Chris Staros'
The Guide to the Top 192 Best Comics in the Industry

The Staros Report is a massive project undertaken by Chris Staros to provide a guide to "the most intelligent and innovative comics in the industry!" Starting in 1994 as a small version, an edition came out each year. In 1996, The Staros Report jumped to regular comic book size (6.75 x 10.25 inches) and became supplemented by following editions. Thus you need only buy The Staros Report: 1996 and The Staros Report: 1997 to have everything. Inside each issue are reviews, ranked in order of best comics. However, these are the top 200 comics of thousands! Also included are interviews, comics, bibilographies, character guides, letters, and more.

(These 5 are not ranked because Chris Staros represents them in the U.S. However he says "they're also listed first because they're that good!!!")

• Bacchus and Alec by Eddie Campbell
• Strangehaven by Gary Spencer Millidge
• Ragmop by Rob Walton
• Dee Vee edited by Marcus Moore & Daren White
• The Staros Report by Chris Staros

1. From Hell by Alan Moore & Eddie Campbell
2. Love & Rockets, Birdland, Girl Crazy, Fear of Comics, Whoa, Nellie!, Penny Century, by Gilbert & Jaime Hernandez
3. Maus: A Survivor's Tale by art spiegelman
4. V for Vendetta by Alan Moore & David Lloyd
5. The Sandman, Death: The High Cost of Living, & Death: The Time of Your Life by Neil Gaiman and various artists
6. Cerebus by Dave Sim & Gerhard
7. Eightball & Lloyd Llewellyn by Daniel Clowes
8. Signal to Noise, Violent Cases, & The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch by Neil Gaiman & Dave McKean
9. Miracleman by Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman & various artists
10. Barefoot Gen by Keiji Nakazawa
11. Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud
12. Yummy Fur by Chester Brown
13. Pickle by Dylan Horrocks (collected as Hicksville for the "Hicksville" storyline from Pickle)
14. Why I Hate Saturn & The Cowboy Wally Show by Kyle Baker
15. Watchmen by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons
16. The Maximortal, Bratpack & The One by Rick Veitch
17. Saga of the Swamp Thing ("The Alan Moore issues") by Alan Moore, Bissette, Totleben, & Veitch
18. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller
19. The Minotaur's Tale & The Spiral Cage by Al Davidson
20. The Boulevard of Broken Dreams, The Mishkin File!, & Waldo World! by Kim Deitch & Simon Deitch
21. A Contract with God, A Life Force, To The Heart of the Storm, Dropsie Avenue: The Neighborhood, & The Dreamer by Will Eisner
22. Stuck Rubber Baby by Howard Cruse
23. Lost Girls by Alan Moore & Melinda Gebbie
24. Streak of Chalk & Tangents by Miguelanxo Prado
25. Heart Throbs by Max Cabanes
26. The Desert Peach & Stinz by Donna Barr
27. Paul Auster's City of Glass by Paul Karasik & David Mazzucchelli
28. Lone Wolf and Cub by Kazuo Koike & Goseki Kojima
29. Adolf by Osamu Tezuka
30. "The Works of Charles Burns" including:
    1. Hard-Boiled Defective Stories
    2. Curse of the Molemen
    3. Blood Club
    4. Skin Deep
    5. Black Hole
31. Introducing Kafka by Robert Crumb
32. "The Works of Peter Kuper" including:
    1. Wild Life
    2. Bleeding Heart
    3. The System
    4. Eye of the Beholder
33. The Acme Novelty Library by Chris Ware
34. "The Works of José Muñoz & Carlos Sampayo" including:
    1. Sinner
    2. Joe's Bar
    3. Bíllíe Holíday
35. "The Works of Paul Pope" including:
    1. THB
    2. The Ballad of Dr. Richardson
    3. Sin Titulo
    4. Buzz Buzz Comics Magazine
36. Naughty Bits & Artistic Licentiousness by Roberta Gregory
37. Peep Show & The Cartoon Diary of Joe Matt by Joe Matt
38. Hepcats by Martin Wagner
39. Through The Habitrails & Jeff Nicholson's Small-Press Tirade by Jeff Nicholson
40. Jar of Fools & Berlin by Jason Lutes
41. Drawn & Quarterly edited by Chris Oliveros
42. Raw edited by Art Spiegelman & Francois Mouly
43. Taboo edited by Stephen Bissette
