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Comics 2011

I spent 2011 doing what I usually do when it comes to comics - waffling. I've been playing the singles vs. trades game for a decade now and it gets pretty tiring. I started off 2011 buying quite a few series on a regular basis before I decided to stop in late May. I then picked up one comic in July and one again in August. The big DC relaunch drew me back in September and October but I resisted in November before picking up handful this month. In all, I bought 114 single issues.

I also read 19 trades, which seems like less than usual. I did take long periods of time to get some trades read. Yet another product of the stress of my two semesters with English classes I wanted to do well in. The trades were mixtures of previously-read collected material and things that were new to me

Here's a few of my favorite comics this year, no matter the format...

Batgirl - I didn't see this one coming. Conor from iFanboy had been recommending this series, so I took a shot and discovered he was right. The Batgirl of this series is Stephanie Brown, who was a competent and compelling super-hero. Bryan Q. Miller did a great job writing and the art was solid, with occasionally spectacular work by Dustin Nguyen. When I stopped buying singles, I lost out on this. Once DC relaunched in September, Stephanie Brown was no longer Batgirl. I will, however, be getting the 3 trades that comprise this run.

Daytripper - I read this in trade format and fell completely in love. It's the story of Bras de Oliva Domingos, who is an obituarist and son of a famous writer. Something major happens at the end of the first issue and from there, the series is an amazing look at life. I already knew Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon were great artists (and boy, do they prove that again in this book) but it turns out they're great writers too. An outstanding work of art.

Detective Comics - So, Batman died. Don't worry, he's alive again and it happened even before the DC relaunch. In between, however, Dick Grayson took over the mantle of Batman. Scott Synder wrote his adventures in this title with amazing art by Jock and Francesco Francavilla. It was great comics and I didn't finish the run because I stopped buying singles. I got the collection of them all for Christmas, though. Can't wait to dig in.

Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. - I didn't read this comic when it originally came out back in 2006-07, though I certainly heard good things about it. After reading this collection, I know that praise was justified. Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen produced 12 issues of this hilarious Marvel series. It's so much fun.

The Unwritten - This comic was the last one I read in May before I traded in all my comics. I've missed it the whole time since then. I will be catching up in early 2012, to be sure. It's a story about stories by Mike Carey and Peter Gross and it is brilliant.

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