Best of 2006: Collection/Graphic Novel
Who doesn’t love buying graphic novels? They tell a whole story in one volume, and more often than not they’re cheaper page-for-page than buying individual issues. Sometimes they even have pretty covers that won’t bend if you accidentally sit on them. So hooray for graphic novels!
Infinite Crisis Hardcover
“‘Infinite Crisis’ is my favorite. The hardcover, while not something I’d ever go out and buy, has some interesting new fix-ups.”
-Doom DeLuise
“I didn’t buy it, but I’m glad that they fixed some problems in the Infinite Crisis collection.”
-Jim Doom
American Virgin
“‘American Virgin’ is the only collection I really waited for, and I really enjoyed the book. I don’t find it on the shelves often enough to get the issues, so it was good catch up time.”
-Doominator
Pride of Baghdad
“I read a whole lot of GNs this year for my day job of reviewing comics. And even with a wealth of material to draw from, nothing beat out Brian K. Vaughn’s Pride of Baghdad. The book provided one of the most original statements on the Iraq war, had beautiful art and packed an emotional punch almost never seen in the comics.”
-Jean-Claude Van Doom
Absolute Kingdom Come
“Kingdom Come was a great comic story, one of the best ever, and no one deserved the over-sized, hardcover treatment more than Alex Ross. But the real treasure of this collection isn’t the story itself, but the accompanying Apocrypha. Character designs, a family tree, promotional artwork, interviews, commentary–quite simply some of the best extras ever thrown into a collected edition.”
-Fin Fang Doom
This needs to be said: American Virgin is not good. It falls back on cheap shots against Evangelists and action-movie storylines instead of offering anything thoughtful or nuanced. Maybe it’s improved since that first arc, but that was weak.
It falls back on cheap shots on Evangelists and action-movie storylines? And Doominator likes it?