There are a lot of companies publishing comics and graphic novels these days, and most major publishers consistently produce lines of titles that vary in quality from the exceptional to the truly awful. The five I want to talk to you about today, though, consistently publish works of excellence so reliably that simply seeing their company's name on the spine of the book is reason enough to give it a look and consider picking it up.
Fantagraphics -- They publish The Comics Journal, the magazine of record for the comics industry, but they also call themselves "publishers of the world's greatest cartoonists," and with names like Los Bros Hernandez, Dan Clowes, R. Crumb, Paul Hornschemeier, Jim Woodring and more in their camp, there is no question that for discerning readers who love good comics, the word Fantagraphics literally equals "quality." Their quarterly anthology Mome has featured some of the most forward-looking comics by new and rising cartoonists since its launch a few years ago, and the older I get, the more I believe that Love and Rockets is probably the best comic book ever published. Their excursions into prose publishing have resulted in some extraordinary works as well, with the recent Most Outrageous: The Trials and Trespasses of Dwaine Tinsley and Chester the Molester by Bob Levin being a great example of the chances they are willing to take. Levin's an amazing writer who vividly tells the stories of the cartoonists he writes about, and all his books published by Fantagraphics are highly recommended. But then, "highly recommended" is par for the course for Fantagraphics. There literally is no publisher on the planet that I trust, or enjoy, more.
Drawn and Quarterly -- Most of the great cartoonists not publishing with Fantagraphics can be found at D&Q. Joe Matt, Adrian Tomine, David Collier, Seth, Chester Brown, and Michel Rabagliati are just a few of the cartoonists in their stable. Their comics are frequently autobiographical, allowing the reader to share their experiences and philosophies. Also, production values on D&Q books are often astoundingly high-quality, with much thought put into the paper stock, binding and other tactile elements to create a wonderfully holistic reading experience.
Picturebox -- One of the most recent artcomix publishers, Picturebox has quickly established itself with quirky, high-end projects that are much more art than product. Frank Santoro has published a number of titles through them, including Incanto and Storeyville, two of the most extraordinary comics you will ever read. BJ and Santoro's Cold Heat should be issued as a graphic novel soon, and after reading a handful of the single issues, it's on my short list of books I am definitely waiting anxiously to read. From the artbook anthology Art Out of Time edited by publisher Dan Nadel to the neat little 'zine Comics Comics, everything Picturebox puts out is fascinating and compelling and unlike anything you've ever seen.
NBM -- If Rick Geary was the only cartoonist NBM published, they would still be on this list. Geary's ongoing series of true-crime graphic novels, published under the umbrella title A Treasury of Victorian Murder, has been an extraordinary example of what can be accomplished in comics. But NBM also publishes Rob Vollmar and Pedro Callejo's Blluesman and The Castaways, and works by P. Craig Russell, Peter Kuper, Christophe Blain and the indispensible Lewis Trondheim. I'm always interested in new books coming from NBM, and you should be too.
Top Shelf Productions -- Top Shelf seems like it should still be one of the new kids on the block, but after over a decade in business they've got an amazing library of worthwhile graphic novels under their collective belt. It's a small company, co-published by Chris Staros and Brett Warnock, and their line and the cartoonists creating it reflect their excellent and sometimes whimsical tastes. James Kochalka mostly publishes through Top Shelf, and his American Elf daily diary strip (which Top Shelf reissues in chunky collections spanning years of strips) is one of the most sublime creations in all of comics history. These days they're also the main publishing home of Alan Moore, the best writer ever to work in the comics artform. They publish his greatest graphic novel, From Hell, as well as his astounding and richly rewarding prose novel The Voice of the Fire and upcoming volumes of the great League of Extraordinary Gentlemen with artist Kevin O'Neill. They publish a lot of new and interesting cartoonists in a wide variety of genres, for a wide variety of ages and interests.
There you have it. Five of the most noteworthy and reliable publishers producing comics and graphic novels today. Collectively, these five are responsible for the vast majority of great works being produced in comics today, and I hope you'll investigate their books to see just how deep and wide the world of graphic novels has grown.
