Books: Best of: The best graphic novels and art comics of 2012

The best graphic novels and art comics of 2012





The lines separating various comics niches have gotten fuzzier every year, as genre comics become more literary, literary comics incorporate more reportage and autobiography, and the highest-profile projects of any given season include the archiving and annotating of material that used to disappear into flea markets and quarter boxes. So the artier side of The A.V. Club’s 2012 best-comics list will be reducing to three the tangle of categories from years past: one category for fiction (original graphic novels, collections of formerly serialized material, short-story anthologies, and substantial chapters of ongoing stories), one for non-fiction (memoirs, histories, travelogues, journalism, and criticism), and one for archival collections (focusing on archival series that launched this year, rather than such essential ongoing series as Little Orphan Annie, Pogo, Floyd Gottfredson’s Mickey Mouse newspaper strip, and The Carl Barks Library).

Top 10 Fiction

1. Chris Ware, Building Stories (Pantheon)

Packaged in ...

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The best superhero and mainstream comics of 2012

The best superhero and mainstream comics of 2012





This past year, DC and Marvel underwent significant line-wide changes; Image Comics rose as the primary publisher for diverse, creator-owned content; superhero films continued to dominate the box office; and the industry saw a huge push for digital comics. The result was an incredibly eventful 2012, featuring new works by some of the most inspiring creators in the medium. Here are The A.V. Club’s picks for the top superhero and mainstream comic books of an extraordinary year.

10. All-Star Western (DC)


Relocating Jonah Hex to Gotham City gave All-Star Western a considerable sales boost, but two inspired partnerships have made this book one of DC’s best. Teaming artist Moritat with the Jonah Hex writing team of Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray was a genius move, as Moritat creates a dirty urban environment that is somehow even nastier than present-day Gotham. The second pairing is that of Jonah ...

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Oscar Nominated Composer Richard Rodney Bennett Dies

Oscar Nominated Composer Richard Rodney Bennett Dies



The composer, who won a BAFTA in 1974 for his score for "Murder on the Orient Express," was knighted in 1998 for services to music.

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Oscar-Winning Peter Jackson Collaborator Mike Hopkins Dies in Rafting Accident

Oscar-Winning Peter Jackson Collaborator Mike Hopkins Dies in Rafting Accident

The veteran sound editor worked on the "Lord of the Rings" franchise and "King Kong," among other movies.

 

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In Memoriam: 9 Tech Titans Who Died in 2012

In Memoriam: 9 Tech Titans Who Died in 2012

In 2012, we said good bye to a long list of tech titans who pushed our world in new directions -- though you may not have known their names. Here, we remember nine of those names. And if you have others we should add to the list, do let us know.

Producer J. Mark Travis Dies at 61

Producer J. Mark Travis Dies at 61

Having produced such successful stage productions as "Give 'em Hell, Harry!" and "Richard Pryor: Live in Concert," he went on to serve as chief of staff for Dr. Gene Scott of University Cathedral.

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Oscar-Winning Producer Irving Saraf Dies at 80

Oscar-Winning Producer Irving Saraf Dies at 80

He produced and directed the feature documentary “In the Shadow of the Stars,” about the San Francisco Opera, and worked on the best picture winner “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”

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Western Character Actor Harry Carey Jr. Dies

Western Character Actor Harry Carey Jr. Dies



UPDATED: The 91-year-old appeared in many of John Ford's greatest films, including "The Searchers" and "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon."

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'Game of Thrones' Most Pirated Show of 2012

'Game of Thrones' Most Pirated Show of 2012



With 80 percent of the downloads from overseas, the HBO fantasy hit was first on a top ten list that also included "Dexter," "Big Bang Theory," and "Revolution."

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Geeks of All Sorts Pay Tribute to 'Thunderbirds' Creator Gerry Anderson

Geeks of All Sorts Pay Tribute to 'Thunderbirds' Creator Gerry Anderson

Neil Gaiman and Edgar Wright were among those remembering the British TV icon, who died Wednesday at 83.

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The Shocking Amazing Spider-Man Plot Twist That Inspired Death Threats

The Shocking <em>Amazing Spider-Man</em> Plot Twist That Inspired Death Threats

Poor Spider-Man. Five years after the webslinging superhero was forced to retroactively erase his marriage to Mary Jane in a desperate deal with the devil (true story), things are about to get even worse for Peter Parker in Amazing Spider-Man #700, a issue so controversial that it inspired numerous death threats against the book?s long-time writer Dan Slott.

