The best American comics

2006

Preface by Anne Elizabeth Moore

Introduction by Harvey Pekar

The amazing life of Onion Jack from Superior Showcase / Joel Priddy

Ready to die from McSweeney's / Kim Deitch

The gift from Dogs and water / Anders Nilsen

Adventures of Paul Bunyan & his ox, babe from Tales of woodsman Pete / Lilli Carré

Diary of a bread delivery guy from Arthur / David Lasky

Goner pillow company from Metropolis / Ben Katchor

Only disconnect from Dykes to watch out for / Alison Bechdel

Complacency kills from The guardian online / Joe Sacco

La Rubia Loca from The travel tales / Justin Hall

Comics: a history from McSweeney's / Chris Ware

RabbitHead from RabbitHead / Rebecca Dart

Untitled from The stranger / Ivan Brunetti

Dance with the ventures from Mome / Jonathan Bennett

Day by day with Hopey: Tuesday is whose day? from Love and rockets / Jaime Hernandez

Busted! from Unlovable / Esther Pearl Watson

Chemical plant/another world from Diary of a mosquito abatement man / John Porcellino

Portrait of my dad from Deadpan / David Heatley

A street-level view of the republican national convention from The stranger / Lloyd Dangle

The supervisor from Hi-horse omnibus / Hob

Wonder wart-hog: the wart-hog that came in from the cold from Zap / Gilbert Shelton

Solidarity forever from Hi-horse omnibus / Olivia Schanzer

Thirty-three from Tricked / Alex Robinson

Missing from La Perdida / Jessica Abel

Nakedness and power from World War 3 illustrated / Seth Tobocman, Terisa Turner and Leigh Brownhill

Recollection of seduction from The comics journal special edition / Rick Geary

The executive hour from Unmarketable / Tom Hart

Passing before life's very eyes from Mome / Kurt Wolfgang

Thirteen cats of my childhood from Couch tag / Jesse Reklaw

Two questions from McSweeney's / Lynda Barry

Walkin' the streets from Zap / Robert Crumb.

2007

Winta wundaland / R. and Aline Crumb

"Hey, Soph, whazzup?" / Sophie Crumb

The canary-colored caravan of death / Alison Bechdel

Just a bad seed and Once, we ran / C. Tyler

Ernie Pook's comeek (excerpt) / Lynda Barry

Skate date, Waiting, and John and I go to the movies / Lauren Weinstein

Untitled diary strips / Vanessa Davis

California journal / Gabrielle Bell

Six things I like about my girlfriend / Ivan Brunetti

These things, these things / Jeffrey Brown

FUC 1997 : we share a happy secret, but beware, because the modern world emerges / Ron Regé Jr.

Country roads

Brighton / John Porcellino

Needles and pins / Jonathan Bennett

Glenn in bed / Kevin Huizenga

Sambo / David Heatley

Lubavitch, Ukraine, 1876 / Sammy Harkham

Untitled (The list) / Miriam Katin

Shoehorn technique / Ben Katchor

Shortcomings (excerpt) / Adrian Tomine

Cut thru and Laundry room / David Heatley

Fritz after dark / Gilbert Hernandez

No midgets in Midgetvile / Kim Deitch

Dinner and a walk / Anders Nilsen

Black hole (excerpt) / Charles Burns

Untitled (Discrete operations vehicle

burning gall) / Gary Panter

Blond Atchen and the bumble boys / C.F.

My bumbling, corpulent mass / Ivan Brunetti

Meet the dropouts / Tim Hensley

Kramer's ergot / Paper Rad

Walnut Creek / David Heatley

Won't be licked! The great '37 flood in Louisville / Dan Zettwoch.

2008

Burden / Graham Annable

War-fix (excerpt) / David Axe and Steve Olexa

Trouble / T. Edward Bak

Proxy War ; A terribly civil war ; Life 2.0 ; Scandal in the house ; Who's your daddy? ; and The uses of intelligence / Alison Bechdel

The salon (excerpt) / Nick Bertozzi

The thing about Madeline / Lilli Carré

Hopscotch / Martin Cendreda

The monkey and the crab / Shawn Cheng and Sara Edward-Corbett

Seven sacks / Eleanor Davis

The bunker ; Pressure ; Strange thoughts for strange times ; The man ; and Wal-Mart / Derf

Part II. The Benders arrive / Rick Geary

'Fraid monkeys ; Daddy I got a haircut ; Important questions about monsters ; King of Monster Island ; Movies I'm going to make when I grow up ; Will and Abe's guide to Bali, Parts I, II, and III ; Will and Abe's guide to superheroes ; Abe and Will in The dinner conversation ; and My class went on a field trip / Matt Groening

