Our annual “Looking Forward, Looking Back” feature continues, as we ask various comics folks what they liked in 2013, what they’re looking forward to in 2014 and what projects they have planned for the coming year. In this round, we hear from Greg Pak, G. Willow Wilson, Joshua Hale Fialkov, Joe Harris, Mike Norton, Caleb Goellner, Buster Moody, Peter Birkemoe, Ben Towle, Mike Baehr, Christopher Butcher, Paul Maybury, Joey Esposito, Benjamin Bailey, Shannon Eric Denton, Dusty Higgins, Kevin Colden, Frank Barbiere and Jamie S. Rich.

And if you missed them, be sure to check out Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5, where we heard from Jimmy Palmiotti, Tim Seeley, Chris Roberson, Kurt Busiek, Faith Erin Hicks, Tyler Kirkham and many more.

G. Willow Wilson

Ms. Marvel, Cairo, Alif the Unseen

Website | Twitter



What was your favorite comic of 2013?

Saga. Take any political conflict. Strip out the politics. Make it about something totally arbitrary -- aliens with wings vs. aliens with horns. Tell a story about parenthood. Add copulating robots. Result: sheer effing genius. My favorite ongoing series in a long, long while.

Comic-wise, what are you most excited about for 2014?

I'm excited to see how Kelly Sue DeConnick and Emma Rios' Image book, Pretty Deadly, unfolds over the course of the next year. The premise is so fascinating -- Death's daughter rides through a surreal, Sandman-esque version of the Old West -- that reading it is like a fever dream. Interested to see what their long game looks like. Image has been putting out so many good books lately that it's a little gross.

What personal project are you working on for 2014 that you're especially pumped about?

I have been gobsmacked by the fan and media response to my upcoming Ms. Marvel series (with art by the brilliant madman Adrian Alphona). I am totally pumped for that book to come out. This is the kind of superhero series I've always wanted to read, so I am thrilled to be able to write it. Can't wait for February.




Joshua Hale Fialkov

The Bunker, Ultimates, Cataclysm, Skyman

Website | Twitter



What was your favorite comic of 2013?

For me it's a tie between Tim Gibson's Moth City comic, which you can read at comiXolog or over at Thrillbent, or Matt Kindt's Mind MGMT from Dark Horse. Both have similar hand made, auteur feels to them, and both feel so wholly born out of the medium of comics and its potential. I don't know that anybody, honestly, even came close to making as much of an impact on me as those two. Both are criminally under-read, and both are made by talent that will just melt your brains for years and years to come.

Comic-wise, what are you most excited about for 2014?

The creator-owned revolution is here. That's really the thing that has me the most excited about comics in general. The work that guys like Rick Remender, Ed Brubaker, Greg Rucka, Matt Fraction, Mark Waid, Brian Bendis and Brian K. Vaughan are doing in the creator-owned space just completely laps what's being done in mainstream comics. I'm more excited about the new than I am about anything else on the stands right now. And, I think we're entering a new phase of the industry, with a lot of thanks to Robert Kirkman and Eric Stephenson, but also to guys like Joe Nozemack of Oni and Mike Richardson of Dark Horse, where we have far more options to create original, daring, inventive material and succeed and be supported than we ever had before. It's truly the beginning of a bold new era in comics.

What personal project are you working on for 2014 that you're especially pumped about?

The Bunker is really my main focus. It's a constant pleasure to work with Joe Infurnari, and the guys at Oni have been amazing at helping us transition to the printed page. It's out in February, and I'm like a little kid on a car trip with a bladder full of Mountain Dew. I JUST CAN'T WAIT TO GET THERE.


Mike Norton

Revival, The Answer!, Battlepug

Website | Twitter



What was your favorite comic of 2013?

GAH! That's really hard to say. I've really enjoyed reading Saga, but I feel like everybody in the world is saying that. Private Eye was great, too. I guess I'm boring. I've been too busy making comics to read them lately.

