The Best American Comics 2012 (The Best American Series ®) Hardcover – October 2, 2012

I always enjoy these collections and this version had a change that I really enjoyed -- putting the author's bio (as well as any helpful context for the exerpt) right before the selection from their work. It was so much better than having to flip to the back of the book to read the bio and I also enjoyed the little comic "self-portraits" that each artist did for their work.I enjoyed reading this, but there was nothing that made me feel like I had to go out and buy a book right away, as has been the case with previous volumes. Because each editor has a different sensibility, I think this had more to do with how I felt about the editor's selection than a general decline overall. There were some things that I really didn't mesh with (several pages of water colors didn't feel like "comics" at all, even defining the term loosely) and even the selections from well-known artists who have made previous volumes didn't feel as sharp as previous years. I enjoyed the idea of the section for kids, but the work seemed tepid -- even the work of Sara Varon, who I have enjoyed in the past.I wouldn't avoid this work, I just probably won't reread it as often as I reread some of the other volumes in the series ( The Best American Comics 2008  or  The Best American Comics 2011 , for example).

Bravo to the series editors for moving the artist bios into the body of the book and using them as intros to the artwork. Maybe that was suggested by the seemingly high number of excerpts that needed some explanation. Whatever the reason, it enhanced the reading experience for me. I always read the bios, and this format is great.Found some comics I'll follow up on.

I've read a bunch of these "Best American Comics" compilations at this point. They each have different editors, and so the quality can vary a lot. This is one of the best in the series. I found some real awesome ones in here, which are hard to find and that the editors obviously dug deep for.

I’m a big fan of Best American Short Stories, and Best American Essays, so to see Best American Comics being produced was a thrill for me. However, with some of the artists, their comics have been sprinkled throughout the book instead of concentrated together. The effect for me is that I keep having to flip back and forth to see who wrote which panels, and if there’s anything you’d want your readers to remember, it’s the name of the authors.

This series in general is one I enjoy. Even when I might not like some, or most of the selections, I can appreciate the attempt to collect and show off what is possible and happening in comics to more people who may or may not really follow.For me, this edition was not amongst my favorite of this series. I can appreciate the difficulty of having to make these selections to begin with. But then, as with any collection of excerpts, to find a strong stand-alone piece of a whole work that is strong on its own, and coherent without its original context... man, what a task that must be. For me, this book seems to choose pieces that are perhaps just too hard to remove from their respective larger works, and chooses a lot of excerpts that I did not find very compelling.Where I found previous editors making choices that compelled me to look further into artists, I found this book easy enough to read, but a little less interesting in general than previous books in the Best American Comics series. I don't think there's a major failure in this book, I just don't know that I'd really want to own it. A great choice to browse in the store, or check out of the library, but as a lasting edition you'll revisit? I wouldn't go quite that far.

I must admit that I like these annual compilations of mostly indie comics. I've always found at least a couple of noteworthy new artists/writers. This includes Nora Krug's "Kamikaze", the story of a Japanese WWII pilot who survived through an accident; and Joyce Farmer's "Special Exits", the story of an elderly couple's life and relationship with their daughter. There are also welcome additions from old standbys like Chris Ware and Jaime Hernandez. A couple of the excerpts end rather abruptly; particularly "The Battle of Buron". The comics with pictures only seemed to be the least successful to me.The guest editor includes an entertaining "Decoupage", which includes her words and visuals from a variety of artists. She also includes two welcome innovations. The first is a title page for each author that includes information about the author and the work included. This successfully separates the various comics as well. The second is a group of Comics for Kids. I was pleased to see the work of Mad Magazine's Sergio Aragones included.So although I don't think this collection meets the quality of 2006's collection edited by Harvey Pekar or 2008's by Lynda Barry, it is still worth the reader's while.

Every year the Best American Comics series delivers a nice hardcover book full of (often the same year-in-year-out) independent comic creators' samplings of their work. If you like one of these volumes, you will like them all.My advice is to buy books from this series used because these comics aren't really topical. You don't need the latest volume to enjoy them, so save some cash and order the volumes from previous years.Still, these collections are fun.

First, I should say I got this book out of the library. I say that because I might feel differently if I bought it. I was happy to be exposed to the different artists/graphic novelists. The collection-- as "best ofs" tend to be-- is a bit uneven, but given I didn't pay for it, didn't bother me. I least enjoyed the children's section.

Another great anthology from this series. Perhaps not the best one since they started in 2007, but a good one nonetheless.