Publishers Weekly is the first out of the gate with its best of 2012 lists, with Chris Ware's Building Stories (Pantheon), described as "unabashedly rooted in the pre-digital age," leading its overall Top 10. Ware also designed and lettered the magazine's cover (at right).
The six titles in the comics category are:
• My Friend Dahmer, by Derf Backderf (Abrams Graphic Arts)
• Are You My Mother?, by Alison Bechdel (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
• The Voyeurs, by Gabrielle Bell (Uncivilized Books)
• Wizzywig, by Ed Piskor (Top Shelf)
• Dotter of Her Father's Eyes, by Mary and Bryan Talbot (Dark Horse)
Two graphic novels also make an appearance on the children's fiction list: Hilda and the Midnight Giant, by Luke Pearson (Nobrow), and Drama, by Raina Telgemeier (Scholastic/Graphix).
With PW breaking the ice, that means the best-of lists should begin arriving at a fast and furious pace.