Review: On the Odd Hours

On the Odd Hours, by Eric Liberge, 2010, NBM, 72 pages, $14.95

This is the third in a series of comic books that NBM has co-published with the Louvre museum (the first was Nicolas De Crecy's Glacial Period; the second was Marc-Antoine Mathieu's Museum Vaults, which I thought was fantastic and reviewed here; forthcoming books include Bernard Yslaire and Jean-Claude Carrière's The Sky Over the Louvre and a book by Hirohiko Araki). After Museum Vaults, I was really looking forward to reading On the Odd Hours. Unfortunately, it did not live up to my expectations. It's not terrible or anything -- there are actually two very neat ideas in here, and Liberge surely gets points for trying something different -- but problems with the story, the storytelling and the coloring seriously hampered my enjoyment of the book.

The story is about a young deaf punk named Bastien who stumbles into the role of being the night guard at the Louvre.  The first neat idea in the book is that the art comes to life during the "odd hours" of the night, and only Bastien and his mentor-predecessor know how to communicate with it and treat it properly.

For the most part, the plot follows a fairly standard trajectory:  Bastien is asked by the current "guardian of the odd hours" to become his apprentice, Bastien sees some of the art come to life and (sort of) rejects his new calling, Bastien's life falls apart, Bastien accepts his position as the new guardian, and the artwork accepts him and all appears to be well.  Add in that Bastien starts out an angry person who can't control his temper, but grows to become a better person as he finds his place in the world, and you could have a tidy little story.

But Bastien's personality issues are not actually resolved at the same time that he accepts his position; he ends up lashing out, hitting a patron of the museum, and getting fired.  Bastien then uses (abuses?) his new powers to let all of the spirits of the artwork out of the museum so that they fill Paris with strangeness, startling everyone and forcing his boss at the museum to re-hire him and give him room and board at the museum so that Bastien will bring the spirits back inside.  It's an awkward fourth act that takes up a significant chunk of the book, and it makes it seem as though Bastien hasn't actually grown at all -- he's still kind of an ass, but now he's a more powerful ass.

Aside from the plot, I had other problems with the book. The coloring somehow manages to be both psychedelic and unrelentingly dull. It's as though the comic has been placed at the bottom of a puddle that has a sheen of oil coating it, so that every page has weird rainbow colors floating on top of a dim gray-green color. I could understand if this technique was only used during the scenes when the artwork came to life -- it would accentuate the fantastical events and set them off from the rest of the book. Unfortunately, the entire book is colored this way, which both diminishes the impact of those scenes AND doesn't help with the somewhat confusing storytelling.  Here's one example:

Now that you've looked at the coloring, take a second look at the placement of the captions on that page.  Notice how several of the captions intrude on other panels?  If used properly, this lettering technique can connect a sequence of panels, so that a reader's eye looks at Panel A, sees the caption from Panel B breaking the borders of Panel A, read the caption, and then looks at Panel B.  Unfortunately, in this book many captions connect two panels that are not meant to be read one after the other (Panels A and C, for instance).

Below, I've added green arrows that show you the correct way to read the page, while the red arrows show you an incorrect sequence that at first appears to be correct because of the placement of the text boxes (click to enlarge):

On a single page, there are at least four places where the eye could be led astray by the text boxes.  The layout is already fairly complex, and this problem really makes it difficult to follow.  This occurs throughout the book, and hurts the storytelling.

I did say that there were two neat ideas here, however.  The second neat idea in the book is how it shows deaf characters using sign language:

This is a technique that I have never seen before, and it is really quite cool.

The idea that art comes to life during those dead times of the night when most people are asleep, that art needs to be listened to -- I like that idea. Unfortunately, this book flunks the execution. I'll still look forward to any future books in this series, but I'll try to keep my expectations a little lower.

READ MORE: Here is a three-page excerpt.

