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

And so once more into the breach dear friends, as I bring us to the second half of this happy little countdown of the Indie comics that I loved the most this past year. Yes, I know, it's been a long gap since Part 1 of this little countdown and the New Year is well into it's first quarter, but it is what it is - I felt that coverage of our Comic Con in Delhi and all that came out of it took precedence and this could wait just a bit.

Before I get to the final leg of the countdown, a quick listing of the books that almost made it to this top ten but fell just shy. I wish I could have made this list longer and perhaps I will review them all in the near future, but in the meantime I think they all deserve an Honourable mention:

• The Goon (Writer/Artist: Eric Powell)
• G.I.Joe Cobra (Writer: Christos Gage and Mike Costa, Artist: Antonio Fuso)
• Scarlet (Writer: Brian Michael Bendis, Artist: Alex Maleev)
• Scalped (Writer: Jason Aaron, Artist: R. M. Guéra)
• Artifacts (Writers: Ron Marz, Marc Silvestri & Matt Hawkins, Artists: Michael Broussard, Stjepan Sejic)
• Super Dinosaur (Writer: Robert Kirkman, Artist: Jason Howard)
• Fallen Angel: Return of the Son (Writer: Peter David, Artist: J.K.Woodward)

So thank you for your patience and now without any further rambling along on my part, lets just get to it shall we?

05. HELLBOY

Click to enlarge

Writer: Mike Mignola w/ John Arcudi

Artist: Various

Publisher: Dark Horse Comics

For those of you that have been following Mike Mignola's worlds as they've evolved in the Hellboy, B.P.R.D and related series, I think you know what I mean when I say that for so many years now they have been the most consistent, creative and amazingly put together comics – among the best comics as a medium have to offer in a sense. For those that have not, you are really missing out on something special.

The various story arcs and such together form such an amazing, long-running and vast story-line and world that it's amazing they've managed it for such a long period of time – and the hand of creator Mike Mignola is definitely visible in every single book, even the one's he has not directly scripted himself. Of course credit where it's due to the talents who've worked with him and been able to strike a nice balance between their own work and style but ever retaining the unique look and feel that Mignola brought to the comic-medium. The truly awesome part being that it remains this damn good even after 17 years!

This week in comics : What's New

GREEN LANTERN  #5

Writer: Goeff Johns

Artist: Doug Mahnke

I would go ahead and call this the strongest issue of the current volume if this hadn’t involved a cliffhanger

 everyone knew the conclusion to last issue. So yes, rings made by Sinestro can’t attack him, which is why the new GL recruits in the form of the residents of Korugar can’t attack Sinestro. The issue follows the path you would have expected it to follow last issue, with Sinestro inducing moustache-twirling awesomeness to free his home planet with the help of Hal Jordan, only to subsequently have him sent off the planet nevertheless.

 The difference made is in the amazing work on character with both Sinestro and Hal, as well as some kick-ass artwork by the dependable Doug Mahnke (though I would still have preferred Ivan Reis on this title). The issue ends as you would expect any Geoff Johns GL story to end : with the Guardians hatching up a sinister plan.

Score : 8.2/10

Comic Book Review : The Unwritten

Let me save some 10 minutes of your time and say it out aloud - Go buy this book . Period! This is quite possibly the next big thing to come from vertigo since "Fables".

Still not convinced?  Very well then, lets talk about the first collection of the ongoing series from Vertigo  : The Unwritten , by Mike Carey and Peter Gross.

Beware though, some spoilers ahead ..

Tommy Taylor the protagonist of Tommy Taylor  series of novels, is a beloved fantasy character and a cultural phenomenon. (Think Harry Potter!). The author of said series - Wilson Taylor - disappeared some years ago leaving behind his son Tom Taylor , the inspiration for the beloved creation. Now an adult, Tom does the convention rounds and signings to make a living. He failed to get a part in the movie franchise , failed as an actor, failed as a novelist , failed as a trumpeter. Consequently , he has nothing else to sustain himself but the convention circuit and he is not too happy about it - Living off a father's legacy that left him when he was a child.

A father who had bequeathed not a cent of his million dollar estate to him, save a knowledge of arcane Literary Geography. Yes Tom can tell you which author wrote which book where and when. He can also tell you which actual locations were inspirations for fictional places.

While his literary geography might be top notch, it doesn't help him to earn money does it?
 And soon his reality would come crashing down and he would begin to question everything around him.

At a convention, an innocuous looking fan shows some pictures and documents which makes it seem that the identity of Tom Taylor is suspect, he might not be who he think he is. And soon enough a Bosnian refugee family claims him as their own! They claim Tom was loaned to Wilson Taylor to act out the part of his son Tom Taylor for publicity!

To make matters worse, he is soon kidnapped by someone who claims to be Count Ambrosia  ( Tommy Taylor's arch nemesis), and from there on all hell breaks loose! Has fiction become real? Who is Tommy Taylor and Who is Tom Taylor?

In unwritten , a story that starts out as a "day in life" memoir, goes on to become a conspiracy spanning generations, encompassing such literary stalwarts as Oscar Wilde and Rudyard Kipling and from the looks of it, just might go on to become a comment on the nature of stories themselves!

We have the bogus identity of Tom Taylor, angry fans out for blood , a cult who thinks he is the returned messiah, an assassin on his trail, a world map with locations of all the important stories to hit the world, and a secret society who seems to be controlling the living world through the fictional !
and all of this in just five issues collected here! 

So join me in walking with Tom Taylor as he digs deeper into all the mysteries surrounding him and tries to uncover why his father wanted him to be acquainted with the geography related to literature.

As the book says- Only stories are worth dying for! Is Tom prepared to die for his story?

Mike Carey is at the top of his game, sculpting words flawlessly together. The art by Peter Gross is an apt fit.
In short , there is simply no reason why you shouldn't be reading this!

Go out and get yourself a copy now. Thank me later.

M.