Comic-wise, what are you most excited about for 2014?

I'm excited to try and take a break some time around the middle of the year! I'd also like to do some other out of the country shows.

What personal project are you working on for 2014 that you're especially pumped about?

I'm always excited about making Revival with Tim Seeley. It really excites me to know that as great the response has been for the book already, people haven't even seen what we're REALLY up to with the book yet.

I'm over the halfway point with Battlepug, also. I'm so happy with how that's going.

I'm looking forward to hopefully getting more of my creator-owned book, The Answer! done in 2014, but that will have to be after this secret project I'm doing gets finished. I'd show you art for that, but I don't think the publisher is announcing it yet.

There's already lots to love about 2014!


Caleb Goellner

Task Force Rad Squad, Mermaid Evolution, ComicsAlliance

Twitter | Tumblr



What was your favorite comic of 2013?

This is kind of a cheat since the original work came out in Japan nearly five decades ago, but I had an awesome time reading Drawn and Quarterly's Kitaro collection by Shigeru Mizuki this year. I'd been a familiar with Kitaro and the world of Yokai on the periphery for a bit thanks to my hearty diet of manga and anime, but finally getting to read some Mizuki's most influential stories in English for the first time in a huge brick was dope. Thanks to Mizuki, I've started buying Ukiyo-e books full of ghost, monster, demon and yokai art since August. Really rad, inspiring stuff to stare at.

Comic-wise, what are you most excited about for 2014?

A lot of awesome comics are coming up in 2014, but one thing I'm especially intrigued by is Tom Scioli and John Barber's Transformers and G.I. Joe series coming from IDW. Tom's a guest contributor at CA, so I've been able to pick his brain about some of the research he's been doing to draw and co-write the book. Dude is digging DEEP and putting his trademark passion into the project. Everybody who enjoys either of Hasbro's flagship toy lines and all of the multimedia they've been depicted in is going to feel Scioli's energy crackle from their pupils through to their friggin' bone marrow once they get their eyes on his pages.

What personal project are you working on for 2014 that you're especially pumped about?

This March I'm stoked to be releasing the print version of Mermaid: Evolution: Revolution (M:E Vol. 2), as well as Task Force Rad Squad #2 with artist Buster Moody and colorist Ryan Hill. I'm also working on a few minicomics and something I gotta keep a lid on until later in 2014. It's going to be a righteous new year!




Joey Esposito

Captain Ultimate, Pawn Shop

Website | Twitter | Tumblr



What was your favorite comic of 2013?

My favorite comic this year was Jason's latest, Lost Cat. It's a mix of Jason's idiosyncratic cartooning style and Raymond Chandler, two of my favorite things. The man's a genius.

Comic-wise, what are you most excited about for 2014?

I can't wait for Mark Waid and Chris Samnee's relaunched Daredevil, sending Matt Murdock west to San Francisco. Those guys have totally rekindled my unbridled love of superhero comics with that book. That's how it's done.

What personal project are you working on for 2014 that you're especially pumped about?

My graphic novel Pawn Shop is finally coming out in early 2014! We Kickstarted it back in 2012 and hit some snags along the way, but it's finally done. It's the most personal book I've written to date -- a slice-of-life story centered around a pawn shop in NYC -- and artist Sean Von Gorman did some great work. I'm really proud of it all around. I can't wait for people to read it.
















Paul Maybury

Catalyst Comix, Sovereign

Website | Twitter | Tumblr



What was your favorite comic of 2013?

The best comic I got my hands on this year was a reprint of my favorite series from the initial Image boom. IDW's reprint of The Maxx was a completely unexpected (for me) treat to discover on the stands. It's one of the few tasteful color updates I've ever seen, and sports brand new high resolution scans of the original artwork, which is in preparation for IDW's upcoming artists edition of the series.

Comic-wise, what are you most excited about for 2014?

