2021, aka Covid Year 2, flew by, didn’t it? But also, when I think about the start of this year when the first doses of the vaccine were being administered, it does feel like an age ago. Covid brain, eh?
Alright, enough of that. As usual, this is a review of the year’s reading. I read more good novels this year than last and fewer good comics than last year too - weird how that balances out! So let’s start with the non-pitcher books:
If we’re just sticking to books published in 2021, then my best of year list looks like this:
4. Turning Point by Jeffrey Deaver
3. The Magician by Colm Toibin
2. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood by Quentin Tarantino
1. A Line To Kill by Anthony Horowitz
Tarantino’s debut is so much fun and, because of the structure, surprisingly different from the movie too - well worth checking out if you’re a fan, even if you’ve seen the movie. And I was delighted to make the acquaintance of a writer I’ve never read before, but have quickly become a fan of: Anthony Horowitz. A Line to Kill is a barnstorming Agatha Christie-esque whodunit. It’s also my favourite book out of everything I read, comics included.
If we include books published before 2021, then my best of year list looks like this:
10. Turning Point by Jeffrey Deaver
9. Ninth and Nowhere by Jeffrey Deaver
8. Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall (this one’s my favourite non-fiction read of the year)
7. The Blot by Jonathan Lethem
6. Miami Blues by Charles Willeford
5. Forever and a Day by Anthony Horowitz
4. The Magician by Colm Toibin
3. V2: A Novel of World War II by Robert Harris
2. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood by Quentin Tarantino
1. A Line To Kill by Anthony Horowitz
Onto the comics:
If we’re just sticking to comics published in 2021, then my best of year list looks like this:
5. The Comic Book History of Animation: True Toon Tales of the Most Iconic Characters, Artists and Styles! by Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey
4. Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead, Vol. 1 by Haro Aso and Kotaro Takata
3. That Texas Blood, Vol. 1 by Chris Condon and Jacob Phillips
2. Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done? by Harold Schechter and Eric Powell
1. Stray Dogs by Tony Fleecs and Trish Forstner
It was a very weak year for comics. I’ll probably encounter some of the hidden gems later on down the line but I do read extensively and there wasn’t a whole lot amazing being put out this year unfortunately - not a single five star comic published in 2021. Still, Stray Dogs is a fine comic - very dark, original and moving. Definitely one to check out if you haven’t already.
If we include comics published before 2021, then my best of year list looks like this:
10. Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead, Vol. 1 by Haro Aso and Kotaro Takata
9. That Texas Blood, Vol. 1 by Chris Condon and Jacob Phillips
8. Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done? by Harold Schechter and Eric Powell
7. Stray Dogs by Tony Fleecs and Trish Forstner
6. The Follies of Richard Wadsworth by Nick Maandag
5. Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen: Who Killed Jimmy Olsen? by Matt Fraction and Steve Lieber
4. The Death of Stalin by Fabien Nury and Thierry Robin
3. Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Volume 1: Secrets and Rumors by Tom Taylor and Juann Cabal
2. Blossoms in Autumn by Zidrou and Aimee de Jongh
1. Seeds And Stems by Simon Hanselmann
I know Hanselmann put out his covid comic this year, Crisis Zone, but I thought it was one of his lesser books. Fraction/Lieber’s Jimmy Olsen comic went on to nab two Eisners this year too - easily the best DC comic I’ve read all year.
Also as usual, there were a ton of stinkers. It’s tough to pick the Worst of the Year out of so many (looking at you, Batman!), but for comics I’d give it to Jonathan Hickman’s X of Swords, Volume 1 - an horrendously long story about X-Men fighting whoever with magic swords for the fate of the world or the universe or something generic - and for novels I’d give it to Cassandra Khaw’s Nothing But Blackened Teeth, an amateurish failed attempt at a haunted house story.
Hopefully these lists point you towards some fun reads of your own, as yours often do for moi. And that’s a wrap on another year, guys - have a nice break, take it easy with a good book, and let’s do it again next year, eh?
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