Mammalogy / Eric Haven

Gold diggers of 1969 / Jaime Hernandez

Underworld strips / Kaz

Cousin Granpa / Michael Kupperman

Turtle, keep it steady! / Joseph Lambert

Cupid's day off / Evan Larson

Berlin (excerpt) / Jason Lutes

Percy Gloom (excerpt) / Cathy Malkasian

The teachers edition (excerpt) / John Mejias

Graveyard / Sarah Oleksyk

The fordbidden zone / Kevin Pyle

George Sprott (1894-1975) (excerpt) / Seth

The Thanksgiving series / Chris Ware

American born Chinese (excerpt) / Gene Luen Yang.

2009

Shh! / Tim Hensley

Justin M. Damiano / Daniel Clowes

Artist vs. artisan / Peter Bagge

Underworld strips / Kaz

Hillbillys 'r' dumb / Doug Allen

Why I write only about myself ... / Aline Kominsky-Crumb

Our beloved tape dispenser / Robert Crumb and Aline Kominsky-Crumb

Indian Spirit Twain & Einstein / Michael Kupperman

Spirit duplicator / Dan Zettwoch

The company (excerpt) / Matt Broersma

Shortcomings (excerpt) / Adrian Tomine

Over easy (excerpt) / Mimi Pond

Portrait of the artist as a young %@#*!! / Art Spiegelman

Cruddy / Ron Regé Jr.

When I was eleven / Gabrielle Bell

Gropius in "Ring tones" / Tim Hensley

Dal Tokyo / Gary Panter

Disinfected youth, Gravel migration, and The wide riders / Ben Katchor

Annoyed X girlfriend, Dad coming down the cellar stairs, Sally in the public toilet, Tree pee, Summer shower, and Church miracle / Jerry Moriarty

Mosfet Warlock and the Mechlin men / CF

Lo-bot-o-my-heart, Slumburbia, and Heart of darkness / David Sandlin

The galactic funnels / Dash Shaw

Berlin (excerpt) / Jason Lutes

Maakies with the wrinkled knees strips / Tony Millionaire

Black death (chapter two) / Sammy Harkham

Jordan W. Lint / Chris Ware

Fuzz & Pluck in Splitsville (excerpt) / Ted Stearn

Freaks / Laura Park

Skim (excerpt) / Jillian and Mariko Tamaki

Antoinette / Koren Shadmi

Glenn Ganges in Pulverize / Kevin Huizenga

Jillian in The argument / Tim Hensley

5: 45 A.M. / Al Columbia

Papa / Gilbert Hernandez

The hand that feeds (excerpt) / Anders Nilsen

Hope Gropius / Tim Hensley.

2010

Omega the Unknown / Jonatham Lethem and Farel Dalrymple. Ceci n'est pas une comic / Peter Kuper. Flytrap / Dave Lapp. Mixed up files / Gabrielle Bell. Lagoon (Hiding in the water), The / Lilli Carré. Daily Grand Prix and forbidden rooms, The / Ben Katchor. November 8-28, 2007 / James Kochalka. Alcoholic, The / Jonathan ames and Dean Haspiel. Deep space / John Pham. Asterios Polyp / David Mazzucchelli. Water! Electricity! Meat! / Gilbert and Mario Hernandez. Acme Novelty Library / Chris Ware. Bank, The / Derf. Titanic urination, hooker cookies, duck mom, carrot romance, pumpkin drummer, and sleep multiplication / Jesse Reklaw. Book of Genesis, The / Robert Crumb. War on fornication, The / Peter Bagge. Lobster run / Fred Chao. Ex communication / Todd Brower and Steve MacIsaac. Norman eight's left arm / Teo Ellsworth. Trinity / Michael Cho. Scott Pilgrim vs. The Universe / Bryan Lee O'Malley. Flood, The / Josh Neufeld. I heard some distent music / Lauren Weinstein. You'll never know, Book one: "A good and decent man" / C. Tyler. Fiction versus nonfiction / Chris Ware.