BUY IT: From Amazon here: On the Odd Hours

RELATED: My reviews of other comic books published by NBM:

• Give It Up!, by Peter Kuper
• Mijeong, by Byun Byung-Jun
• Museum Vaults, by Marc-Antoine Mathieu
• Nocturnal Conspiracies, by David B.

Disclaimer: This review is based on a complimentary copy provided by the publisher.

Odds and Ends

Two things today:

I contributed to Flashlight Worthy's list of graphic novels about women and written by women, done in honor of Women's History Month.  Other contributors include Matthew Brady, Jog, Katherine Dacey, David Welsh, and Noah Berlatsky.  Check it out here.

I also wanted to point out that Kevin Church and the crew at Agreeable Comics have been turning out some excellent web comics, including The Loneliest Astronauts, She Died in Terrebone, and (my favorite) The Rack.  If you haven't read them before, go give them all a shot.


I'll be back soon with another post about in my series about Louis Riel.  Stay tuned!

Reading Riel #2: One Cover and Two Maps

This is the second in a series of posts about Chester Brown's Louis Riel: A Comic-Strip Biography.  Click here to see all of the posts in this series.

Now that I've gotten the introduction to this series of posts out of the way, let's dig in to the real meat of this book: the cover!

That's the cover to the 2006 softcover collection over there.  I've got a few thoughts about it.  First, it's a nice, striking image, simple yet dynamic.  Second, it's the first time we see Riel, and it presents him in a somewhat ambiguous light: is he defiantly facing the oncoming storm, or do I detect a bit of fear or concern in his posture?  And his cloak and scarf are swept back behind him by the wind, looking almost like the cape of a superhero.  Third, this might be a preview of the setting for this story.  It's going to be outdoors in the wilderness, and cold.  Canada, baby.  Fourth, there is some heavy symbolism going on here.  A storm's a-brewin', and Riel has nowhere to hide from it. Trouble is on its way, and although he sees it coming, he might not be completely prepared for it.  He's also alone on a rocky mountaintop.  This does not bode well for our hero.  One final thought: the hardcover version is black-and-white, while my softcover version adds that nice golden color.  I like the color (especially the very subtle difference in shade between Riel and the mountain-top), which really makes the image pop.  The color is also used on the spine for the title and author, set against that dark gray background, which really helps the book catch the eye when it's on your shelf.  Smart design choice.

All right, I think I'm ready to open the book.  And in case I didn't know that this book was a critical darling, the first thing I see are five pages chock-full of glowing quotes from various publications, along with the following statements: NOMINATED FOR EISNER, IGNATZ, AND LIBRIS AWARDS.  WINNER OF TWO HARVEY AWARDS: BEST WRITER AND BEST GRAPHIC ALBUM OF PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED WORK.  Yup, I can say now that I have HIGH expectations for this book.

We also get a page listing Brown's other books: Ed the Happy Clown (1989), The Playboy (1992), I Never Liked You (1994), and The Little Man (1998).  If you've read any of these, I'd be happy to hear your opinion of them in the comments.  Also, since Louis Riel ended its serialization back in 2003, I wonder what Brown has been working on recently.  Anyone know?

Next comes a foreword, written and hand-lettered by Chester Brown.  I like the decision to hand letter the foreword.  Nice move for a book that is both a serious literary work AND a comic.  Brown notes that the book includes both an index and a bibliography (again: serious work here, don't you forget it).

He also gives us two keys to the book, one about the story and one about the art.  First, he tells us that he isn't going to deal with Riel's entire life, but has instead "mostly concentrated on Riel's antagonistic relationship with the Canadian government . . . ."  Sounds like a smart decision, since trying to construct a dramatic narrative out of a person's life is always a difficult task.  Focusing on a particularly important conflict will give a nice arc to the story.  The second key is that while he loves Hergé (The Adventures of Tintin), his "main visual inspiration" was Harold Gray's Little Orphan Annie:

(click to enlarge)

Interesting, and certainly something to keep in mind as I write about the book.  Maybe I'll spend a future post going into how the art in Louis Riel draws from Little Orphan Annie.

