MY FAVORITE READS OF 2023
(Be sure to check out my own collection of short stories I’ve written titled “FEVER DREAMS” now on available Amazon)
Listed here (in nor particular order) are my 6 picks for favorite reads of 2023. Each selection has a brief review/summary by me and why each choice is so enjoyable.
- MONICA by DANIEL CLOWS
The new Daniel Clowes OGN lives up to the hype. The eponymous Monica’s journey to retrace her tumulus family’s background is a terrific journey. Sometimes the answers to life’s questions are incredibly simple. Would it be worse or better if the answers were something darker? The way the plot enfolds pulled the rug out from under me. Just the way Monica delivers her narration is very suspicious and creepy. All this and Clowes’ artwork has never looked better.
2. BLOOD CHILD & OTHER STORIES by OCTAVIA BUTLER
I never thought I would find a story about a giant alien centipede and a pregnant man so compelling. Yet here we are. Butler analyzes the relationship between two very different beings, the swapped gender roles and turns it into a pretty solid coming of age story too. This being written in the 1960’s it was certainly progressive for the time. This is the kind of story that I would recommend be taught in schools but a couple of uptight parents might balk at the whole “alien impregnation” thing. Oh well.
The other stories were really well done too. I don’t want to go into too much detail but they were dark and vivid, my kind of stories. “Amnesty” is another great exploration on the implications of earthlings surrendering to an alien species they have no hope of ever stopping or understanding.
3. BUDDY DOES SEATTLE by PETE BAGGE
I learned about Peter Bagge when I stumbled upon his genius MEGALOMANIACAL SPIDER-MAN.From there I stumbled into Bagge’s HATE comic anthology and the stories of one Buddy Bradley. I love me some underground commix. The titular Buddy is such a POS 90’s alcoholic slacker that it’s hard not to be absorbed. I read all 3 Buddy Bradley Collections available but Book 1 was easily my favorite of the 3.
This series is a captivating look at what the party scene in early 90’s Seattle was like as Buddy coasts through life life with his sketchy friend Stinky, his basket case on/off girlfriend Lisa and other various other miscreants. The story is awesome but it wouldnt be as striking if not for Bagge’s exaggerated “noodle” art style.
4. OUT THERE-STORIES by KATE FOLK
This is what slipstream should be. I love stories where eerie disturbances lurk under everyday situations and Kate Folk’s debut collection is exactly that. Plots including artificial people, reality erasing veils, bone liquefying diseases and disturbing Thanksgiving family traditions all creep in the background as the protagonists operate in “normal” reality which makes the story all the more gripping and tense for me. I am very happy that I discovered Kate Folk and look forward to what she writes next.
5. THE FRANK BOOK by JIM WOODRING
No dialogue just vignettes of an old-timey cartoon character wandering through a psychedelic, nightmarish landscape. The best way to describe Frank’s adventures would be “dream-like.” A story is present but there’s no true rhyme or reason for why the bizarre events that occur. Woodring’s surreal artwork is S-tier here and if you’re looking for a comic with trippy art to just zone out and enjoy, Woodring’s Frank stories are perfect for that.
6. A CHILD ALONE WITH STRANGERS by PHILLIP FRACASSI
I got into Fracassi last year when I read his SS Collections (The story “Altar” knocked my socks off) so I was curious to see what a full length from him would be like and the result is gripping thriller. Fracasi’s does an excellent job of crafting new stories from the suburban horror tone made famous by Stephen King/Robert McCammon. The opening chapter between father & son hooks you and the characters introduced ranging from a kid you just want to hug, brutal criminals you root to fail and strange monsters that we can’t escape.
