“Canada’s Master Cartoonist,” is what the inimitable Doug Wright has been called. In 2009, D&Q released The Collected Doug Wright: Volume One, to a considerable degree of national fanfare: it was the most comprehensive retrospective dedicated to a largely forgotten Canadian cultural figure. If it’s comics you aim to plant under the tree this year, let this be our gift to you, Anonymous Holiday Shopper. As there’s no way this list could possibly do justice to the cornucopia of quality work produced just this past year alone, we’ve limited ourselves to some of the most notable, buzz-heavy recent titles.Īnd we’ve made sure there’s something here for everyone: the novice, the seasoned reader, and the kids. Which brings us to this, SEE’s guide to the some of the best in holiday comics shopping. And the demand for such lists is perhaps greater than ever. The lists of “hot” comics must either grow longer, or more selective.

Artists and writers have gone from facing the dilemma of trying to be noticed at all, to trying to be noticed among the competition. More and more people are noticing, buying and reading comics. More and more publishers are getting into the game. And quality-produced and packaged work at that, aimed at mature readers, from both smaller houses like Drawn & Quarterly and Conundrum Press of Canada, to major players like Random House and Henry Holt. Given the last decade’s tremendous increase in comics publishing, an article like this shouldn’t come as a surprise this holiday season.Įven during the rest of the year, you may have noticed the kind of shelf space now dedicated to comics (or graphic novels, if you prefer) at your local major book retailers.

Nipper, 1963-1964 by Doug Wright