Welcome back to our end of the year round-up! The categories haven't changed, but we are giving out something a little different this year to our winners... cuts. That's right, we're jumping you into the Comic Bastards winner circle! You can also listen to the "Best of 2014" podcast episode which is posted at the bottom to hear the entire list, otherwise check back for the next category. Now let's get going with our next category: Best Indie Title.
Dustin - Man vs. Rock
Another difficult category for me because really I wanted to give this to so many titles, but Man vs. Rock delighted me and made me laugh. It made me want to read more and overall showed why indie comics and the comic medium was great... because you can tell any story and find an audience for it. Also there were plenty of dick jokes... that's always a win.
Kevin - Man vs. Rock
Ditto!
Steve - The Motherless Oven
One of those happy random grabs, this completely blew me away with its trippy, urban, coming-of-age quest story in a world where knives fall from the sky and semi-sentient kitchen gods try to convince the world what it really is. I'm still wrapping my head around its liner notes, and it continues to be a fun analysis.
Jeff - Love Machines
If we're talking non-Image, 'Love Machines' was the nicest surprise for me. It's a great merging of human storytelling and a meaningful tribute to the invisible relationship between man and the things we build.
James - Pale Dark
Confused prisoners in space being tortured and experimental with no idea why...Fascist interrogating douchebags...Attractive scientists...And The Pale Man. This little mind twisty opus written by Chuck Amadori and drawn by Ruvel Abril fits the bill in hitting your indie book needs.
David - Department of Monsterology
It was a tough call between this book and Beatrice is Dead, but ultimately the fun-filled and action-packed adventures of this gang of weirdos took the title. This book looked great, had some awesome characters, and some really interesting plot twists along the way. Not to mention the ending which was a brilliant reveal that has left me wanting a lot more of this series - a must read.
Nick - Private Eye
This may be a cheat, since the two authors are highly praised industry pros, but their distribution method is worth writing about. Offering something of this high a quality for free, without a studio behind it, with a bare bones website like panelsyndicate.com, and make BANK on it. It relies on the name recognition, but it's still a game changer.