In case it wasn't clear in my first answer, I'll be spending all of my money in 2014 on giant IDW collections of The Maxx.

What personal project are you working on for 2014 that you're especially pumped about?

I personally have the last issue of Catalyst Comix out in March, as well as the first issue of my new Image series, Sovereign with Chris Roberson. It's creator owned, so I hope everyone checks it out!




Shannon Eric Denton

Lion Forge senior editor, Lone Ranger, The Spider, The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Ultimate Spider-Man

Website | Twitter



What was your favorite comic of 2013?

Outside of our Lion Forge comics making their big debut, I’d have to say it was seeing more Scratch9 comics from my buddy Rob Worley. There are so many great kids comics emerging these days and it’s nice having so many new options to introduce young readers to the world of comics!

Comic-wise, what are you most excited about for 2014?

In addition to the above-mentioned Scratch 9, my buddy and Anubis collaborator Bruce Zick has a debuting Dark Horse book with publisher Mike Richardson called the Atomic Legion that looks superb! I can’t wait for that one. Much love for IDW books from mi amigos Kevin Eastman, Bernie Wrightson, Steve Niles, Denton Tipton, Andy Suriano, Chris Ryall, Chris Mowry, John McCrea, John Layman and more. (lots of friends at IDW). All the sweet Pulp stuff from the fine folks at Dynamite. They are consistently raising the bar on so much classic material. Madefire! Really fun, innovative stuff coming up from them! I’m excited for the Phoenix ComicCon, Long Beach ComicCon, Amazing Arizona Con, Comikaze and the Albuquerque Comics Expo. Working with friends is the best part of this career so as you can see from the above shout-outs (and there’s a ton more I should have in here) 2014 is looking to be a stellar year!

What personal project are you working on for 2014 that you're especially pumped about?

I’m excited for everyone to see all the hard work we’ve put into the Ultimate Spider-Man animated series! I have a few stories I had written for IDW and Dynamite that will finally be out so that’s very exciting and of course as the Senior Editor at Lion Forge I’m really pumped to be working on childhood icons like Knight Rider, Miami Vice, Airwolf and Galaxy Rangers in addition to titles like Night Trap, Rampage Jackson and Andre the Giant! From my creative teams to the guys at Lion Forge Central to our partners at NBC and elsewhere, the whole experience has had a very positive impact on my life because of the people involved. This New Year is going to be so exciting ... which is fun to say after having worked in the entertainment business for 20 years now. Go comics and Forge On! And please Like us on https://www.facebook.com/LionForge and Follow us at https://twitter.com/lionforge.




Dusty Higgins

Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer

Website | Twitter



What was your favorite comic of 2013?

Saga has by far been my favorite read of the year. Fiona Staples’ art really makes Brian K. Vaughan’s fantastic world come to life so perfectly, and the story’s pretty awesome too. I hadn’t really paid attention to the series until a girl walked by my booth at Planet Comicon dressed as the ghost Izabel, which was so weird I had to ask about the story. Her pitch won me over, and now I’m totally in.

Comic-wise, what are you most excited about for 2014?

My friend and fellow creator Van Jensen has been working on the Green Lantern Corps, and it’s really good. I’ve been reading a regular superhero comic series this year for the first time in forever ... and enjoying it. Besides being a super nice guy and hard worker, Van is a really intelligent storyteller, so I’m looking forward to seeing where he takes these characters after the Lanterns “Lights Out” storyline.

What personal project are you working on for 2014 that you're especially pumped about?

Van and I are putting together a short story titled Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer and the Vampire Zoo, which will bring back some old characters from the earlier books. I’ve really missed working with the characters (draw a puppet for a couple of years and see if you don’t get attached) and this gives Van and I ,and readers, a chance to play around in that world again without tackling another graphic novel. If people really dig it maybe I can convince Van to write a few more. We’re also gearing up for the release of a collection of the Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer volumes and the re-release of the digital books through Top Shelf.