2011

Manifestation / Gabrielle Bell

Blue note / Kevin Mutch

New Year's Eve, 2004 / Gabby Schulz (A.K.A. Ken Dahl)

St. Ambrose / John Pham

Queen / Michael Deforge

Flower mecha / Angie Wang

Up up down down / Robert Sergel

Nov. 3, 1956 : parts one and two, plus Memory and the essential truth / Joe Sacco

Body world : chapter 3 / Dash Shaw

Pet cat / Joey Alison Sayers

Soixante neuf / David Lasky and Mairead Case

Little house in the big city / Sabrina Jones

Jordan W. Lint to the age 65 / Chris Ware

Domestic men of mystery / Jillian Tamaki

Browntown : excerpt / Jaime Hernandez

Fear of fire : excerpt / Julia Gfrörer

People around here / Dave Lapp

Great Gatsbys / Kate Beaton

Abby's road / Noah Van Sciver

Anatomy of a pratfall / Peter and Maria Hoey

Mad scientist : excerpt / Jeff Smith

1977 / Paul Pope

Pterodactyl hunters (in the Gilded City) : excerpt / Brendan Leach

Winter : excerpt / Danica Novgorodoff, Benjamin Percy, and James Ponsoldt

Glenn Ganges in "Mind and body" : excerpt / Kevin Huizenga

Weekends abroad / Eric Orner

Ultimate graphic novel (in six panels) / David Lasky.

2013

Foreword / Jessica Abel and Matt Madden

Introduction / Jeff Smith

Mirror : (excerpt) from Are you my mother? / Alison Bechdel

The speaker from Dark Horse presents / Brandon Graham

The divine manifestation of a singular impulse from By this you shall know him / Jesse Jacobs

Turn back : (excerpt) from Haunter, Studygroupcomics.com / Sam Alden

Manananggal from Whatthingsdo.com / Michael DeForge

The good wife / Sophie Goldstein

70 nights of pleasure : (excerpt) from Habibi / Craig Thompson

The story of Gráinne Ní Mháille : (excerpt) from Gone to Amerikay / Colleen Doran and Derek McCulloch, with José Villarrubia

Excerpts from American elf / James Kochalka

You lied to us! : (excerpt) from Giants, beware! / Jorge Aguirre and Rafael Rosado

Story time from Dark Horse presents / Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson

Raiders : (excerpt) from Friends with boys / Faith Erin Hicks

1912 : (excerpt) from Unterzakhn / Leela Corman

A husband and a wife from Kramers ergot / Sammy Harkham

Four comics from Incidentalcomics.com / Grant Snider

Nita goes home from Mome / Eleanor Davis

Concrete park : (excerpt) from Dark Horse presents / Tony Puryear

Top five from Studygroupcomics.com / Malachi Ward

The strange boy : (excerpt) from My friend Dahmer / Derf Backderf

A killer's surprise : (excerpt) from Rachel rising / Terry Moore

George from Mome / Laura Park

Velocipede from Hark! a vagrant / Kate Beaton

Fun strips from Dark Horse presents / Evan Dorkin

Saints in the store from Underwire / Jennifer Hayden

Scary bathtub stories from Tales designed to thrizzle / Michael Kupperman

Cody from Kramers ergot / Gabrielle Bell

In the rough from Tablet / Vanessa Davis

Love me forever! Oh! Oh! Oh! from Little heart: a comic anthology for marriage equality / Jeremy Sorese

Discipline : (excerpt) from Annie Sullivan and the trials of Helen Keller / Joseph Lambert

1969 from Dark Horse presents / Paul Pope

Contributor's notes

Notable comics from September 1, 2011, to August 31, 2012.

2014

Great comics are not a genre : Crime raiders international mobsters and executioners / Jaime Hernandez ; Picnic now!, Sickroom reading, and The hand laundry / Ben Katchor ; The hive (excerpt) / Charles Burns ; All the marbles (excerpt) / Gilbert Hernandez ; Translated, from the Japanese, / Adrian Tomine ; High road to the schmuck seat / R. Crumb and Aline Kominsky-Crumb ; A 21st century still life / Ben Katchor

Raising readers : Drama (excerpt) / Raina Telgemeier ; Jane, the fox and me (excerpt) / Fanny Britt and Isabelle Arsenault

Family tree : Letting it go (excerpt) / Miriam Katin ; RL (excerpt) / Tom Hart ; Mom (excerpt) / Sam Sharpe ; August 1977 / Nina Bunjevac

Strange adventures : The mermaid in the Hudson (excerpt) / Mark Siegel ; Saga chapter 7 (excerpt) / Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples ; Multiple warheads : alphabet to infinity #1 (excerpt) / Brandon Graham ; Dimensions / Ted May

The book of the year is not a book : Building stories (excerpt) / Chris Ware

Testimonials : March : book one (excerpt) / John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell ; The program is morally good (excerpt) / Frank M. Young and David Lasky ; Hip hop family tree / Ed Piskor

