Best Comic Book Anthologies Ever

[TimothyCallahan]

One of the reasons I decided to focus on Anthologies this week was not just because I was reading a bunch of them recently, but also because I've been staring at my copies of Steve Bissette's "Taboo" on my shelf. So, the column was going to be about "Taboo" and it ended up being not about "Taboo" at all because I had so much to say about the newer anthologies.

Anyway, I think "Taboo" is one of the best comic book anthologies ever. Have your read it?

What would you rank as the best anthology ever?

[FunkyGreenJerusalem]

I was big fan of Vertigo's Flinch, but I only brought the first issue when it came out - I didn't think it was that strong.
But a few years later I picked up most of the run in the dollar bins and had a blast reading it.
I really think Vertigo should do a 'best of' trade for the series.

I picked up Popgun vol2 the other day, and although I haven't read it yet, it's got some lovely looking stuff in it.

I've only read one issue of Taboo, but it was one of the later one's, done some time after the books hey-day I believe.
Had some good stuff in there, but nothing especially 'great'.

[Couchman]

Haven't read many newer anthologies, but I'm a big fan of the old EC comics issues with anthology structure.

[rick]

Two-Fisted Tales and Zap are my two favorite comic anthologies.

[TimothyCallahan]

My copy of Popgun Vol. 2 just arrived also. And I also got "The Mammoth Book of Crime Comics." Can't wait to dig into that one!

[MarcSobel]

I'm a huge anthologies fan. I have all the issues of Taboo, and have also read every issue of Mome. I definitely agree with you that Nate Neal is one of the true rising stars in comics. You should track down Hoax #1-4 if you haven't already; its a great anthology and includes some stuff by Eleanor Davis as well.

As for best anthologies of all time, that's obviously open to a lot of debate. The D&Q anthologies from the mid-90s are excellent, esp. the ones with Baru's Road to America. Although it's dropped off in quality quite a bit, some of the early SPX anthologies were excellent, esp. 2001 and 2002 (the biography issue).

Another excellent one that gets overlooked a lot b/c its out of print is Crisis magazine, which was a spinoff of 2000 AD. I know you're aware of it, because it has some rare Morrison stuff (New Adventures of Hitler is classic). Ennis, Mills and several other well-known Brits have some good early work in there.

[MarcSobel]

Finishing my thought, I think the two best anthologies of all time (except maybe the EC comics, which I've read very few) are:

1) RAW - featured virtually every major indie artist of the 80s and 90s, and was the birthplace of Maus.

2) Cheval Noir - a great collection of some European classics, including Andreas, Cosey, Moebius, Tardi, Druillet, etc. The first 25 issues in particular are fantastic.

[TimothyCallahan]

Raw is pretty hard to top, but Cheval Noir had poor production quality from what I remember, didn't it? The reproductions seemed to be inferior from what I remember. Good content, though!

We also have a lot of great sort of "textbook" anthologies these days, like the ones Ivan Brunetti is editing.

[Ed Cunard]

My favorite recurring anthologies are MOME, MEATHAUS, and KRAMERS ERGOT.

[DubipR]

All listed are excellent but I think Drawn & Quarterly is probably my all time favorite anthology.

Other good anthologies are Blab!, Zero Zero, Epic Illustrated, Flight, Dark Horse Presents (yes, that's an anthology), and Spirou.

[Kid Omega]

Metal Hurlant
RAW
Blazing Combat

I'm surprised no one has mentioned FLIGHT yet.

[Pól Rua]

'Taboo' is phenomenal. Some consistently high-quality horror/suspense stuff.

[thehod]

Anthology comics were a staple of the British Comic market for 50 years, and continue to be so.

Titles such as Battle, The Beano, The Dandy, Crisis, Deadline, The Eagle have all produced some wonderful works.

And of course theres always 2000ad which is still going strong.

[Global Honored]

Totally underestimated form. I heart anthologies and hope that more attention and praise is thrown their way...Popgun Volume 1 seems to have sparked some interest and now the next two volumes are on the way. Things are looking up.

Check out Dave Eggers' McSweeneys anthologies for a little bit of everything artistic.

[mgs]

current - Meathaus, Heavy Metal, 2000 A.D

there are lots of others that used to be made., Star Wars Tales, X-Men: Unlimited, tons of indies I can't think of right now...