Greg Pak

Code Monkey Save World, Action Comics, Batman/Superman, Turok, Eternal Warrior

Website | Twitter



What was your favorite comic of 2013?

I read a lot of great comics this year, but nothing hit me as hard as Dean Trippe's Something Terrible. It's a short digital comic about surviving childhood trauma and the power of superheroes and you should go buy it right now for 99 cents.

I sat before the computer sobbing when I read it. Just amazing work.

Comic-wise, what are you most excited about for 2014?

Jeff Parker on Aquaman is gonna be fun. And I hear Miyazaki's working on a new manga. I have no idea when that's actually coming out, but that's officially my most anticipated comic until I actually have it in my hands.

What personal project are you working on for 2014 that you're especially pumped about?

Code Monkey Save World, the graphic novel that Jonathan Coulton and I launched that Kickstarter for back in the spring, will be done in January 2014! The books are supposedly on their way to us from the printer even as we chat. I'm ridiculously excited about this. The book's based on Jonathan's brilliant songs and tells the story of a coding monkey teaming up with a supervillain to save the women of their dreams -- who may not actually need any saving at all. Takeshi Miyazawa drew the whole thing beautifully, Jessica Kholinne colored, and Simon Bowland lettered. You can get the individual issues digitally via Monkeybrain and Comixology. Some time in the New Year we'll figure out how to sell you hard copies as well. Check me out on the Twitter or at gregpak.com for the latest.

I'm also continuing to write Action Comics, Batman/Superman, Eternal Warrior and Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, all of which are a total blast to work on. Buy 'em all, please! ;-)




Ben Towle

Oyster War, Amelia Earhart: This Broad Ocean

Website | Twitter | Tumblr



What was your favorite comic of 2013?

That's a hard one. I read a ton of amazing stuff this past year. Put on the spot, though: Michel Fiffe's Copra. I was late on-board with this one, but DAMN once you get into this series, you can't put it down. There's such great stuff swirling around here influence-wise: Ditko, Klaus Janson, Frank Miller, etc. ... but Fiffe synthesizes this stuff with his own mind-bending character designs and brilliant page layouts in a way that's unlike pretty much anything else that's going on in the superhero genre these days.

Comic-wise, what are you most excited about for 2014?

Can I be excited about something I may not actually be able to attend? I'm super-excited that Benoît Peeters and François Schuiten, the French creators of The Obscure Cities series, are going to be at San Diego Comic Con in 2014. These guys are GIANTS, and it's amazing to think that they'll be at at U.S. con. I'm really, really hoping I can make it out to San Diego this year.

What personal project are you working on for 2014 that you're especially pumped about?

Honestly, what I'm most pumped about is that I don't 100 percent know what comics project I'll even be working on in 2014. I'm on-track to wrap up my webcomic, Oyster War, in the first half of 2014, but beyond that, I've got a few potential things I could be working on: an all-ages proposal I'd love to find time to put together, a possible second volume of Oyster War, a '90s cooking/music comic that I've scripted ... who knows!?


Kevin Colden

Fishtown, Ἀντιόχεια, The Crow: Death and Rebirth

Website | Twitter | Tumblr



What was your favorite comic of 2013?

I think I predicted last year on this survey that my most anticipated 2013 book was Strange Attractors, and Charles Soule and co. ended up delivering. Ed Piskor’s Hip Hop Family Tree is another standout, and the new edition of James Romberger and Marguerite van Cook’s criminally underrated 7 Miles a Second rounds out my top three on this side of the Atlantic. For the past few years I’ve been diving headlong into English translations of European comics -- Fantagraphics’ Jacques Tardi collection, Archaia’s great edition of Sergio Toppi’s Sharaz-de and Nicolas de Crecy’s entire body of available work.

Comic-wise, what are you most excited about for 2014?

