oyceter: man*ga [mahng' guh] n. Japanese comics. synonym: CRACK (manga is crack)
At least this year I'm getting it out before Chinese New Year! Though that's mostly because it's super late this year...

As usual, these are my favorites out of the sequential art I've read this year, as opposed to what came out this year. The "new-to-me" series aren't actually always new to me; some series in particular are on the list because though I started the series earlier, what I read this year was enough to put them on my favorites list.

I was pretty terrible about writing things up this year, thanks to grad school getting increasingly busy every semester. If it's linked, I wrote it up, but feel free to ask in comments about anything!

Overall, I largely paused in my attempt to read more manhua, as there's still not very much being published in Taiwan right now, and the quality isn't so great. I am so sad there has been nothing new by Nan Gong Yu! At least I saw her series running in a magazine, so I'm fairly sure she's still writing. Just... very slowly?

I also read much less new stuff, at least, that's how I feel. I started two massive rereads during the summer (FMA and Fruits Basket), and mostly I was looking for rereading or at least a continuation of a series I knew thanks to my brain being extremely worn out by school. I also went on a brief superhero comics run to find out what happens to Catwoman; unfortunately, aside from Selina's Big Score, which I loved (and which started me on said spree), the rest largely reconfirmed that I'm not much of a superhero comics fan.

Favorite new-to-me series )

Also recommended )

Favorite ending series )

Favorite continuing series )

Total: 236 (74 rereads)

All sequential art read in 2009 )
oyceter: Stack of books with text "mmm... books!" (mmm books)
It's 1933 in Charon, Mississippi, and young Lee Wagstaff lives with her father on a small plot of land. She knows the bayou is dangerous, but she'll soon find that out first hand.

This comprises the first four chapters of the free online comic. It's a slight volume that's mostly set up for the rest of the story, and the titular character isn't even introduced until near the end. Still, you get enough to appreciate the gorgeous art (colors by Patrick Morgan), and there's already enough story to pique my interest.

Lee is an awesome protagonist. She's smart and brave but still thoroughly a little girl, and Love seems to be very good so far at sketching out characters, from Lee's playmate Lily, whom I want to slap, to her uncle and aunt and, of course, her father and Bayou. I also love the fantasy elements in the story, particularly the savage Jim Crows, and I'm looking forward to seeing even more of that as Lee and Bayou journey deeper into the bayou.

The art is lovely. In some of the panels, you can see Love's sketched guidelines or bits of pencil that haven't been edited out; it might feel unfinished for some people, but I enjoyed having those rough bits. The colors are gorgeous. I'm also glad that Love doesn't try to fit too much in a page. I'm so used to manga now, and when I read non-manga comics, I frequently end up feeling as though the art is too crowded, with too many panels and too many speech bubbles and too many words everywhere. Love gives the art room to breathe.

I'm still trying to decide if I should read ahead online: I love having the physical version and I already spend too much time on the computer as is (oh my eyes), but I want to know what happens!

So far, a great beginning and highly recommended.

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