Top 10 graphic novels and comics of 2008

1. Ganges 2–Kevin Huizenga
A short story that probes the deeper meaning of video games, deals with Internet addiction and chronicles how secrets can destroy a relationship, Ganges 2 pushes the boundaries of comics in every way possible.

2. Good-Bye–Yoshihiro Tatsumi
Good-Bye is the third Tatsumi collection that publisher Drawn & Quarterly has released. Tatsumi, a gifted and hugely influential manga artist, probes a number of social issues, ranging from prostitution and incest to the bombing of Hiroshima.

3. Acme Novelty Library #19–Chris Ware
The third installment of Chris Ware’s serialized graphic novel, Rusty Brown.

4. Tokyo Zombie–Yusaku Hanakuma
Before Shaun Of The Dead, Tokyo Zombie was being serialized in Japanese manga magazines. A hilarious horror-comedy with jaw-dropping art about two factory workers (who happen to be martial arts experts) trying to cope with a zombie apocalypse in Tokyo.

5. MOME Volume 12–Various Authors
Fantagraphics’ quarterly anthologies consistently feature emerging cartoonists (Gabrielle Bell and Sophie Crumb are regular contributors). This issue features new work by David B., and is one of the most substantial MOME publications yet.

6. What It Is–Lynda Barry
A print version of cartoonist Lynda Barry’s creative writing workshops, this book is also a graphic novel memoir that features drawings and collages by Barry.

7. The Education of Hopey Glass–Jaime Hernandez
A beautiful Love & Rockets collection that serves as a great introduction to the series’ most enduring characters – Hopey and Maggie.

8. 5–Various Authors
A self-published anthology featuring the work of many prominent comics artists, 5 is simply gorgeous.

9. Bottomless Belly Button–Dash Shaw
A family reunion turns into a mystery when parents announce their divorce and their eldest child sets out to find the true reasons behind their divorce. A 720-page tour-de-force, BBB is one of the books that people are thinking of when they tell you “comics are serious literature.”

10. Slow Wave–Jesse Reklaw
Strangers submit their dreams to Reklaw on his Web site, www.slowwave.com. Reklaw then turns them into four-panel stories that push the limits of consciousness.