And after the forward comes two maps!  I admit it, I'm a sucker for maps.  If you asked me to choose between two books that I had never heard of, and one had maps in the front and one didn't, the one with the maps has a definite edge.

The first map is of Northern North America in 1869, and shows how the land was divided up into "Land that Britain claims to own," "Rupert's Land -- which the Hudson's Bay Company claims to own," "Canada," and "The United States of America."  It also includes a caption that gives a little history of Rupert's Land.  It's nuts to realize that a fur-trading company used to control a huge swath of what is now Canada.  What, doesn't Canada have spices or particularly nice silk?  Finally, the map points out that the location of the "Red River Settlement," the U.S. city of Pembina, and the Canadian cities of Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto.

What's particularly interesting about this map is that it helps to set up what I expect are some of the conflicts in the story.  First, it's clear that who controls the land is going to be important.  There is a lot of land here that is not listed as "Britain's land" or "Hudson's Bay land," but only land that those two entities claim to own.  My guess is that those claims will be disputed.  It also shows us the distance between the main Canadian cities and the Red River Settlement.  Since I already know Riel was out on the western frontier of Canada and rebelled against the Canadian government, it's neat to see this issue depicted spatially.  Of course he's going to  rebel -- he's way out there on the frontier!  How could they hope to control that area back in 1869?  And don't they know that "he who controls the furs controls the universe"?

Here's map 2:

(click to enlarge)

This map isn't as detailed as I would normally like, but, like the first map, it's helping to set up a major conflict in the book: there are English parishes and French parishes in the Red River Settlement, and I'm thinking that those two groups didn't get along so well.  There also the little line of a river winding down to the U.S.A. and Pembria, and a "Stone Fort."  Perhaps, significant?  Just maybe...

Thus, in addition to orienting us by showing us where the action is going to happen, Brown has already given us a lot of information about the sort of political and social problems that the book will be dealing with, and in the space of only two pages, simply by using hand-drawn maps and captions.  These two pages are a nice example of the power of the comic book medium to effectively and efficiently communicate ideas.

NEXT: Onward to Part One of the book!

FURTHER READING: Here is the Wikipedia entry for Chester Brown.  Did you know that "in September 2008, Brown entered politics as the Libertarian Party of Canada's candidate for the riding of Trinity-Spadina in the 2008 federal election."  What's a "riding," you ask?  A Canadian electoral district, silly!  (No, I didn't know either.)

BUY IT: From Drawn & Quarterly here or from Amazon here: Louis Riel: A Comic-Strip Biography

Reading Riel #1

Louis Riel: A Comic-Strip Biography, by Chester Brown, softcover collection published in 2006, Drawn & Quarterly, 280 pages, $17.95

Let's try something a little different here: I'm going to read Chester Brown's Louis Riel and write a series of posts as I read it.  My goal is to dig deeper into: (1) the story; (2) the art; and (3) why I am or am not enjoying it.

Also, I'm not going to presume anything, but if anyone feels like reading along with me (whether you've read this before or not), go for it.  Weigh in with a comment.  Maybe we can get a little book club-type discussion going.  I'll bring the stinky cheese plate if you bring the margarita mix.

But before I get into the book proper, I thought I should tell you what I know about it, so that you have a sense of what sort of baggage I am carrying with me as I embark on this project.

First, I'm embarrassed to admit that I know next-to-nothing about Chester Brown.  He's the author of the long-running series Yummy Fur, which I have not read.  And he's Canadian.  That's all I know, unfortunately.  But hey, that's one reason why I sought this book out.  Gotta start somewhere.

Next, here is what I know about Louis Riel: zip.  I'd never heard of him before hearing about this book.  From the back of the book, I know that he helped to lead a rebellion on the western frontier of Canada back in the 1800s.  It sounds like he is a pretty important figure in Canada's history, and as with Chester Brown, I feel like I should know more about him.  Sadly, my history classes here in the United States never covered him, to the extent that they acknowledged the existence of Canada at all.

