A little slow getting to this one, but it was worth the wait. The Best American Comics 2006. There’s a lot to cover in the collection, so I’ll just highlight the authors and stories I enjoyed the most.
Joel Priddy, “The Amazing Life of Onion Jack”: a short bio of an aging superhero who really wanted to be a chef. I liked the clean stick figure styling in this one. Charming humor and great timing.

Lilli Carr?©, “Adventures of Paul Bunyan & His Ox, Babe”: the classic folk hero, re-imagined. Paul is a sensitive, Proust-reading guy with real-world difficulties. His well-paced dialogue with Babe is reinforced by this really clear, powerful sense of setting.

Ben Katchor, “Goner Pillow Company”: about pillows designed for sitting at windows. I like the basic concept here, briefly fantasizing about a world where people look out of windows instead of into our electronic boxes.

Jonathan Bennett, “Dance with the Ventures”: early morning, a guy goes scavenging for old records in the trash. I love the dramatic inner dialogue. You can instantly relate to it.

John Porcellino, “Chemical Plant/ Another World”: driving through a factory at night. I don’t know how, but he captures a spooky night-time scene in panels that are really white-heavy.

David Heatley, “Portrait of My Dad”: short vignettes about his father. I love the color and density of the pages. Here’s the first page. Just an all-around beautiful chronicle of the relationship.

Jessica Abel, “Missing”: an argument with a mirror, and an argument with a friend. The body language is wonderful in this excerpt from La Perdida.

Kurt Wolfgang, “Passing Before Life’s Very Eyes”: an old man dies, floats around, learns the truth. The dialogue borders on the preachy-casual, but the final panels are really satisfying.

Jesse Reklaw, “Thirteen Cats of My Childhood”: a memoir of family and feline relationships. I had expected to hate this one, but I loved it. It was more text-heavy than many of the others, so you can really dig in to the story.