Best of 2011: Best Indie Comic

As 2011 comes to a close, it’s safe to say that it has been a banner year for the comics industry and fans alike. Here at Comic Booked, we have always taken our comics pretty seriously, and after a stellar year of new material, we are pleased to present you with our awards for Best of 2011! For this year’s awards we asked each of our team members for their input and nominations to see who they thought were the best of the best in the comic book industry over the past year! After a few weeks of careful thought, consideration and deliberation, we’ve selected these titles as our choices for the best that 2011 had to offer! Here we have the awards for Best Indie Comic!

In order to be nominated for Best Indie Comic, a title had to be published by someone other than one of the major publishers (so unfortunately Dark Horse and Vertigo titles would not qualify). We mostly created this award to help bring the spotlight to some great titles that you may not have read! Without further adieu, here are the nominees for Best Indie Comic!

• Very Near Mint. I first found out about this title through a spotlight feature one of my fellow Comic Booked team members wrote here on the site, checked out the first volume and fell in love. It reads almost as if ’Clerks’ the animated series was a comic book and took place in a comic book store instead of a convenience store. In this first volume, writer/illustrator Justin Peterson has given readers what looks to be an amazing new ongoing series that any comic book fan can really appreciate. The second volume was recently announced and should hopefully be published in spring of 2012! – Jordamus Prime

• Ninjas Vs. Zombies. A very independent comic based on a very low budget movie. All this and highly entertaining as well!- Skott of Fables

• Pariah from Sea Lion Books. Very interesting story and a twist on an old formula. – James Halstead

• Jennifer Blood. We even just discovered in the last issue that the plot is thickening even further, and the series will be continuing on down it’s brilliantly twisted and crazy path. I am beside myself with delight! – Nicole Sixx

• Extinct from 215 Ink.  It won’t win, but I loved it, and Comic Booked will have quotes on some 215 trades.  Second choice is Becky Cloonan’s Wolves.- Robb Orr

• Footprints– The art work is unique, the story different, and it is one of the only indie titles I have read that I really just cannot get enough of. – Jason Padua

 

• Lady Mechanika. This is the best comic that no one knows about because months pass between issues. But as a fan of steampunk, this series deserves a mention for an amazing title hero and a compelling world that makes me wish the books came out faster!- Robert LeMoyne

 

• Vessel of Terror-I didn’t get a chance to read many Indie comics this year but while doing the review I really enjoyed the pacing and the whole creepy vibe it had was great.- Jeremy Boreske

 

• Power Play. Reilly Brown and Kurt Christenson have developed a good alternative to super hero titles. Super powered people competing in city-wide X-Games. It’s fun and quirky and a nice change of pace from the cookie cutter stuff out there. So independent, it’s still only available in digital form.- Michael Wirth

• The Stuff of Legend by Mike Raicht, Brian Smith and Charles Paul Wilson III. Th3rd World Studios have done an excellent job with this series, engaging the blogosphere and social media to great effect. It is also a beautiful looking book, it’s cover illustrations very eye-catching. -Emmet O’Cuana

Winner, Best Indie Comic 2011-

Very Near Mint

Congratulations to Justin Peterson, Very Near Mint‘s creator, writer and artist, for being Comic Booked’s Best Indie Comic of 2011! A special congratulations also goes out to all of the other nominees for being some of the best titles available this year!