So about a week ago I bugged my buddy @constellation-funk about what kinda comics he’d like to see get a Criterion style release. I figured I’d do one myself. Tried to focus on comics that’re out of print, unavailable, or otherwise not easy to come by.
Everything Moebius. Because in an ideal world, it wouldn’t be so hard to find non-Jodorowsky Moebius comics in English. For the sake of making one choice here, let’s say a Complete Arzach collection: from the first short story to the BD that came out shortly before his death.
The Journey of Shuna and Other Stories by Hayao Miyazaki. Because while most people know Nausicaa, Miyazaki did a ton of short comics, basically none of which have been officially released in English in any form.
THB by Paul Pope. Complete, with unaltered art. Because a good chunk of the THB stuff is prohibitively expensive and unavailable. Plus the long-in-production complete collection Pope’s working on is supposed to have redrawn art for some of the early issues, and I’d rather have a tangible book that tracks his development from the beginning to now.
Prince of Cats by Ron Wimberly. Because a comic this good shouldn’t have gone out of print so fast. Plus while it’s not a super long book, there’s enough to talk about going on in it to justify a decent amount of supplementary material.
Youkai Hunter and Other Stories by Daijiro Morohoshi. Because he’s apparently considered pretty influential and well-liked in Japan, with Miyazaki, Rumiko Takahashi and Hideaki Anno being fans, and Osamu Tezuka claimed said he couldn't mimic his style. Yet virtually nothing of his is available in English, officially or otherwise, and little information is even out there on him.
The Art and Stories of Jim Steranko. Because while his Marvel material is well known and well reprinted, he did a lot of interesting short comics work after he left Marvel… enough that could feasibly fit into a decent sized omnibus.
Takemitsu Zamurai by Taiyo Matsumoto. Because with Sunny’s relative success state-side, I like to see some of his other stuff get translated as well (and for No. 5 to get another shot, like Chris suggested in his list).
