Wayfarer Special: Top 10 Indie Comics of 2011 (Part 1 of 2)

Welcome back to another wayfaring edition of my rambling and meanderings through the world of comics folks!

Today I have something special for you however. You see I decided that with 2011 now over for a time, there was a massive surge of independent titles and creativity that really brought something new to the industry. Image Comics in particular had a banner year and produced fantastic series after series that left readers breathless.
With this in mind I decided to create a short-list of some of the best and brightest of what I had read this past year. Now bear in mind this is a subjective list and merely my listing things out off the top of my head, first instinct and all that!

There were some magnificent titles that are worthy of praise and celebration but unfortunately my decision to keep this a “Top Ten” list limits the titles I can talk about here. So I will address the ones that got missed here in a later post, for now lets just start our countdown shall we? Good!

(...and as always, all images can be clicked for larger versions! Enjoy.)

10. AXE COP: BAD GUY EARTH

Writer: Malachai Nicolle and Ethan Nicolle

Artist: Ethan Nicolle

Publisher: Dark Horse Comics

What can one say about this series? It is hands down the single most fun and creatively outrageous series possibly ever written. For those that don't know – this mini-series was originally a web-comic written and drawn by 29 year-old Ethan based on stuff that he and Malachai (now about 7?) came up with while playing together. Seriously. Think on that a moment.

Centred on our hero – Axe Cop – who is basically a cop who sleeps only a couple of minutes a day because he works the “always shift” and is the ultimate bad-ass, we see dinosaurs, aliens, Ninja Moon Warriors, a pet T-Rex with gatling gun arms and anything and everything you can imagine. Filled to the brim with entertainment and (I repeat) sheer wall-to-wall fun, you don't need backstory or continuity or anything – this is just simple enjoyable comic reading and in an industry trying very hard to be taken seriously, this book just throws it all out the window with style.

This book literally reaches into your brain and connects with the hyper-imaginative kid inside you so if you are at all inclined to nurture the kid within – check this comic out!

09. THE WALKING DEAD

Writer: Robert Kirkman

Artist: Tony Moore

Publisher: Image Comics

There is very little I can say about this series that has not already been said repeatedly. Now fast approaching its 100^th issue and with a highly successful TV adaptation, this series could be said to have given new life to the long-decaying genre of zombie survival horror – something I think all horror fans in any medium have been thrilled about.

Kirkman has shown himself to be one of the most innovative and brilliant writers in comics today and his ability to consistently maintain the kind of quality and consistency of characters he and artist Tony Moore have over the ninety-odd issues published thus far is nothing short of astonishing.

This past year we've seen things at the new compound/haven start to fall apart, new dangers and internal strife that threatened to bring everything they had built till now be destroyed. We even saw Karl near-fatally shot and power-shifts in the fragile little community and a new direction for the survivors with the future just as uncertain as ever.

If you have been reading this series, you know why its here. If you haven't, then you really should try it out – I was never a zombie fan but this is one saga that is something unique and will be remembered as such long after its over.

08. LADY MECHANIKA

Writer/Artist: Joe Benitez

Publisher: Aspen MLT

Possibly one of the least well-known comic launches this past year, this comic is a blessing for fans of steam-punk based story-telling like myself. Of course, if the book was not as plagued by delays as it has been perhaps it would have a better chance of making a mark.

Written and drawn by Benitez, we get to follow the adventures of our leading lady as she uses her unique skills and bleeding-edge technology to fight supernatural and other such threats in turn-of-the-century Britain. I was skeptical at first that this would be nothing more than another excuse for coolness and eye-candy, Benitez surprises by bringing forth for us a very compelling world that is both familiar and alien at the same time – coupled with a tantalising lead character, it makes this series a great read. Of course there is more still, you see our lady here is not just any woman – she is part human-part machine and has no memory of how and why she is what she is, her quest to unravel her past being one of the running story-threads through the comic. I do wish they would bring this out more regularly, but for now I'm content just to have issues to read that keep the story alive.

