Episode 168 - Our Favorite Comics of 2015 - a podcast by Stergios Botzakis & Derek Royal

from 2015-12-30T16:20:46

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It's the last regular review episode of the year, so that means that the Two Guys with PhDs are here to share what they consider to be the best comics of 2015! In this extra-long episode, Andy and Derek discuss their 10 favorite titles of the year. Neither knows what the other has chosen before the recording, giving the episode a sense of freshness, spontaneousness, and surprise. And there are indeed several surprises in this year's picks, including the fact that there is only one title that appears on both guys' lists. Also, noticeably absent from their selections are the titles that have been populating many of the mainstream press' "Best of" lists (e.g., Killing and Dying, The Sculptor, Lumberjanes, and The Sandman: Overture: Deluxe Edition). And each of the guys notes some trends that appear in his list this year. For Andy, it's the prominence of autobiographical comics, and for Derek, it's a an emphasis on realistic novel-like narratives. Before they get to their favorites, though, they go over some year-end statistics regarding the podcast. For example, over the past year the guys have published 139 episodes (as of last week), which is roughly 42% of all of the episodes they've put out since the podcast began in 2012. They have also conducted 39 interviews in 2015, published 8 publisher spotlight episodes, and began two new monthly series (one for manga and another for young adult/children's comics). Needless to say, it's been a productive year for the guys.


But the heart of this week's episode is the Two Guys' discussion of their ten favorite titles of 2015:


Andy's Top 10 of 2015



Derek's Top 10 of 2015



The Honorable Mentions…These Titles Almost, but Just Didn’t Quite, Make It onto Each Guy's List


For Andy



For Derek


Further episodes of The Comics Alternative

Further podcasts by Stergios Botzakis & Derek Royal

Website of Stergios Botzakis & Derek Royal