I’m switching the order of these posts, putting the news up top and my reading list down below. That probably makes more sense, especially for a month like this when I did a lot of reading. I read several comics I had been putting off because I was asked to contribute to the Best of 2018 list at the Comics Journal, and I was also between projects which left me with more time for reading.
In terms of comics, it’s been a good year. I published Things As They Were, the third and final in a series of books about Gertrude Stein, and Yearly 2018, the first issue of an annual comic that I hope to publish until I die.
I’m also continuing to produce a bimonthly newsletter, where I write about my process and share one new comic or sketchbook excerpt with each message. You can sign up for that here.
For what it’s worth, my favorite non-comics media this year were:
- Americanah, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- The Anthropocene Reviewed, John Green – I wrote about this in the spring and mostly feel the same way about it now.
- An Untamed State, Roxane Gay – One of the most emotional challenging books I’ve ever read. It manages to contend with true sadness, even horror, but also illuminate moments of happiness. This is something I have been thinking about and trying to do in my own work.
- Go Tell It on the Mountain, James Baldwin
- A Writer’s Diary, Virginia Woolf
I’m also working much more in my sketchbook over the past year than I had done previously. I wonder if that will last. For now, it’s a nice way to think on paper, to preserve a record of what I’m reading and what I’m thinking, to generate new words and images without necessarily linking them to a specific story right away.
I’ve continued to spend less time on social media, which I have mixed feelings about although on balance I think makes sense for me. I’ve gotten back into reading prose more regularly. I’m chipping away at long comics and short comics that I think are better than any comics I’ve made before. I’m trying to stay focused. I’m thinking about the future.
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The Man Who Came Down the Attic Stairs, Celine Loup
Marvel Fanfare #40 (the one with the Mazzucchelli/Nocenti story)
Our Lady, Wenting Li
Ley Lines: Langeweile, Oliver East
Ley Lines: Skin to Skin, Jia Sung
The Prince, Liam Cobb
Fashion Forecasts, Yumi Sakugawa
Au Pays de Lève-Tot, Paula Bulling
Nos Terres Sombres, Remy Pierlot and Paz Boira
Lara Croft Was My Family, Carta MonirY
Ink Brick 9, ed. Alex Rothman et al
Recollection, Alyssa Berg
Total Monsoon, Sarah Welch
Shortbox #9, ed. Zainab Akhtar
A Writer’s Diary, Virginia Woolf
A Room of One’s Own, Virginia Woolf
Reborn: Journals and Notebooks 1947-1963, Susan Sontag