For 2014, I’m not looking forward to one book or series as much as I’m looking forward to what’s happening in the comics medium as a whole. Over the past few years there’s been a breaking down and rebuilding of a lot of the existing business structures due to the changes at DC, and everyone seems to have finally embraced digital delivery as a viable option. So I think we’re coming out of a transitional period, and are about to hit the crest of a wave of creativity that’s been building out companies like Image and Dark Horse over the past few years. That excites the hell out of me.

What personal project are you working on for 2014 that you're especially pumped about?

I’ve got a slate of things happening in early ’14, including Fishtown being reprinted in IDW’s Mean Streets omnibus book in March, updating a long-dormant webcomic (and starting a new one in collaboration with my wife) but I’m most looking forward to the first part of my epic millennia-spanning grail romance Antioch (stylized with the Greek spelling as Ἀντιόχεια), which I’ll be self-releasing in very limited quantities in April or May. I’m experimenting with alternative distribution methods on this one, so let’s hope I don’t fall flat on my face.




Buster Moody

Task Force Rad Squad

Blog | Twitter



What was your favorite comic of 2013?

I loved Copra. And the undertaking that it must have been to get each issue out on a monthly basis by Fiffe is reason enough to give him mad props. That's seriously inspiring to me, and the comic was fantastic in and of itself.

Comic-wise, what are you most excited about for 2014?

My buddies Adam Smith and Matt Fox are working together on a graphic novel that will come out sometime in 2014. I'm very stoked on that. Check out some of their work here: http://wetblackghost.com/

What personal project are you working on for 2014 that you're especially pumped about?

2014 will see the release of Task Force Rad Squad #2 and definitely more TFRS to come after that. I also have an 8 page story that will be a part of the anthology comic that Eric Freitas and Ulises Farinas are doing, Amazing Forest. My story is called "Agro-Man," and will be in a forthcoming issue.








Christopher Butcher

Marketing director, UDON Entertainment; Toronto Comics Arts Festival director

Blog | Twitter



What was your favorite comic of 2013?

I feel terrible because I have so much reading to do still this year, I fell behind terribly around TCAF and it's taking forever to catch up. However, if I have to pick two very different books, they would be:

Sex Criminals #1 (and #2 and #3) by Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky, and

In the Kitchen with Alain Passard by Christophe Blain.

Wonderful. I was also really proud of how UDON's Street Fighter Origins: Akuma turned out, I think it's a great action/coming-of-age story that just happens to be licensed.

Comic-wise, what are you most excited about for 2014?

If you'd asked me this two weeks ago, I would've been most 'excited' about This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki, or Seconds by Bryan Lee O'Malley, but now I've read both of those and they're phenomenal, but they're not a mystery any more. That said, I'm probably most excited to add that massive Stray Bullets collection to my shelf, as it's been years and years since I read the series and I'm looking forward to reading the whole thing in a go!

What personal project are you working on for 2014 that you're especially pumped about?

As far as UDON goes, I'm probably most excited about our first Free Comic Book Day book! We're doing a new book called Street Fighter #0, that will introduce people to our line of Street Fighter graphic novels. It's going to be an incredible book, and we're hoping it's going to bring the millions of Street Fighter fans BACK to comics in a big way! It features stories by Jim Zub, Chris Sarracini and Ken Siu-Chong, and art by Hanzo Steinbach, Takeshi Miyazawa, and Joe Ng! Check out the cover:




Mike Baehr

Fantagraphics marketing/web editor

Flog posts | Twitter



What was your favorite comic of 2013?

Is it a cop-out to say "old Jack Kirby comics"? Keeping in mind that there are still dozens of 2013 books on my to-read list, and eliminating Fantagraphics titles because that's the classy thing to do, Frank Santoro's Pompeii (PictureBox, RIP) struck me as a pretty big success, a perfect marriage of Frank's artistic concerns and a very human story, all beautifully expressed.