44. Warrior edited by Dez Skinn
45. Palestine & Yahoo by Joe Sacco
46. Hate & Neat Stuff by Peter Bagge
47. Akira by Katsuhiro Otomo
48. Lowlife by Ed Brubaker
49. Stray Bullets by David Lapham
50. Sin City by Frank Miller
51. The Crow by James O'Barr
52. Marshal Law by Pat Mills & Kevin O'Neill
53. Tales of the Beanworld by Larry Marder
54. Too Much Coffee Man by Shannon Wheeler
55. The Cereal Killings by James Sturm
56. Tales From the Bog by Marcus Lusk
57. Confessions of a Cereal Eater! by Rob Maisch, Bo & Scot Hampton, Rand Holmes, & Sandy Plunhett
58. American Splendor by Harvey Pekar & various artists
59. The Complete Crumb Comics by Robert Crumb
60. Weirdo edited by Robert Crumb, Peter Bagge, & Aline Kominsky-Crumb
61. Julius Knipl: Real Estate Photographer by Ben Katchor
62. A Small Killing by Alan Moore and Oscar Zarate
63. David Chelsea in Love by David Chelsea
64. Slutburger & Fleener by Mary Fleener
65. Daddy's Girl & Nowhere by Debbie Drechsler
66. Enemy Ace: War Idyll by George Pratt
67. M by Jon J. Muth
68. The Upturned Stone by Scott Hampton
69. Palookaville by Seth
70. Very Vicky & The Very Vicky Junior Hepcat Funbook by John Mitchell & Jana Christy
71. No Hope by Jeff LeVine
72. Cages by Dave McKean
73. Flood: A Novel in Pictures by Eric Drooker
74. Frank & Jim by Jim Woodring
75. Concrete by Paul Chadwick
76. Pixy by Max Andersson
77. Kane by Paul Grist
78. Exit by Nabiel Kanan
79. "The Works of Evan Dorkin" including:
    1. Dork!
    2. Milk & Cheese
    3. Dick Wad of the Mega-Vice Squad
80. Silly Daddy by Joe Chiappetta
81. Gregory & Tug & Buster by Marc Hempel
82. Optic Nerve by Adrian Tomine
83. Slacker by Doug Slack
84. "The Works of Ted McKeever" including:
    1. Industrial Gothic
    2. Metropol
    3. Plastic Forks
85. Big Numbers by Alan Moore & Bill Sienkiewicz
86. The Adventures of Luther Arkwright & The Tale of One Bad Rat by Bryan Talbot
87. Hard Boiled by Frank Miller & Geof Darrow
88. Sanctuary by Sho Fumimura & Ryoichi Ikegami
89. Crying Freeman by Kazuo Koike & Ryoichi Ikegami
90. "The Works of Richard Sala" including:
    1. Hypnotic Tales
    2. Black Cat Crossing
    3. The Chuckling Whatsit
91. Red Calloway's Big Bang by Paul Sharar
92. Zero Zero edited by Kim Thompson
93. Dark Horse Presents & Cheval Noir
94. Twisted Sisters edited by Diane Noomin
95. Wordsmith by Dave Darrigo & R. G. Taylor
96. The Silent Invasion & Sururban Nightmares by Michael Cherkas & Larry Hancock
97. "The Works of Dave Cooper" including:
    1. Pressed Tongue
    2. Cynthia Petal's... Sex Frenzy!
    3. A Big Someplace
    4. Chronic Idiocy
    5. The Pied Piper of Hamelin
    6. Suckle
    7. Crumple
98. Strangers in Paradise by Terry Moore
99. Dangle by Lloyd Dangle
100. Way Out Strips & Invasion of the Mind Sappers by Carol Swain
101. Indian Summer & El Gaucho by Hugo Pratt & Milo Manara
102. Lost in the Alps by Cosey
103. World War III edited by Kuper, Tobocman & others
104. Blab! edited by Monte Beauchamp
105. Longshot Comics: The Long and Unlearned Life of Roland Gethers by Shane Simmons
106. The Killing Joke by Alan Moore & Brian Bolland
107. Batman: Year One by Frank Miller & David Mazzucchelli
108. Cry for Dawn, Drama, & Dawn by J. M. Linsner
109. Druuna: Morbus Gravis (Vol I & II), Creatura (Vol III), & Carnivora (Vol IV) by Paolo Eleuteri Serpieri
110. One Life-Furnished in Early Moorcock by Neil Gaiman & P. Craig Russell (reprinted in Elric: Stormbringer)
111. Hugo Tate: O, America by Nick Abadzis
112. Strange Embrace by David Hine
113. S. R. Bissette's Tyrant by Stephen R. Bissette
114. Shades of Gray by Jimmy Gownley
115. ComicsLit Magazine edited by Terry Nantier
116. Holy Cross by Malachy Coney & various artists
117. Six Degrees by Martin Shipp & Marc Laming
118. Strange Growths by Jenny Zervakis
119. The Adventures of A-Girl! by Elizabeth Watasin
120. Action Girl edited by Sarah Dyer
121. Top Shelf edited by Brett Warnock
