Today’s Best of the Year choices come courtesy of the writer and artist who has been consistently putting out one of the best and most professional-looking comics on the web (and hopefully eventually a proper-sized big print collection of it all when it concludes), Garen Ewing, creator of the brilliant Rainbow Orchid series, a brilliant adventure-mystery yarn illustrated in a lovely ligne claire style which imbues it with a nice Tintin-esque quality while still retaining its own identity.
It’s been a solid favourite with a number of the FPI crew for ages and if you haven’t been following it then do yourself a favour, bookmark it and then take some time over the holidays and have a good read while your festive meal slowly digests. Let’s see what Garen’s been enjoying this last year:
Comics/Graphic Novels
I Killed Adolf Hitler by Jason
Once again, Jason shows why simplicity works so well. A story of everyday assassination, time travel and love. Superb.
Laika by Nick Abadzis
Nick imagines a life for the first living being to travel beyond the earth’s atmosphere, but the human characters are just as well portrayed. Excellent.
Alice in Sunderland by Bryan Talbot
A huge tale to overload your brain with. It’s like entering a maze of history, story, and Bryan’s mind. Awesome.
Books
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J K Rowling
At last – the final episode and it doesn’t disappoint. After I finished it I started again at book one to enjoy the whole picture. Classic.
Hollow Earth by David Standish
From possible fact to fantastic fiction, Symmes, Poe, Verne and more are all covered in this absorbing work. Wonderful.
East of the Sun and West of the Moon by Kay Nielsen
I’ve wanted this for ages and found it second-hand this year. Stunning colour plates and beautiful line drawings for these Norwegian folk tales. Marvellous.
Films
I think I only went to the cinema three or four times this year… Harry Potter, Superbad, Atonement… and I’m looking forward to Golden Compass. My favourites have all been on DVD…
Scandal – Akira Kurosawa
Kurosawa is king. His insight into story and character is masterful and his films are one of my greatest joys. Even a ‘lesser’ film like Scandal is brilliant.
Bullets Over Broadway – Woody Allen
Yes, his earlier films are generally better (my favourite is Love and Death) but this was certainly a return to form, posing more questions about the value and morals of art.
The Adventures of Blake and Mortimer – boxed set
I wasn’t sure whether to go for the boxed set of Shogun, Curb Your Enthusiasm series 5, or this. In the end I’ve gone for the 26 episodes of E P Jacobs’ Blake and Mortimer animated series, for giving ten out of ten for fun and adventure.
As for TV… Antiques Roadshow, as ever!
And while we’re on a Garen theme, I’d like to share with our readers the lovely Christmas illustration that he sent to us, isn’t it gorgeous?
July 1st, 2008 at 9:25 pm
Nice pic
October 10th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
his commics are just amazing