Installment two of my books of the year, with most nonfiction still to come. It seemed a very lean year for comics overall. The big event is the long-delayed translation of the first half of Lewis Trondheim’s Ralph Azham, his 600-page treatment of power, politics, religion, and family. Trondheim’s ability to improvise a better story than most people can plan out remains exceptional. There is also the final book of Hubert’s uncompleted The Ogre Gods, putting a point on his loss through suicide.
Ralph Azham Vol. 1: Black Are The Stars
Trondheim, Lewis (Author)
Papercutz
Ralph Azham Vol. 2: The Land of the Blue Demons
Trondheim, Lewis (Author)
Papercutz
First Born: The Ogre Gods Book Four
Hubert (Author), Gatignol, Bertrand (Artist)
Magnetic Press
La Synagogue
Sfar, Joann (Author), Sfar, Joann (Illustrator)
DARGAUD
Dungeon: Early Years, vol. 3: Without a Sound (Volume 3)
Trondheim, Lewis (Author), Sfar, Joann (Author), Oiry, Stéphane (Author), Gaultier, Christophe (Author)
NBM
Dungeon: Twilight vols. 1-2: Cemetery of the Dragon
Sfar, Joann (Author), Kerascoët (Author), Trondheim, Lewis (Author)
NBM
Adventuregame Comics: Leviathan (Book 1): An Interactive Graphic Novel
Shiga, Jason (Author)
Abrams Fanfare
Pogo: The Complete Syndicated Comics Strips: Vols. 7 & 8 Gift Box Set (POGO COMP SYNDICATED STRIPS HC BOX SET)
Kelly, Walt (Author), Evanier, Mark (Editor), Kelly, Walt (Artist)
Fantagraphics Books
The Projector and Elephant
Vaughn-James, Martin (Author), Seth (Editor), Heer, Jeet (Introduction), Seth (Designer)
New York Review Comics
All Your Racial Problems Will Soon End: The Cartoons of Charles Johnson
Johnson, Charles (Author)
New York Review Comics
The George Herriman Library: Krazy & Ignatz 1922-1924
Herriman, George (Author), Herriman, George (Artist)
Fantagraphics Books
YOKAI
Yumoto, Koichi (Author), Sastre, Daniel (Author), Ito, Nobukazu (Illustrator), Wilson, Sharni (Translator), Hara, Eriko (Editor)
PIE International
George Grosz in Berlin: The Relentless Eye
Rewald, Sabine (Author), Buruma, Ian (Contributor)
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Käthe Kollwitz: A Survey of Her Work 1867 - 1945
Fischer, Hannelore (Editor)
Hirmer Publishers
Women Artists in Expressionism: From Empire to Emancipation
Behr, Shulamith (Author)
Princeton University Press
Austrian and German Masterworks: Twentieth Anniversary of Neue Galerie New York
Price, Renée (Editor), Lauder, Ronald S. (Preface)
Prestel
Guston in Time: Remembering Philip Guston (New York Review Books Classics)
Feld, Ross (Author)
NYRB Classics
12 January 2023 at 12:42
Thanks David, I always enjoy these lists. I hadn’t heard about Hubert, that’s very unfortunate. I still haven’t read his Ogre Gods, but it looks very good. I’m surprised George O’Connor’s conclusion to Olympians didn’t make the list, his box set for Vol. 7-12 was released last March. I’m reading it now with my daughter and we are both loving it.