122. Scenes From The Inside edited by David Leavesley & Matthew Burton
123. Arcade edited by Art Spiegelman & Bill Griffith
124. "The Works of James Kochalka" including:
     1. James Kochalka Superstar
     2. Little Mister Man
     3. Magic Boy & The Robot Elf
     4. Magic Boy & The Word of God
     5. Paradise Sucks
125. Breathtaker by Mark Wheatley & Marc Hempel
126. The Replacement God by Zander Cannon
127. The Book of Ballads & Sagas by Charles Vess
128. Usagi Yojimbo by Stan Sakai
129. Sandman Mystery Theatre by Matt Wagner & various artists
130. Schizo by Ivan Brunetti
131. Dear Julia, by Brian Biggs
132. Hummingbird by Gregory Benton
133. Starchild by James A. Owen
134. Thieves and Kings by Mark Oakley
135. Justin Green's Binky Brown Sampler by Justin Brown
136. Seven Miles a Second by David Wojnarowicz & James Romberger
137. Instant Piano by Mark Badger, Kyle Baker, Robbie Busch, Stephen DeStefano, & Evan Dorkin
138. "The Works of J. M. DeMatteis" including:
     1. Brooklyn Dreams
     2. Seekers
     3. Blood: A Tale
     4. Moonshadow
139. The Worst Thing I've Ever Done by Ted Rall
140. The Job Thing by Carol Tyler
141. Armed & Dangerous by Bob Hall
142. Storeyville by Sirk Productions
143. Omaha the Cat-Dancer by Kate Worley & Reed Waller
144. Faust by David Quinn & Tim Vigil
145. The Dreaming edited by Alisa Kwitney
146. Marvels by Kurt Busiek & Alex Ross
147. Kingdom Come by Mark Waid & Alex Ross
148. Rubber Blanket by David Mazzucchelli
149. Comics to Bore & Confuse You by Jesse Hamm
150. Girl Hero by Megan Kelso
151. Kingdom of the Wicked by Ian Edginton & D'Israeli
152. Box Office Poison by Alex Robinson
153. Savage Love by Dan Savage & various artists
154. Being An Account of the Life and Death of the Emperor Heliogabolus by Neil Gaiman
155. Tales From the Plague by Dennis Cunningham & Richard Corben
156. ArmaggedonQuest by Ronald Russell Roach
157. Crush by Burpo
158. Swan by Mike Moreu
159. "The Mini-Comics of Matt Feazell"
160. "The Works of Tom Tomorrow" including:
     1. Greetings from This Modern World
     2. Tune in Tomorrow
     3. The Wrath of Sparky
161. Minimum Wage by Bob Fingerman
162. Red River by Stephen Blue
163. Negative Burn edited by Joe Pruett
164. Snicker edited by Rich Balducci
165. The Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot by Frank Miller & Geof Darrow
166. The Spider Garden, Lumenagerie, Hydrophidian, & Cathexis by Michael Manning
167. Talk Dirty by Matthias Schultheiss
168. Batman: Arkham Asylum by Grant Morrison & Dave McKean
169. Chiaroscuro: The Private Lives of Leonardo da Vinci by Pat McGreal, David Rawson, Chas Truog, & Rafael Kayanan
170. Vignettes: The Autobiographical Comix of Valentino by Jim Valentino
171. Emma Davenport & The Windburnt Plains of Wonder by Gina Prosch & Richie Prosch
172. Artbabe by Jessica Abel
173. King-Cat Comics & Stories by John Porcellino
174. Private Beach: Fun and Perils in the Trudyverse by David Hahn
175. Captain Zap by Oliver Simonsen
176. No Zone edited by Knickerbocker
177. Narcolepsy Dreams by Jaime Crespo
178. Oink: Heaven's Butcher by John Mueller
179. From Inside by John Bergin
180. Tell Me, Dark by John Ney Reiber & Kent Williams
181. Silent City by Erez Yakin
182. Tongue Lash by Randy Lofficier/Jean-Marc Lofficier & Dave Taylor
183. Buddha on the Road by Colin Upton
184. Batman: Black & White
185. Street Smell by Bruce Mutard
186. Akiko by Mark Crilley

HIGHLIGHT

Come in Alone
Okay, so there's this guy, Warren Ellis. He writes comics. Good ones. You might have heard of him. He also has a lot to say about comics. This book collects the entire year's run of his Come in Alone column, ranging from how to write a proper comic script, to the finances of Marvel Comics, to recommended reading, to children's comics, and reprinting the now-classic Old Bastard's Manifesto. Dig up.
Only 15.25!
Read more ...

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