Oh, crap

webcomics! : Depression part two (excerpt) / Allie Brosh

Even stranger adventures : Canadian royalty / Michael DeForge ; The understanding monster

book one (excerpt) / Theo Ellsworth

The Kuiper Belt : Is there silence?, The implications of making something from nothing via the spiritual realm, and This is magic

this is alchemy / Ron Regé, Jr. ; Face it / C.F. ; Bittersweet romance (excerpt) / Victor Cayro ; Whistle while you work ... or think of death / Onsmith ; Schweinhund and Howdy, his nephew Dee Dee and a friend of Howdy's nephew / Gerald Jablonski ; Hyperspeed to nowhere, return to entropy (excerpt) / Lale Westvind Untitled selections / G.W. Duncanson ; Blue period / Aiden Koch ; Ambient air (part II) / Erin Curry

Memory boxes : Cul de sac, September 17-23, 2012 / Richard Thompson ; Hawaii 1997 / Sam Alden.

2015

Mom and dad. Can't we talk about something more pleasant? (exerpt) / Roz Chast ; Kill my mother (exerpt) / Jules Feiffer

Superheroes détourned. Theth (exerpt) / Josh Bayer ; Sadistic comics / R. Sikoryak ; Mathilde's story / Diane Obomsawin ; Blane throttle (exerpt) / Ben Duncan

Storytellers. The wrenchies (exerpt) / Farel Dalrymple ; Prometheus / Anders Nilsen ; Palm ash / Julia Gfrörer ; The good witch, 1947 / Megan Kelso

Voices. No tears, no sorrow / Eleanor Davis ; Pretty smart / Andy Burkholder ; The Colombia diaries, Sept 14-16 (exerpt) / Gabrielle Bell

You might even hang them on your wall. No title (I was fumbling), no title (the credits rolled), and no title (as we can) / Raymond Pettibon ; Lâcher de chiens / Henriette Valium ; Pythagoras / Ron Regé, Jr. ; 76 manifestations of American Destiny (exerpt) / David Sandlin ; Cretin keep on creep'n creek / Mat Brinkman ; briefly, before dawn / Rosaire Appel

Biopics and historical fictions. selections from Hip hop family tree / Ed Piskor ; Woman rebel : the Margaret Sanger story (exerpt) / Peter Bagge ; The Great War (exerpt) / Joe Sacco

Working the cute nerve. Fran (exerpt) / Jim Woodring ; Little Tommy lost : book one (exerpt) / Cole Closser ; Mimi and the wolves (exerpt) / Alabaster ; Pockets of temporal disruptions (exerpt) from Safari honeymoon / Jesse Jacobs ; Misliving amended / Adam Buttrick

Raging her-moans. My year of unreasonable grief (part four) (exerpt) from Lena Finkle's magic barrel / Anya Ulinich ; Someone please have sex with me / Gina Wynbrandt ; After school (exerpt) from Unloveable, vol.3 / Esther Pearl Watson

The way we live now. Informanics (exerpt) / Matthew Thurber ; Cross delivery, Screw style, How did you get in the hole?, The pen, and We can't sleep from The hole / Noel Freibert ; Comets comets / Blaise Larmee ; Crime chime noir / A. Degen

Brainworms. No class (exerpt) from School spirits / Anya Davidson ; Net gain, Swiping at branches, and The perfect match / Kevin Hooyman ; Behold the sexy man! from Well come / Erik Nebel.

2016 --

Killing and dying / Adrian Tomine --

Wendy (excerpt) / Walter Scott --

The Last Saturday (excerpt) / Christ Ware --

The Swim and Today / Anne Emond

R. Crumb and Me /

Drew Friedman --

Stroppy (excerpt) / Marc Bell --

Powdered milk, vol. 14 / Keiler Roberts --

Milk from Bumf, vol. 1 / Joe Sacco --

The Dishrack / Gabrielle Bell --

Syllabus (excerpt) / Lynda Barry --

The Hospital suite (excerpt) / John Porcellino --

All the paintings here agree / Liana Finck --

El Deafo (excerpt) / Cece Bell --

Broadside ballads / Kate Beaton --

The Corpse, the Ghost and the Hollow-Weenie (excerpt) from The Adventures of Tad Martin #6 / Casanova Frankenstein --

Fashion cat / Alex Schubert --

Bike fast, Coney Island, and Home / Sophia Zdon --

Vintage trash and Horse bones / Julia Wertz --

Here (excerpt) / Richard McGuire --

Dissident years (excerpt) from Fatherland / Nina Bunjevac --

mom / Dave Lapp --

Adult only (excerpt) / Lance Ward --

The Danish modern borer, the Latest laugh, The Needleless garment extruder, Illness in the window, The Vontsel Institute, and The Brazen Bull Corporation / Ben Katchor --

Blanket portraits / Genevi©·ve Elverum --

Shut your pie hole, Johnny Pinetop / Joe Ollmann --

Blinky-Jinks Playhouse / Char Esm©♭ --

Big Rudy's cowgirls Club / Char Esm©♭ and Lauren Poor --

Untitled / Taylor-Ruth Baldwin --

Bumps in the night (excerpt ) / Gilbert Hernandez --

Don't leave me alone / GG.

