June 2022 BotM: Top 2021 Reads

[Erin]

This month, we're going back in time! Ok, not really (would be cool though!)

For this month's pick-your-own BotM, choose a book you read in 2021 that you want to revisit and/or highly recommend to others. The book doesn't have to be published in 2021 to be eligible.

Does it hold up in 2022? Would you still recommend it?

This month's episode is a public one, available wherever you get your podcasts on June 29.

Be sure to get your comments in before June 26th and include "OK TO AIR" in your comment for a chance to have them be featured on the episode!

[kaitlphere]

Coincidentally, I re-read The Magic Fish for last month's challenge! I do recommend that.

I want to re-read Witchy, Volume 1 soon because volume 2 is out now. It's all available online at https://www.witchycomic.com/comic/arc... but I have always had a hard time sitting down to read web comics. This is a fantasy comic where the protagonist has too much magic, according to her instructors, and has to figure out how she wants to deal with her powers and the fear of the people around her.

[Ashleigh]

The best comics I read in 2021 are by Junji Ito

Fav - Tomie
Also read - Uzumaki, Gyo & Smashed: Junji Ito Story Collection

Instead of re-reading one of these I am going to read something I have not read yet by Junji Ito, which ever I can get from the library.

[Canavan]

My favorite comic read in 2021 was Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio , written and illustrated by John “Derf” Backderf and published in 2020. As the title suggests, the book covers the infamous May 4, 1970 killings of four college students at the hands of the Ohio National Guard. The focus of Kent State shifts back and forth rather skillfully between small scale concerns (the individual participants in the tragedy) and larger ones (the overarching political and social factors of the day). I’ve read a number of other accounts of this incident and can honestly say that (in my opinion) Backderf’s is one of the best — not in spite of the fact that it’s a “mere” graphic treatment, but precisely because it is. In looking at Backderf’s drawings and maps, I think I was able to more fully appreciate what the participants actually saw as events unspooled on that fateful day. The book includes copious endnotes; I would urge anyone who picks up Kent State to read these as you work your way through the book.

(Okay to air.)

[Mike, Host & Producer of IRCB!]

I might have to reread Roughneck now that I have a nice physical copy at home. I read this last year and was blow away by it.

Also, Canavan's pick was EASILY one of my top reads from last year as well. 5/5

[Paul]

Oh no, I have 45 5-star GNs read last year. Trying to reduce to a small list of possibly-overlooked recommendations.


Elma, a bear's life - Volume 1 - The Great Journey: At its core, this is a simple YA fable but really heartfelt and beautiful. Go in expecting to read both “volumes” (under 100 pages total) because vol 1 is really just the build up.


Incredible Doom: I love this book, and made it my pick for this year’s challenge. Cuts to the quick of alienation and belonging, in the BBS era, without being cloying or sentimental. Really looking forward to vol 2 this year.


Upgrade Soul: My “weirdo” recommendation. This book is grotesque, uncomfortable, and challenging at times as it leads you into an impressively dense science fiction story that ponders personal identity and self-satisfaction without pontificating.

As for what I will read, I’d like to read someone else’s recommendations since I already re-read many of my 2021 faves (The Many Deaths of Laila Starr, The Six Sidekicks of Trigger Keaton, Vol. 1, Bliss, Upgrade Soul) recently as paperbacks. Right now, Kent State and Roughneck are top contenders since they have been in my To Read list for a while.

[Chad]

If I participate in reading something from last year again, it'll be In. It's a fantastic read with nice art from a cartoonist from the New Yorker. Nick is detached from most everyone, finding it very difficult to make a connection. When he does, the book changes to full color as Nick starts to daydream about what it all means.

[Stephanie]

Wow, really hard to say my favorite read from 2021 because I read A LOT (47 graphic novels plus all of Invincible). Sweet Tooth, Low, and Rachel Rising were good reads. Infidel and The Prince and the Dressmaker might have been my two favorite things (very different stories but quite good each in their own way). If I had to pick something to reread it might be the Loki: Agent of Asgard omnibus that finished out a deep dive into Loki last year. So hard to choose - especially with my ambitious reading plans for new books this year.

[Nancy]

Canavan wrote: "My favorite comic read in 2021 was Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio, written and illustrated by John “Derf” Backderf and published in 2020. As the title suggests, the b..."

Kent State was well done! Derf really pulled together a comprehensive narrative along with amazing artwork.

[Nancy]

Mike wrote: "I might have to reread Roughneck now that I have a nice physical copy at home. I read this last year and was blow away by it.

Also, Canavan's pick was EASILY one of my top reads f..."

Roughneck is a beautifully told standalone tale of a brother and sister’s quest to reconnect with one another and their cultural identity.

[Canavan]

Chad said: If I participate in reading something from last year again, it'll be In. It's a fantastic read with nice art from a cartoonist from the New Yorker. Nick is detached from most everyone, finding it very difficult to make a connection.

I just finished this one and would give it a pretty solid recommendation. I really liked McPhail’s artwork. I will admit that there were points during the narrative when I found Nick’s solipsism rather irritating.

(Okay to air.)

[Erin]

So many amazing choices in here!

I'll be re-reading Hikaru no Go, Vol. 1: Descent of the Go Master - that series took over my whole life for a month or two last year!

[Mike, Host & Producer of IRCB!]

Mike wrote: "I might have to reread Roughneck now that I have a nice physical copy at home. I read this last year and was blow away by it.

Also, Canavan's pick was EASILY one of my top reads f..."

Spoilers: I picked Fangs for the episode we're recording on Sunday!

[Paul]

I'm definitely a fan of Jeff Lemire's work, but for some reason had not read "Roughneck" yet. It has long lingered on my "to read" pile, but kept slipping my mind to check out (perhaps because as far as I can tell, it's not available digitally). So when Mike mentioned it, I knew I had to order a copy to ensure it didn't slip back down.

I liked it, quite a bit. It fits right in there with his other self-written-and-drawn work, and the former hockey player protagonist in a rural Canada setting definitely recalls "Essex County". Lemire's use of color for flashbacks, danger, and blood amidst a predominantly monochromatic wash always catches me off guard and succeeds in making me hyperfocused. As a master of slow pacing that builds tension instead of dragging, the demonstrations of Derek's habit of physical violence while also trying to hide from it results in the confrontation with his sister's abusive ex as one of Lemire's best climaxes in a book.

The only reason I wouldn't call this one of my favorite Jeff Lemire books is that I ended up empathizing with the characters more than identifying like I do in "Mazebook" and "Frogcatchers". Still, highly recommended.

I also read Chad's recommendation "In.", based on the strong praise and it being available for digital checkout from my library (compare and contrast with my long delay to read "Roughneck"). I… wish I'd known ahead of time that it ends up being about cancer and loss (in retrospect, I should have seen it coming) because I have more of that in my life right now than I care for and would have postponed it.

The artwork was strong throughout, and the use of color for interpersonal revelations was incredibly effective (coincidentally similar to "Roughnecks"). I had a hard time connecting with Nick's ennui, though, so it felt really dragged out and I was tempted to give up on the book.

The reveal of cancer initially felt out of the blue and manipulative, but did reveal itself to be a tender and compassionate examination of loss; I wish it had been spread through the book more so I wouldn't have to think of it as two disparate stories.