As for the book, I know that it's considered one of the best comics of the 00s by many critics and reviewers.  It was originally serialized from the late 90s through the early 00s, and collected into hardcover in 2004.  (That's why  I completely missed it and only learned about it recently: like many people, I quit reading comics for the most part from around 1996 through 2006.)  It was published by art/literary comics publisher Drawn & Quarterly, which is pretty much a surefire stamp of quality.  Note: D&Q is a Canadian publisher.  I would guess that D&Q considers this acclaimed book, by a Canadian about a famous Canadian historical figure, as the jewel in its crown.

So that's what I know.  Unless you have already read this book, you are probably in the same boat as I am.  Let's all LEARN together.

NEXT: I talk about the cover and the introductory material in the book.  Exciting, right?  You will be able to find all my posts on Louis Riel here.  (Thanks to Tom Spurgeon for that idea.)

READ MORE: Here are the first six pages, and here is an interview with Brown about the book.  Also, a lot has been written about this book, but after I'm done with it the first place I'm going is over here, where comic critics Jeet Heer and Tom Spurgeon discuss the book.

BUY IT: From Drawn & Quarterly here or from Amazon here: Louis Riel: A Comic-Strip Biography

Review: Crogan's March

Crogan's March, by Chris Schweizer, 2010, Oni Press, 168 pages, $14.95

This is the second in a series of books about the daring deeds and derring-do of the ancestors of the Crogan family. The first, Crogan's Vengeance, was about "Catfoot" Crogan, a pirate back in the early 1700s. This one features Peter Crogan, a member of the French Foreign Legion serving in Africa in 1912.  Peter, a former boxer, appears to have joined the Legion for the same reason many others did: to run away from his problems.  Now he's stuck in a desert in Africa, ferrying rich locals from one town to the next, and trying to fight off bandits, sandstorms, and a mysterious cave-dwelling creature that might or might not be a djinn.

It's a solid adventure story, appropriate for young teenagers but enjoyable for adult  readers too. The characters are well-developed; the "good guys" have flaws and the "bad guys" aren't just evil but have reasons of their own for opposing the Legion.  Peter is a fun character to root for, as he isn't just some hapless guy in over his head -- as I said, he's a former boxer, and also a crack shot and a natural leader.  And he's not blind to the fact that many of the locals don't want the Legion around.  He's just trying to do his best and keep people safe.

One nice aspect of the book is that Schweizer has clearly done his research. I learned a lot about the Foreign Legion without feeling like I was sitting in history class. He loads it up with information about the sort of people who joined the Legion, its goals, the relationship between the Legion and the standard French army, the locals it protected, the locals it fought against, and lots of other little details: How do you survive a sandstorm? What kind of pets did wealthy Africans like to keep? Why is it a good idea to wear underpants?

I also like Schweizer's art, which seems to have loosened up some more since the first book.  Characters are a little more cartoony-looking (I'm particularly thinking of the brash, short commander of Peter's unit -- the man has a jutting, pointy chin that looks caricature-ish) and the storytelling is excellent.

I do have one problem with the book, however, and this was also something that bothered me with Crogan's Vengeance: everything feels a little cramped.  From a photo in the back, it looks like Schweizer works in a bigger size, and then the art gets shrunken down to fit the 9" x 6.3" inch dimensions of the book.  Perhaps as a result, there isn't a lot of room for the images to breathe, and every panel is packed.  There isn't a single full-page image in the book, which is a shame because the story and setting lends itself to a least a few glorious drawings of sweeping vistas -- the African city! the fort being attacked by thousands of rebels! etc. -- I want some full page spreads of these things.  It feels like Schweizer has so much that he wants to say that he can't spare a page or two to show us a big awesome drawing.

I have a strong interest in wanting this series of books to succeed (both as good stories, and financially, so that Schweizer continues to make them), since I have two young boys and I'm hoping to have a nice collection of age-appropriate comics for them to read as they grow up.  This series is already lot of fun, and it has the potential to be really great.  I hope that Schweizer continues to up his game with each successive book.