From Internet Uprisings to John McAfee: The Year in Privacy and Security

From Internet Uprisings to John McAfee: The Year in Privacy and Security

From gun-toting, on-the-lam tech giants to flying drones and internet uprisings, these are the privacy and security stories that dominated Threat Level in 2012.

Charles Durning Dies at 89

Charles Durning, Oscar-Nominated Character Actor, Dies at 89

Durning, who starred in "The Sting" and TV's "Rescue Me," died Dec. 24 in his Manhattan apartment.

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Amazon Delivers Coal To Netflix Watchers On Christmas Eve

Amazon Delivers Coal To Netflix Watchers On Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve movie streaming was a little bumpy for some Netflix customers, thanks to an outage at Amazon's North Virginia data centers.

The problems started at about 12:30 p.m. Pacific, and it didn't take long for customers to start reporting downtime with Netflix's streaming video service.

At 9:30 p.m. a Netflix spokesman reported that the issue affects ...

'Odd Couple,' 'Quincy' Star Jack Klugman Dies at 90

'Odd Couple,' 'Quincy' Star Jack Klugman Dies at 90

UPDATE: The actor, who also starred in the original film version of "12 Angry Men," was home in Northridge, his wife told KABC-TV in Los Angeles.

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The Enduring (and Unexpected) Legacy of Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah'

The Enduring (and Unexpected) Legacy of Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah'

In a guest post, the author of the just-released book "The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, and the Unlikely Ascent of 'Hallelujah'" sheds light on the song's any occasion, multipurpose timelessness.

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NRA Gun Control Arguments Predicted by 'All in the Family'

NRA Gun Control Arguments Predicted by 'All in the Family' (Video)

TV icon Norman Lear sent along the four-decade-old Archie Bunker clip to THR.

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Academy reveals foreign-language shortlist

Acad reveals foreign-language shortlist

'Amour,' 'Intouchables' among nine remaining contenders

'Walking Dead' showrunner exits

'Walking Dead' showrunner exits

Glen Mazzara, who took over for Frank Darabont last year, is moving on as show gets official season 4 pickup

Quentin Tarantino Demanded -- and Got -- a Whole New Language of Sound Effects for 'Django Unchained'

Quentin Tarantino Demanded -- and Got -- a Whole New Language of Sound Effects for 'Django Unchained'



The director sent his team of sound designers on a hunt for the perfect acoustical environments to capture the film's gunshots and whipcracks.

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Oscar's Dirty Tricks: Inside the Whisper Campaign Machine

Oscar's Dirty Tricks: Inside the Whisper Campaign Machine



As balloting gets underway, negative talk is escalating ("Zero Dark Thirty" justifies torture, "Lincoln" distorts history) as rivals look for a way to undermine the competition.

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'A Christmas Story' Bully Fights for His Image in Court

'A Christmas Story' Bully Fights for His Image in Court

Zack Ward, who played the film's bully, is fighting over merchandise that he says illicitly used his face.

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'Dirty Harry' Among Films Enshrined in National Film Registry

'Dirty Harry' Among Films Enshrined in National Film Registry

The Librarian of Congress picks his latest 25 films for inclusion; "A Christmas Story," "The Matrix," "Breakfast at Tiffany's," "Sons of the Desert," "Slacker" and "A League of Their Own" are also on the list.

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2012 Black List Is Chock Full of Violent Fare

2012 Black List Is Chock Full of Violent Fare

With titles like "Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile," "The Winter Kills" and "F--- Marry Kill" making the cut, there will be blood.

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Read the 4-Page 'Sketch' That Became Looper

Read the 4-Page 'Sketch' That Became Looper

Looper writer/director Rian Johnson has released the original treatment for his time-travel flick online.

Apple Maps & Epic Hacks: The Year's Top Tech Fails

From Apple Maps to Epic Hacks: The Year's Top Tech Fails

2012 saw the launch of a hundred dazzling new products and services ... and more than a few stinky duds. Here are the winners for the year's biggest tech fails.

'The Master' Named Best Movie by Toronto Film Critics

'The Master' Named Best Movie by Toronto Film Critics

Paul Thomas Anderson also took the best director and best screenplay prizes for his cult-leader drama, while Philip Seymour Hoffman was named best supporting actor.

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Who sent that package to Indiana Jones?

