddissects the production process with the same skill and wit that hebrought to his first comic textbook. He tries to cover all the bases,from writing to drawing to the future of comics on the Internet, andsolidifies his position as one of the best observers of the comicsmedium around.