READ MORE: Here's a 26-page excerpt and an interview with Schweizer.  (And here's an older interview with Schweizer.)

BUY IT: From the publisher here or from Amazon here: Crogan's March

Comic Book Shopping List for 2010

For all you people out there who want to read good comic books, here's your shopping list for the year. Many of these are prime candidates for membership in the Best Comics of 2010 Meta-List.

Note: August-December information is sparse because many publishers haven't revealed their plans yet.  I'll probably publish an updated shopping list later this year.

January

• Afrodisiac, by Brian Maruca and Jim Rugg, AdHouse

February

• On the Odd Hours, by Eric Liberge, NBM
• Mesmo Delivery, by Rafael Grampa, Dark Horse
• John Constantine, Hellblazer: Pandemonium, by Jaime Delano and Jock, Vertigo
• Meanwhile: Pick Any Path, by Jason Shiga, Amulet
• Crogan's March, Chris Schweizer, Oni Press

March

• The Wild Kingdom, by Kevin Huizenga, Drawn & Quarterly

April

• Black Blizzard, by Yoshihiro Tatsumi, Drawn & Quarterly
• It Was the War of the Trenches, by Jacques Tardi, Fantagraphics
• BodyWorld, by Dash Shaw, Pantheon

May

• Wilson, by Dan Clowes, Drawn & Quarterly
• Dungeon Quest: Book One, by Joe Daly, Fantagraphics
• Solomon's Thieves, by Jordan Mechner, LeUyen Pham, and Alex Puvilland, First Second
• Dong Xoai, by Joe Kubert, Vertigo

June

• Billy Hazelnuts and the Crazy Bird, by Tony Millionaire, Fantagraphics
• Beasts of Burden, by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson, Dark Horse
• If 'n Oof, by Brian Chippendale, Picturebox

July

• Werewolves of Montpellier, by Jason, Fantagraphics
• Moving Pictures, by Kathryn and Stuart Immonen, Top Shelf
• Revolver, by Matt Kindt, Vertigo

October

• X'ed Out, by Charles Burns, Pantheon
• The Little Prince Graphic Novel, by Antoine de Saint-Exupery and Joann Sfar, HMH Books

November

• How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less, by Sarah Glidden, Vertigo

Unknown, but hopefully sometime in 2010

• Battling Boy, by Paul Pope, First Second
• Relish, by Lucy Knisley, First Second
• The Wrenchies, by Farel Dalrymple, First Second
• Scott Pilgrim vol. 6, by Bryan Lee O'Malley, Oni Press

Update to the Best Comics of 2009 Meta-List

2005 Meta-List | 2006 Meta-List | 2007 Meta-List
2008 Meta-List | 2009 Meta-List

After I posted the Best Comics of 2009 Meta-List, I found fifteen more lists to add to the original 130 lists.  So here's an updated Meta-List, along with some comments on the changes.

