SINCE YOU WENT AWAY A YEAR AGO AT CHRISTMAS

It's the year end round-up yet again, and no, I'm not doing my list. Too many lists in this world. Why is mine going to stand out?

That said, when asked to take part in a year-end feature by other venues, I must comply. The DVD Talk "best of" that I voted in and contributed to will be up some time next week, and in the meantime, some comics sites have started taking polls.

Tom Spurgeon at the Comics Reporter took a different approach by asking people to contribute five personal moments that will make them remember comics in 2008.

Go look to check out answers by guys like Paul Pope and Jeff Smith, but for those who are totally Jamie-centric, here is my list:

1. Laying Madman Atomic Comics #9 end to end and seeing the single continuous panel
2. My pal Joëlle Jones redesigning the X-Women for the hell of it.
3. Realizing that Secret Invasion and Final Crisis were the exact same book, full of sleeper agents spreading like a virus and working on the premise that "evil wins" (albeit, the victories come at separate points in the story).
4. Losing Dave Stevens, as well as many other wonderful people.
5. Comics folks taking a chance, getting political, and talking about the world, including the community effort of www.comicsindustryforobama.com

The excellent Daily Cross Hatch blog has a bunch of people's choices for "The Best Damned Comics of 2008." The list is alphabetical by last name, so you can scroll down to R to read my explanation, but for the lazy among you, the list of five I chose for them (yes, five, you fucking cheaters who had to add extras and have "honorable mentions"--another reason I hate lists: greedy people who can't make decisions), sans explanation, is as follows:

Local by Brian Wood & Ryan Kelley
Skim by Mariko & Jillian Tamaki
Tamara Drewe by Posy Simmonds
Token by Alisa Kwitney & Joëlle Jones
The Umbrella Academy: The Apocalypse Suite by Gerard Way & Gabriel Ba

Marc Ellerby and I actually agree on Skim. He lists it as his top comic, among others, at Forbidden Planet.

***

Portland has been under siege by snow the last couple of days. You've never seen a city more ill-equipped for bad weather than this here "City that Works." Yes, that's this burg's slogan. You just know they can't live up to it.

If one more person asks me where my hat is, I am going to scream. I don't own a hat. Get over it.

The best, though, was the person who asked me how come I wasn't wearing hiking boots.

"Why the fuck would I need hiking boots? For the one time a year it snows?"
"No, to go hiking."
"I reiterate, why the fuck would I need hiking boots?"
[Read the "why the f--?" like John Malkovich in Burn After Reading]

The funny thing was, running errands this morning, I ran into someone I knew who was walking to work. I splintered away from him twice, including mailing packages at the post office, and subsequently caught up with him and his big boots both times without even trying. In chasing a bus, me and my inappropriate shoes outran the other two people in more sensible footwear also chasing the bus. Yeah, me and my little dress shoes. Deal with it!

Current Soundtrack: Tom Jones, "Not Responsible;" the Decemberists, "Please, Daddy, Don't Get Drunk This Christmas;" something dissonant by Ludus; something quiet by Peter Moren; something very Stereolab-like by Stereolab; the Jam, "Pity Poor Alfie/Fever"

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All text (c) 2008 Jamie S. Rich