By Dave Sim and Gerhard
Some readers can’t set aside the beliefs that Sim espouses and look at this work. Admittedly, it’s difficult. Cerebus is the only comic I’ve read that cultivates a true sense of foreboding and one of the few with a truly complex, novelistic execution. Despite the unpleasant politics, it’s a stunning technical [...]

One of my favorite horror novels, though less chilling now than on first reading a few years ago. Oates’ horror stories are not always hugely original within the genre (though some, like the one titled with a black square, are stupendous), but her craft so surpasses most genre writers it hardly matters.
Buy Zombie at Powell’s
Book: [...]

I’m approaching the series’ end (just two books to go) and there’s no reason to care about the characters or plot. There are only so many scenes of destruction to draw. I’ve got book 9; it will determine whether I buy 10. Either way, I’ll be selling this series to someone else.
Book: 10/52
52/52: An ongoing [...]

A great primer on branding, marketing, and company development lent to me by my pal/colleague Josh. I don’t usually buy business books — or even read many — but this one is getting bought this week so I can have my own copy on hand. I suspect it’s going to be useful for years.
Buy Zag [...]

After about 1200 pages, we get hints of the apocalypse’s cause. It’s not what I’d guessed, which is nice. Still, it moves too slowly and dwells on boring segments. I know manga is decompressed, but I suspect a good editor could cut this in half and still retain all the good stuff.
Buy Dragon Head Vol. [...]

Nothing scares me like sociopaths, archetypal Others who can’t connect to human emotions — or humans — like the rest of us, but look like us. Tom Ripley is a great sociopath, perhaps one of the earliest drawn on the novel’s page. A risqué book in the ‘50s, in ‘08 it’s a lot of fun.
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In the sixth volume of this post-apocalyptic manga, Mochizuki’s reach exceeds his grasp. He tries some interesting formal things — merging scenes from multiple locations, POVs, and flashbacks onto one page — but they don’t quite work. The book feels ragged and unsatisfying; unsure I want to continue, but I own the next four.
Buy Dragon [...]

Power’s epic tale of drug dealing and policing in late 80s/early 90s New Jersey is hilarious, heart-rending, frightening, and revelatory. A subtle, affecting psychological take on the toll poverty takes on people. The things Powers learned here are echoed — sometimes down to the word — in his writing for The Wire.

Buy Clockers at Powell’s
Book: [...]

By Greg Rucka and Chris Samnee
The last (for now) installment the English spy thriller is odd for me. After Vol. 7, Rucka continued the story in a novel — that I didn’t read. I felt out of the loop. Good story here, but missing the immediate past, and learning there’s no immediate future, made the [...]

I liked the idea of starting the year with this anthology about apocalypses. Seemed like a good next step after finishing last year with The Road and Our Ecstatic Days, but comics intervened. That and none of these stories really connecting with me — even those by favorites like Oates, Evenson, Poe.
Buy The Apocalypse Reader [...]