Rank	Title	Points
1	Asterios Polyp, by David Mazzucchelli	5315.23
2	Parker: The Hunter, by Darwyn Cooke	1785.29
3	Pluto, by Naoki Urasawa	1659.3
4	George Sprott: 1894-1975, by Seth	1637.17
5	Monsters, by Ken Dahl	1532.88
6	Detective Comics, by Greg Rucka and J.H. Williams III	1430.86
7	A Drifting Life, by Yoshihiro Tatsumi	1373.98
8	The Book of Genesis Illustrated, by Robert Crumb	1090.39
9	Scott Pilgrim vs. The Universe, by Bryan Lee O'Malley	1089.8
10	Stitches, by David Small	1072.89
11	Scalped, by Jason Aaron and R.M. Guera	1041.31
12	The Photographer, by Emmanuel Guibert and Didier Lefevre	964.25
13	Batman and Robin, by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely	878.55
14	You'll Never Know: A Good and Decent Man, by Carol Tyler	868.63
15	Chew, by John Layman and Rob Guillory	824.27
16	A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge, by Josh Neufeld	774.21
17	Pim & Francie: The Golden Bear Days, by Al Columbia	757.48
18	The Mourning Star vol. 2, by Kazmir Strzepek	738.63
19	Footnotes in Gaza, by Joe Sacco	663.75
20	Johnny Hiro, by Fred Chao	662.87
21	20th Century Boys, by Naoki Urasawa	591.98
22	Tales Designed to Thrizzle, by Michael Kupperman	567.8
23	Driven by Lemons, by Joshua Cotter	539.97
24	The Complete Jack Survives, by Jerry Moriarty	497.19
25	3 Story: The Secret History of the Giant Man, by Matt Kindt	495.22
26	Masterpiece Comics, by R. Sikoryak	487.8
27	Far Arden, by Kevin Cannon	481.28
28	Wednesday Comics, by various	480.75
29	I Kill Giants, by Joe Kelly and J.M. Ken Niimura	479.06
30	All Star Superman vol. 2, by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely	468.75
31	The Muppet Show, by Roger Langridge	450.76
32	The Squirrel Machine, by Hans Rickheit	447.06
33	Incredible Hercules, by Greg Pak, Fred Van Lente, and others	445.33
34	Daredevil, by various	443.83
35	Prison Pit, by Johnny Ryan	435.32
36	The Complete Essex County, by Jeff Lemire	433.17
37	Cecil and Jordan in New York: Stories, by Gabrielle Bell	411.89
38	King City, by Brandon Graham	405.95
39	The Unwritten, by Mike Carey and Peter Gross	392.7
40	The Act-I-Vate Primer, by various	384.19
41	Ex Machina, by Brian K. Vaughan and Tony Harris	382.46
42	Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth, by Apostolos Doxiadis, Christos Papadimitriou, Alecos Papdatos, and Annie Di Donna	380
43	Little Nothings vol. 2, by Lewis Trondheim	376.92
44	The Umbrella Academy vol. 2: Dallas, by Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba	374.14
45	The Unknown Soldier, by Joshua Dysart and Alberto Ponticelli	365.34
46	Beasts of Burden, by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson	352.95
47	The Eternal Smile, by Gene Luen Yang and Derek Kirk Kim	351.27
48	Ochre Ellipse #3, by Jonas Madden-Connor	348.35
49	B.P.R.D., by Mike Mignola, John Arcudi, Guy Davis, Fabio Moon, and Gabriel Ba	348.11
50	League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Century: 1910, by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill	342.6
51	Ganges #3, by Kevin Huizenga	338.13
52	Incognito, by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips	336.22
53	Phonogram: The Singles Club, by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie	335.35
54	Blackest Night, by Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis	334.98
55	Gogo Monster, by Taiyo Matsumoto	334.11
56	Northlanders, by Brian Wood and Leandro Fernandez	328.35
57	Oishinbo, by Tetsu Kariya and Akira Hanasaki	328.19
58	Seaguy: The Slaves of Mickey Eye, by Grant Morrison and Cameron Stewart	325.88
59	The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by Eric Shanower and Skottie Young	325.66
60	Criminal, by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips	319.6
61	Luba, by Gilbert Hernandez	318.9
62	Jonah Hex, by Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti, and others	318.52
63	Mouse Guard: Winter 1152, by David Peterson	308.61
64	Invincible Iron Man, by Matt Fraction and Salvador Larocca	295.4
65	Planetary #27, by Warren Ellis and John Cassaday	285.37
66	Grandville, by Bryan Talbot	279.97
67	The Color of Earth/Water/Heaven, by Dong Hwa Kim	274.6
68	Amazing Spider-Man, by various	270.67
69	Green Lantern, by Geoff Johns and Doug Mahnke	270
70	Irredeemable, by Mark Waid and Peter Krause	268.34
71	Captain Britain and MI-13, by Paul Cornell and Leonard Kirk	267.29
72	Ball Peen Hammer, by Adam Rapp and George O'Connor	263.35
72	Bodyworld, by Dash Shaw	263.35
74	The TOON Treasury of Classic Children's Comics, by various	261.94
75	I Want You, by Lisa Hanawalt	245.96
76	Everybody Is Stupid Except For Me, by Peter Bagge	240.97
77	The Winter Men, by Brett Lewis and John Paul Leon	240.53
78	Sugarcube, by Sam Gaskin	238.35
79	Just So You Know #1, by Joey Sayers	238.34
80	The Bun Field, by Amanda Vahamaki	236.68
81	Thor, by J. Michael Straczynski and various	226.67
82	Locas II: Maggie, Hopey, & Ray, by Jaime Hernandez	222.22
83	Low Moon, by Jason	220.03
84	Powers, by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming	220.01
85	Agents of Atlas, by Jeff Parker and others	219.59
86	Sweet Tooth, by Jeff Lemire	216.47
87	Another Glorious Day at the Nothing Factory, by Eroyn Franklin	210.84
88	Adventures in Cartooning, by James Sturm, Alexis Frederick-Frost, and Andrew Arnold	210
89	Funny Misshapen Body, by Jeffrey Brown	209.54
90	The Walking Dead, by Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard	206.93
91	Kramers Ergot #7, by various	206.27
92	Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary, by Justin Green	203.55
93	Final Crisis, by Grant Morrison, J.G. Jones, and Doug Mahnke	202.87
94	The Natural World, by Damien Jay	201.68
95	Popeye vol. 4: Plunder Island, by E.C. Segar	201.23
96	The John Stanley Library: Melvin the Monster, by John Stanley	201.05
97	Nine Ways to Disappear, by Lilli Carre	199.58
98	Like a Dog, by Zak Sally	195.13
99	Sandman: The Dream Hunters, by Neil Gaiman and P. Craig Russell	194.58
100	Young Liars, by David Lapham	194.57