The University Of Chicago figured out who sent that package to Indiana Jones

Last week, the admissions office at the University Of Chicago received a package addressed to Indiana Jones himself, containing an almost perfect replica of Abner Ravenwood's journal from Raiders Of The Lost Ark. After much media attention and efforts to track down the source of the journal, the university's hunt is over.

The package containing the journal was actually part of a larger package of replica Indiana Jones props, sold by an eBay vendor in Guam to a buyer in Italy. That smaller package, which had been addressed to "Dr. Henry Walton Jones" as part of the replica, fell out of the larger delivery and was mistakenly sent to "Dr. Jones" at UChicago's Rosenwald Hall by the U.S. Postal Service.

The University has been told it can keep the journal, and several on-campus groups have reportedly offered to display or archive its contests. The outpouring of ...

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Black List Screenwriting Honors Announced

Black List Screenwriting Honors Announced

The year's recipients were revealed Monday morning via Twitter.

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Streamy Awards Nominations Announced

Streamy Awards Nominations Announced

The winners will be announced at the Feb. 17, 2013 ceremony in Los Angeles.

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You and Your Precious 24 fps

You and Your Precious 24 fps

Way, way back in April 2011, before the critics started spewing insults in their snooty, elvish way, director Peter Jackson posted a note to his Facebook page under the heading "48 Frames Per Second." He wanted us to know why he’d used a special format in the filming of The Hobbit. It was a way of "future-proofing" the production, he explained. The 24 fps standard was selected somewhat arbitrarily in the 1920s, so that everybody’s films could accommodate a soundtrack. But with digital production and projection, it’s gotten very easy to shoot more frames and show more frames, and thus eliminate the strobe and blur that have been a part of film for almost a century. That’s the way that film is going, he advised. Sure, some "film purists" might complain, as purists like to do. But simple, moviegoing Shire-folk will adapt to it without a fuss. Don’t worry, hobbit friends, "it will look terrific!"

Reformed Hitman Who Inspired 'The Wire's' Omar Dies at 58

Reformed Hitman Who Inspired 'The Wire's' Omar Dies at 58



Donnie Andrews was a Baltimore hitman who turned police informant, and inspired David Simon to create the popular character.

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Cinematography Oscar: Why 'Argo' and 'The Dark Knight Rises' Shot on Film

Cinematography Oscar: Why 'Argo' and 'The Dark Knight Rises' Shot on Film



Digital photography may be the wave of the future, but celluloid was behind two of this year's biggest contenders.

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'Metropolis' Poster Leads $1.2 Million Auction of Movie Memorabilia

'Metropolis' Poster Leads $1.2 Million Auction of Movie Memorabilia

Believed to be just one of four in existence, the item related to the groundbreaking 1927 film was bundled with other Hollywood collectibles, including a poster for “King Kong."

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Redbox to Offer Instant Movie Streaming Service

Redbox to Offer Instant Movie Streaming Service

Move over Netflix because movie kiosk operator Redbox is set to offer instant video streaming service later this month. And movie watchers will be pleased to know, it will cost as little as $6 a month to enjoy streaming entertainment from the comfort of their own living room.
The online movie subscription service will be offered through a partnernship between Redbox and Verizon Communications Inc (VZ) aka "Redbox Instant by Verizon" -- which will start selling the $6 streaming-only subscription through a limited beta test by the end of the year, according to Reuters. Customers will be able to stream the films to certain Internet-connected TVs, phones and tablets.
Subscribers will also have the option of an $8-a-month plan with movie streaming plus four one-night DVD rentals from Redbox kiosks -- which can be found at drugstores, discount department stores and grocery stores throughout the Southland. Upgrade to $9 a month, and customers can rent high-definition Blu-ray discs.
Redbox Instant customers will have access to movies from Viacom Inc's Paramount Pictures, Lions Gate Entertainment and MGM through a deal with the Epix premium cable channel, as well as films from Time Warner Inc's Warner Bros, according to Reuters.
Netflix, which once established a strong subscription base with its ever popular $9.99 monthly unlimited DVD-rental and streaming combination plan, changed its service plans and increased prices in mid 2011, causing many unhappy subscribers to bail. Netflix currently offers unlimited movies & TV episodes instantly over the Internet for $7.99 a month. Streaming subcribers can also add the unlimited DVD subscription (1 DVD out-at-a-time plan) for $7.99 more a month.