2017

The Future of Art 25 Years Hence / Gary Panter

Communications Workers of America AND Coffee Lids of Greater Old Red Falls / Dan Zettwoch

Get In Where U Fit In AND Molt/ Ben Duncan

Shrine of the Monkey God / Kim Deitch

Willem de Kooning. (Geniuses are nothing if not complicated in their methods) / Deb Sokolow

Remembering the Millionaire Hobo / Tim Lane

The Kanibul Ball / Lale Westvind

Get Out Your Hankies (Excerpt) FROM July Diary 2016 / gabrielle bell

De Hooch / John Hankiewicz

Selections From Hip Hop Family Tree / Ed Piskor

Daisies (Excerpt) FROM Swampson 3 / Bj©œrn Miner

Rent Crisis / Joe Sacco

Time To Get Paid, Sexual Chocolate, Women Only, No Men Allowed, AND Hong Fong Chuey / Gerone Spruill

Radio Silence / Grant Reynolds

Untitled / Bailey Jean Thomas – 2010 / Josh Bayer

In Pieces: Someplace Which I Call Home (Excerpt) / KURT Ankeny

Big Kids (Excerpt) / Michael Deforge

SCHLONGED! / Eli Valley

Good Haven High / Oscar Azmitia – Ranchero / MIKE TAYLOR

Four Untitled Pieces / William Tyler

Kill Thurber / Matthew Thurber

John Wilcock, New York Years (Excerpt) / Ethan Persoff and Scott Marshall

Jeremy Meets the Forest Cow / Sienna Cittadino

Test Of Loyalty / Sam Alden

Generous Bosom Part 2 (Excerpt) / Conor Stechschulte

Necessity (Excerpt) FROM Don't Come in Here / Patrick Kyle

The Dead Father / Sami Alwani

I Am Better Than Picasso From Muhammad Ali Series / Dapper Bruce Lafitte – Picaresque / Laura Pallmall

G.C. in "Dem Bones Pt. II" (Excerpt) from Real Deal Comix / Lawrence D. Hubbard

Love with Family Love AND The Team for Sure / Larry Randolph

Invisible Ink: My Mother's Secret Love Affair with a Famous Cartoonist (Excerpts) / Bill Griffith

2018. Ghost cats from Everything is flammable (Excerpt) / Gabrielle Bell --

Selections from How to be alive / Tara Booth --

Echoes into eternity / D. J. Bryant --

The warlok story / Max Clotfelter --

The Shaolin cowboy: who'll stop the reign? (Excerpt) / Geof Darrow --

Hostage (Excerpt) / Guy Delisle --

Brausebad / Abraham Díaz --

Margot / Margot Ferrick --

My favorite this is monsters book 1 (Excerpt) / Emil Ferris --

A taste of purgatory from Purgatory (Excerpt) / Casanova Frankenstein --

Frail nature / Julia Gfrörer --

Selections from Susan something / Julian Glander --

Sam's story from the rolling blackouts (Excerpt) / Sarah Glidden --

Angloid, part 2 / Alex Graham --

Megg, Mogg & Owl:"A gift for a baby" / Simon Hanselmann --

Forest spirits / Jaime Hernandez --

The wide birth and benign neglect / Kevin Hooyman --

Crawl space (Excerpt) / Jesse Jacobs --

Playground of my mind (Excerpt) / Julia Jacquette --

Miss V: my last love story / Andre Krayewski and Ed Krayewski --

Selections from Art school / Aaron Lange --

Seabrook of Arabia from the Abominable Mr. Seabrook / Joe Ollmann --

Selections from Things more likely to kill you than...and Busy comic / Laura Pallmall --

Songy of paradise (Excerpt) / Gary Panter --

UGLY / Chloë Perkis --

Fatherson / Richie Pope --

Untitled (Excerpt) / Michael Ridge --

Sunburning (Excerpts) / Keiler Roberts --

Things I regret / Ariel Schrag --

The moolah tree (Excerpt) / Ted Stearn --

Art comic (Excerpt) / Matthew Thurber --

The last felony comics story / Pete Toms --

Yazar and Arkada̧s (Excerpt) / Lale Westvind --

Notable comics from September 1, 2016, to August 31, 2017.