Best of
Sequential-Art

2002

The Enigma of Amigara Fault


Junji Ito - 2002
    A boy named Owaki, and a girl, Yoshida, meet on Amigara Mountain, where an unsettling discovery has been made. Human-shaped holes are scattered across the mountain, and it soon becomes clear that the holes are "calling" to the people they are shaped like. So what happens when they enter the hole?

Spirited Away, Volume 1


Hayao Miyazaki - 2002
    Dad takes a wrong turn, though, and they become lost in a forest. Eventually they find their way to a strange abandoned amusement park. Chihiro wanders off. As night falls, Chihiro finds out she's in a world of ghosts, demons, and strange gods. A mysterious boy, Haku, tells her that to survive Chihiro must find work. She must go down to the boiler room and seek out an old man named Kamaji...

FoxTrot, Assembled with Care


Bill Amend - 2002
    At the core of much of the strip's wild humor is 10-year-old Jason. He tortures his parents and two teenage siblings Peter and Paige out of their minds with his computer and his pet iguana, Quincy. In this treasury, parents Roger and Andrea again have their hands full. In one strip, Jason boldly bursts into their bedroom in the middle of the night to announce that it's "2 A.M. and the lights still work." In another, Jason surprises his mom with a new beep for her computer known simply as "Defcon One." Jason also holds his own with his older siblings, spelling "My Sister Is Ugly" with the carved faces of 14 pumpkins. FoxTrot continues to demonstrate its timelessness with its always fresh, irreverent, and zany brand of family humor. FoxTrot: Assembled with Care captures the humorous side of the trials and tribulations that come with daily family life like no other strip today.Universal Press Syndicate newspaper feature:*FoxTrotAuthor's web site: www.foxtrot.com/

Krazy and Ignatz, 1925-1926: There is a Heppy Land Furfur A-waay


George Herriman - 2002
    Each volume in this series reprints two full years of Sunday strips, or 104 full-page, black-and-white Sunday strips (Herriman did not incorporate color into the strip until 1935). Krazy Kat is a love story, focusing on the relationship of its three main characters. Krazy Kat adored Ignatz Mouse. Ignatz Mouse hated Krazy Kat, the expression of which was in throwing bricks at Krazy's head. Offisa Pup loved Krazy and sought to protect "her" (Herriman always maintained that Krazy was genderless), mostly by throwing Ignatz in jail. Each of the characters was ignorant of the other's true motivations. This simple structure allowed Herriman to build entire worlds of meaning into the actions, building thematic depth that led critics like Gilbert Seldes and E. E. Cummings to recognize Herriman's genius almost immediately. Each of Fantagraphics' Krazy Ignatz volumes is designed by Chris Ware, creator of the wildly successful ACME Novelty Library series. This beautiful volume includes material never collected before.

Ultimate Spider-Man, Volume 2


Brian Michael Bendis - 2002
    3: Double Trouble* Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 4: Legacy* Behind-the-Scenes MaterialIn the last year, teenager Peter Parker's grown more comfortable with his amazing abilities, but that's all about to change with the return of the maniacal Green Goblin. The Goblin has discovered Peter's secret identity -- and with the lives of the teenager's loved ones at stake, will Spider-Man be able to escape the Goblin's clutches?

Krazy and Ignatz, 1927-1928: Love Letters in Ancient Brick


George Herriman - 2002
    Each volume is edited by the San Francisco Cartoon Art Museum's Bill Blackbeard, the world's foremost authority on early 20th Century American comic strips, and designed by Jimmy Corrigan author Chris Ware. In addition to the 104 full-page black-and-white Sunday strips from 1927 and 1928 (Herriman did not use color until 1935), the book includes introductions by Blackbeard, vaudeville historian Ben Schwartz and reproductions of rare Herriman ephemera from Ware's own extensive collection, as well as annotations and other notes by Ware and Blackbeard. Krazy Kat is a love story, focusing on the relationships of its three main characters. Krazy Kat adored Ignatz Mouse. Ignatz Mouse just tolerated Krazy Kat, except for recurrent onsets of targeting tumescence, which found expression in the fast delivery of bricks to Krazy's cranium. Offisa Pup loved Krazy and sought to protect "her" (Herriman always maintained that Krazy was genderless) by throwing Ignatz in jail. Each of the characters was ignorant of the others' true motivations, and this simple structure allowed Herriman to build entire worlds of meaning into the actions, building thematic depth and sweeping his readers up by the looping verbal rhythms of Krazy Co.'s unique dialogue.

Ultimate Spider-Man, Volume 1


Brian Michael Bendis - 2002
    Compound these with intense personal tragedy and superhuman powers, and you can start to visualize the world of Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man.