07. PAYING FOR IT

Writer/Artist: Chester Brown

Publisher: Drawn and Quarterly

Right at the start let me say that this is most assuredly NOT a book for everyone and should be approached with a measure of caution. No, its not violent or over the top or disturbing in any of those conventional ways, but it will definitely be offending some sensibilities among the slightly less accepting.

In this Graphic Novel we follow Brown's main character as he finds himself less and less inclined to get into new relationships after a lack of success and long-term joy in those he's had before. It then progresses to chronicle his life after he decides that he no longer wants the headache of a regular relationship and all the baggage that comes with it and slowly discovers the world of prostitution. And this is where I imagine it would generate a lot of strong reactions, as he begins to dabble in this and more and more becomes convinced of the essential failings that come with conventional romantic couplings. Admittedly the book is a little one-sided in favour of his views, but then thats how these things work when one is talking about one's own experience and beliefs.

What makes this book great and worthy of being on lists and getting acclaim is the way it is approached and the utterly honest and unflinching manner in which Brown approaches the subject matter. He does not sugar-coat hthings, he does not try and make it seem romantic or fall into cliche's and Pretty-Woman-esque drama but is very real and shows us the true face of both the sex-worker and the real average 'johns' instead of the typical over-the-top faces that normally get put on them.

While I do not endorse his views and condone the practice, there is a reality and a truth to so much of what he talks about – a breaking of stereotype and myth that is essential to anyone who likes to pride themselves on knowing the truth of things. And in a world where sex-workers and others are pushing for regulation and legalisation and all manner of things are in question, well books like this are a breath of fresh air – and personally I think people need to be more willing to talk about topics such as this that tend to be taboo and literally untouchable, another attitude that gets addressed in this book.

06. SWEET TOOTH

Writer/Artist: Jeff Lemire

Publisher: Vertigo (DC)

I'm a wee bit ashamed to admit that I was a little late starting on this series, at first dismissing it off-hand as something that didn't look all that enticing. Of course as you can guess, I did end up trying it a couple of issues in when I started seeing good reviews of it and the rest as they say, is history.

Currently many of you will know Lemire for his work over at DC on Animal Man (a book I HIGHLY recommend by the way!) but before all that he was writing and drawing this wonderful little gem that is truly one of a kind.

Following the journey of a simple, young mutant boy named Gus and an angry hard-ass named Jeppard who crosses paths with him at the start of the series, we get a very different and interesting take on the post-apocalyptic scenario that is in many ways so familiar as a narrative setting now. 

Jeppard by the way, was based on the aged Frank Castle (a.k.a. The Punisher) from the mini-series The Punisher: The End.

In many ways this series has been seen as a kind of tribute or ode to the concept of an outsider, told through the main character as he struggles to find his way and learn the truth and his strange relationship with Jeppard who was a surrogate father-figure and betrayer all in the same man.

Even the art style Lemire uses is quite unlike other books on the shelf but it works remarkably well with the story he's telling. Besides, I've always held that a writer who can draw his own story has a much higher likelihood of bringing out the image, the vision that he sees and bringing it to life – and Lemire has a knack for not only doing so, but doing so exceedingly well!

Carrying a sense of melancholy and strained hope, this is not a light and fun story, but a compelling and beautifully rendered one nonetheless. Following a greater underlying mystery that Lemire masterfully teases us with and a gentle progression of story over this past year has made this one of the best books on the racks for me, period!

If you've ever felt alone and like an outsider, I imagine you'll find something familiar and engaging in this book.

Well Folks!

So ends the first half of my list as I make my way down the list of my favourite independent title by some of the most under-rated and magnificently talented people in the comics industry – any field, any profession and any medium has only a future as long and bright as the underground and indie side of it, the off-beat, the out-of-the-box and the mad ones.

They are the markers, the game-changers and the brave ones that change the future.

So I ask that you try out such titles more often, you'll be surprised how many great stories there are out there that get missed amid the chaos of the mainstream and the Big-2's spandex-clad-crossover-event-overload that runs all year long.

Until next week when I reveal my top five, cheers folks!