Comic-wise, what are you most excited about for 2014?

I'm really looking forward to the new Linework NW festival that Zack Soto and François Vigneault are putting on in Portland.

What personal project are you working on for 2014 that you're especially pumped about?

Gonna keep drawing a page at Dune every month, hopefully put out another sketchbook mini before too long, and my most ambitious goal is to do an eigh-page story and make an Oily-style mini.




Frank Barbiere

Five Ghosts, The White Suits, Doctor Solar, Blackout

Website | Twitter | Tumblr



What was your favorite comic of 2013?

It was a great year for creator-owned comics, and I was really happy to see a lot of new voices in comics. Personally my favorites were Buzzkill from Dark Horse Comics and D4VE from Monkeybrain comics. Both have such great new voices, awesome art, and are full of everything I love about comics.

Comic-wise, what are you most excited about for 2014?

I'm excited to see more creators taking a chance on making new, creator-owned work. I know the industry is starting to sound like a broken record with this, but it's really important to me as both a creator and a fan to see original content from creators I love. I'll always love Marvel and DC characters, but when something new enters the mix it's both exciting and a great entry point for non-superhero comics fans. I think the more diversity and genres we get into mainstream comics, the better. 2013 was a banner year for this, and I think 2014 will be even stronger!

What personal project are you working on for 2014 that you're especially pumped about?

I'm very excited for my project The White Suits at Dark Horse Comics. Artist Toby Cypress is doing some career defining work for the book, and I think it's going to catch a lot of people off guard! I'm also excited to wrap the second arc of Five Ghosts over at Image, as well as dive ahead into the third arc. And then there's Doctor Solar at Dynamite...which I really just can't say enough about. So I guess I'm pretty excited for everything?

(Be sure to check out our interviews with Frank on The White Suits and Five Ghosts)


Jamie S. Rich

The Double Life of Miranda Turner, Spell Checkers, You Have Killed Me, It Girl & The Atomics, A Boy and a Girl

Website | Twitter



What was your favorite comic of 2013?

Probably a tie between East of West by Jonathan Hickman and Nick Dragotta and Rachel Rising by Terry Moore. There is so much creativity going on in the pages of each of their issues month to month, the rest of the industry has a lot of catching up to do.

Comic-wise, what are you most excited about for 2014?

Comic-wise, what are you most excited about for 2014? (It could be a new comic coming out, something in the digital space, a convention or whatever you can think of -- something you aren't personally involved with).

Seeing Jeff Smith serialize Tuki Save the Humans online, via his own website, is going to be pretty fantastic. I loved RASL and am impressed by his continuing to branch out and try new things.

Also, whatever Brian Churilla does next, I'll read. He's doing a series called "Cruel Biology" for Dark Horse Presents with writer Christopher Sebela and colorist Dave Stewart, and also another project with Cullen Bunn and Oni Press, and I am so down to read both.

What personal project are you working on for 2014 that you're especially pumped about?

I've got multiple things happening, including two books with Megan Levens, one at Oni Press and one at Image Comics.

But one I am allowed to announce right now, Oni has taken the gag order off, is the first volume of a new series called Archer Coe, the Mind's Arrow. Volume 1 is subtitled "The Thousand Natural Shocks."

My partner on the book is an awesome artist named Dan Christensen, whose name will be familiar to readers very soon, he's got lots of different projects in the offing.

We've been hinting at this book for a while. Archer Coe is a stage hypnotist with actual telepathic powers, who has discovered that true hypnotism is a joining of the minds, allowing him to enter other people's thoughts. A rich man hires him for a private session to try to find out if his wife is keeping secrets from him, but things start to go wonky when the wife claims to know Archer, even though he has no recollection of having met her. At the same time, a brutal killer nicknamed "The Zipper" is starting to tally up a pretty impressive kill count, and a lot of his bodies lead back to Archer.

