Today’s Best of the Year guest blogger arrives nattily clad in shimmering, bespoke spandex splendour, creator of some cracking comics with gender and sexuality challenging characters such as the recent Spandex (which received many plaudits, not least from our own Richard, see here), Martin Eden:
FPI: Can you pick three comics/webcomics/graphic novels which you especially enjoyed over the last twelve months and tell us why you singled them out?
Martin: Walking Dead – it’s nice to have something a bit unpredictable, although I think Kirkman gets a bit complacent at times. Please don’t kill Glenn.
Fantastic Four – I never thought I’d be buying this title again, but I think Millar/Hitch’s way under-rated run was astonishing. Too bad Hitch didn’t do the last issue.
Uncanny X-Men – I think I’m the only person who likes Greg Land’s art!
FPI: Can you pick three books which you especially enjoyed over the last twelve months and tell us why you singled them out?
Martin: I’m going to cheat a bit here, but the only books I read are by Stephen King, and I wouldn’t say Under the Dome is a fave of the year…
James Jeans’ Fables Covers – not technically a book (I‘d say it is, it’s an art book really – Joe), but this guy is amazing. I don’t know how he does it. Wish there had been more commentary though.
Comic Book Tattoo - Anyway, I love Tori Amos, so this book featuring stories based on her songs, was such a nice surprise!
Book of Lists by Paul Rainey – um, again, more of a comic, but this is just so funny. Spot-on observational stuff.
FPI: Can you pick three TV shows and/or movies which you especially enjoyed over the last twelve months and tell us why you singled them out?
Martin: Star Trek – so entertaining.
Let the Right One In – so different.
Lost – Awesome, although it always amazes me how they can never get the British characters right.
FPI: How did 2009 go for you as a creator? Are you happy with the way you got your work out this year?
Martin: It was a game of two halves. Half of it spent working on Spandex 1, and half of it dealing with the shock of it getting media coverage and suddenly having to juggle a full-time day-job with radio/TV interviews, hundreds of orders and actually working on the comic.
FPI: Any thoughts on the comics scene in general?
Martin: Must try harder. More stand-alone issues please. Beginning, middle, end, it’s not rocket science. Better art (painters aren’t storytellers). Less utterly pointless spin-offs (like Final Crisis: Ink, Escape, etc). Do they really sell? And c’mon Marvel, even you must be getting bored of the endless crossovers.
FPI: What can we look forward to from you in 2010?
Martin: Spandex 2 (Feb) = Pink Ninjas, Spandex 3 (Summer) = gay zombies… After that, Les Girlz rip Spandex to pieces, eek.
FPI: And one final, special question – since its not only the end of the year approaching but also the end of the decade, is there any comics work you’d especially pick out as one of the best you’ve read this decade?
Martin: The Invisibles. Not perfect, but that makes it even better. That was this decade, wasn’t it?
James Jeans’ Fables Covers – not technically a book, but this guy is amazing. I don’t know how he does it. Wish there had been more commentary though.
Comic Book Tattoo - Anyway, I love Tori Amos, so this book featuring stories based on her songs, was such a nice surprise!
Book of Lists by Paul Rainey – um, again, more of a comic, but this is just so funny. Spot-on observational stuff.
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January 7th, 2010 at 8:32 pm
[...] • At the Forbidden Planet International blog, cartoonist Martin Eden chats about the best comics of 2009. [...]