Comments:
The data from the new lists has moved some books around on the Meta-List.  Here's a breakdown of some of the changes:

• The Top Ten:  Pluto (was #4, now #3) swaps places with George Sprott (was #3, now #4).  Monsters (was #6, now #5) and Detective Comics (was #7, now #6) overtake A Drifting Life (was #5, now #7), and The Book of Genesis gets bumped up two places (was #10, now #8) while Stitches drops two places (was #8, now #10).
• Big Movers: Footnotes in Gaza (perhaps benefiting from now having been around long enough to have been read by the new list-makers), steps up ten places (was #29, now #19); Incredible Hercules lumbers all the way from #68 up to #33 (and in the process becomes Marvel's highest-ranking book); Prison Pit oozes from #69 up to #35; King City sneaks from #61 up to #38; Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth searches from #59 to #42; and Grandville hustles from #90 up to #66.
• New Books: Eight new entries crack into the list: Beasts of Burden (way up there at #46), Thor (#81), Powers (#84), Agents of Atlas (#85), Final Crisis (#93), Like a Dog (#98), Sandman: The Dream Hunters (#99), and Young Liars (#100).  These newcomers bump eight other comics out of the top 100, including Alec: The Years Have Pants and You Are There.

The Meta-List now includes data from the following lists:

Acro's Thoughts

Bully Says: Comics Oughta Be Fun!

But Before I Kill You (Stefan Young)

Forbidden Planet (Joe Gordon)

Happpysad (Darryl Ayo Brathwaite)

Jackie Tam

Library Journal (Martha Cornog and Steve Raiteri)

Panel Patter

Paul Gravett

The Comics Journal (Rob Clough)

The Last Comic Blog

Warren Peace Sings the Blues (Matthew Brady)

Wednesday's Child (Paul DeBenedetto)

Yet Another Comics Blog (Dave Carter)

Zack Soto Other "Best Comics of the Year" Meta-Lists: 2005 Meta-List | 2006 Meta-List | 2007 Meta-List 2008 Meta-List | 2009 Meta-List