9. Major Bummer by John Arcudi & Doug Mahnke (1997-98)
<ATTENTION EVERYONE: this is being collected. Preorder it, or at least buy it when it comes out. If you are disappointed, I will buy it from you.>
As much as I fawn over the excellence of the Mask, if there can be only one, it is Major Bummer that deserves timelessness. This is the most visually satisfyingly structured comic I have read. Arcudi's succinct verbiage, Mahnke's ingeniously rhythmic layouts, and Willie Schubert’s impeccably placed ballooning synthesize to slapstick perfection. Wild in a juvenile kind of way, privy to the pleasures of monsters and nazi dinosaurs. Clearly taken by 90s slacker culture and comics formula, Arcudi’s gag-a-page success rate is surprisingly fresh still. But it is, unsurprisingly as those observing even half-closely will know, Mahnke’s pencils that get me misty-eyed. He is, declaratively, my favorite illustrator. And Major Bummer is among his finest performances.