Blacksad: The Sketch Files


Juan Díaz Canales - 2002
    Exciting behind-the-scnes look at the creation of one of the hottest series in graphic novels today.

Petshop of Horrors 1


Matsuri Akino - 2002
    The series focuses on the eccentric Count D, proprietor of a mysterious pet shop located in the heart of Chinatown, and the numerous patrons who visit his shop.Details: Count D is the mysterious caretaker of an exotic pet shop in Chinatown. Each pet purchased from the shop comes with a contract with three major points. These points differ for each animal sold, and breaking this contract usually results in dire (and sometimes disturbing) consequences for the buyer, for which the pet shop claims no liability.Individual chapters of Pet Shop of Horrors are often based on these consequences, and are each written as a stand-alone story, usually introducing one or more new characters in each chapter. With the exception of the main characters and their families, it is rare for a character to carry over to a later chapter, providing the series with a very episodic nature.The detective Leon Orcot is used to tie the chapters together into an ongoing plot, usually in the form of a subplot within each chapter. Initially he suspects Count D of malicious criminal activity and using the pet shop as a front for drug trafficking. As the series progresses, he learns more about the pet shop and Count D himself, entering into a strange friendship of sorts with the Count as he works to uncover the truth.

A Peanuts Christmas


Charles M. Schulz - 2002
    Sing carols with Charlie Brown and company around Schroeder’s piano. See Snoopy’s festively decorated doghouse. Find out if Lucy’s been naughty or nice. Discover if snow has any effect on Pig Pen’s “aura.” And learn about the true meaning of Christmas with Linus.Just in time for the holiday season, A Peanuts Christmas is the complete collection of Christmas strips from 1950 to 1999. For the first time ever this delightful book brings together nearly fifty years of comfort and joy with Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the rest of the gang.

Flex Mentallo: Man of Muscle Mystery


Grant Morrison - 2002
    and of the Doom Patrol. Now Flex Mentallo, the Man of Muscle Mystery, returns to investigate the sinister dealings of his former comrade, The Fact, and a mysterious rock star whose connection to Flex may hold the key to saving them both.This fast-paced tale twists super hero tropes, introducing one mind-boggling concept after another in a tour de force of innovative storytelling.This long-asked-for Vertigo title is collected at last, presenting an early collaboration between writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely, who would win much acclaim on ALL-STAR SUPERMAN and WE3.

Snoopy's Guide to the Writing Life


Barnaby Conrad - 2002
    Each essay focuses on how the strip presents an aspect of writing life - getting started, getting rejected, searching for new ideas - that they have experienced.

Seven Peaches: The First Seven Desert Peach Episodes


Donna Barr - 2002
    How ridiculous. How sublime. How biting, ironic and funny. And here are the first seven episodes, of the series that does to World War Two -- and the twentieth century -- what they need done.

Curbside Boys: The New York Years


Robert Kirby - 2002
    Kirby’s chronicle of sexual mishaps and bittersweet romance is syndicated widely in gay newspapers in the U.S.

Six Hundred and Seventy Six Apparitions of Killoffer


Patrice Killoffer - 2002
    Charting Killoffer's violent odyssey through a world overflowing with his many selves, 676 Apparitions is a spectacularly ambitious attempt to roll back the constraints of autobiography and graphic narrative.Originally published in French by L'Association in 2002, this is widely recognised to be one of the most important European comics of past years, and was nominated along with Jimmy Corrigan and David Boring for Best Album at Angoulême in 2003.This edition has been completely relettered by the artist.

Panel Discussions: Design in Sequential Art Storytelling


Durwin Talon - 2002
    Learn from the best, as Will Eisner, Scott Hampton, Mike Wieringo, Walter Simonson, Mike Mignola, Mark Schultz, David Mazzucchelli, Dick Giordano, Brian Stelfreeze, Mike Carlin, Chris Moeller, Mark Chiarello and others share hard-learned lessons about the design of comics, complete with hundreds of illustrated examples. When should you tilt or overlap a panel? How can sound effects enhance the story, and when do they distract from it? What are the best ways to divide up the page to convey motion, time, action, or quiet? If you're serious about creating effective, innovative comics, or just enjoying them from the creator's perspective, this in-depth guide is must-reading!

The Best of Dilbert: Volume 2


Scott Adams - 2002
    The Best of Dilbert : Volume 2 will be a feast of the very best comic strips from Scott Adam's prolific output and is destined to be a big hit with Dilbert's myriad supporters. Featuring one carefully selected strip per page, it will chronicle the ups and downs of Dilbert and his cohorts, from his megalomaniac dog, Dogbert, to his clueless pointy-haired boss, this book will be a hilarious roller-coaster ride through the lunacies of modern corporate life.