It's a fun book, playing around with pulp conventions but giving them our own special twist. Archer Coe, the Mind's Arrow: The Thousand Natural Shocks will be published by Oni Press in the late spring.

(Read more about Archer Coe in our interview with Jamie and Dan).


Benjamin Bailey

Captain Ultimate, Uncaged

Twitter | Tumblr



What was your favorite comic of 2013?

There was so much great stuff this year, it's difficult to pick a favorite. If I had to pick a single thing, it'd probably be The Fifth Beatle. I'm a big music guy, especially rock n' roll history and that book really scratched that itch. Plus, man oh man, it is freaking gorgeous. It's one of the books you can recommend to anybody, comic fan or not.

Comic-wise, what are you most excited about for 2014?

It seems like all the best creators are putting out stuff at Image lately, which is probably why I'm very much looking forward to Deadly Class. Remender is doing amazing stuff and this series looks to be tons of fun. We can always use more punk rock in comics. Always.

What personal project are you working on for 2014 that you're especially pumped about?

I just had a comic funded through Kickstarter that'll be coming out in 2014 and I'm totally stoked. It's called Uncaged, and it's basically Die Hard in a zoo. Artist Taylor Stauft and I developed the project together and we are bring Adam Pruett and Ed Ryzowski - both guys work on Captain Ultimate with me - onto the book. It's gonna be tons of fun and lots of big, ridiculous action.




Peter Birkemoe

Owner, The Beguiling Books & Art

Website



What was your favorite comic of 2013?

My favourite book of the year was probably The Property, by Rutu Modan. It had all the deft characterization and voicing that I’ve come to associate with Modan’s work, but something that is often absent from my favourite literary comics—lots and lots of plot.

Comic-wise, what are you most excited about for 2014?

For 2014, I’m very excited about This One Summer, the new book by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki. It’s been a very long wait for this project since their phenomenal debut Skim, and by all accounts this is more than worth the wait.

What personal project are you working on for 2014 that you're especially pumped about?

It’s not exactly ‘my project’, but we do a lot of events here at The Beguiling, and our next one is going to set a high bar for 2014. Just around the corner on January 27th, our first event of the year is the launch of Michael DeForge’s Ant Colony. It’s going to be excellent... More info at http://www.beguilingbooksandart.com/.




Joe Harris

Great Pacific, X-Files Season 10

Website | Twitter



What was your favorite comic of 2013?

I’m taking some latitude here and picking Joe Sacco’s The Great War, just released by Norton. It’s not really a comic, but it’s definitely an extension of the brilliant brand of storytelling that’s attracted me to Sacco since I first read Palestine. It’s, actually, a many-page fold out gatefold panorama depicting the events of July 1, 1916: the first day of the Battle of the Somme in which the British and the Germans would lose something like two million people between them both. One of the bloodiest battles in human history, and Sacco takes you from the staging to the battle to the transformation of eager, idealistic young men seeking the adventure of their lives into the wounded, the dying and dead on the bloody battlefield of the War to End All Wars. Did I call this brilliant already? Joe Sacco is my spirit animal.

Comic-wise, what are you most excited about for 2014?

I guess resumption of the new Sandman miniseries is exciting.

What personal project are you working on for 2014 that you're especially pumped about?

Well, I have a bunch of new creator-owned books that will be lifting off in 2014. But amongst that which I can talk about, I’d say I’m equally pumped over our coming plans in Great Pacific, including some shorter stories and an all-star lineup on guest cover artists from Adam Pollina to Michael Walsh to Steve Rolston to Darick Robertson, C.P. Wilson III and others ... as well as what’s coming down the pike in The X-Files: Season 10. We just added Francesco Francavilla as ongoing cover artist, and Menton Matthews is going to be illustrating a special, standalone Cigarette Smoking Man story with me in issue #10, coming this March which sets the stage for our next, huge “Mytharc” aliens and conspiracy storyline beginning in issue #11, this spring.