Cal
@cal-smith.bsky.social
Hakim’s Odyssey by Fabien Toulmé. These books are a couple of years old, but I read all three across the year. An emotionally devastating look at the experiences of a Syrian refugee making his way to France. It shouldn’t feel so radical to read something that does this with a sense of compassion!
December 6, 2025 at 5:21 AM
Hakim’s Odyssey by Fabien Toulmé. These books are a couple of years old, but I read all three across the year. An emotionally devastating look at the experiences of a Syrian refugee making his way to France. It shouldn’t feel so radical to read something that does this with a sense of compassion!
Hobtown Mystery Stories by Kris Bertin and Alexander Forbes. Two volumes this year, what a treat! Such a fun and interesting series, a subdued and oppressive tone that also manages to be very funny and exciting without feeling incoherent. Gorgeous art and colouring and horrible little goblin men.
December 4, 2025 at 6:17 AM
Hobtown Mystery Stories by Kris Bertin and Alexander Forbes. Two volumes this year, what a treat! Such a fun and interesting series, a subdued and oppressive tone that also manages to be very funny and exciting without feeling incoherent. Gorgeous art and colouring and horrible little goblin men.
Crimehot by Alec Robbins. For a book that is full of pastiche and meta commentary, this is a deeply earnest and thoughtful book about desire and sex that also made me laugh on almost every page. So good! Volume 2 please!
December 4, 2025 at 5:52 AM
Crimehot by Alec Robbins. For a book that is full of pastiche and meta commentary, this is a deeply earnest and thoughtful book about desire and sex that also made me laugh on almost every page. So good! Volume 2 please!
Search and Destroy by Atsushi Kaneko. I surprise hit for me! I love Dororo and was not expecting to be so charmed by a reinterpretation. Appropriately gross, weird, funny and propulsive, this book is really firing on all cylinders and I can’t wait to catch up on the final volume.
November 30, 2025 at 6:12 AM
Search and Destroy by Atsushi Kaneko. I surprise hit for me! I love Dororo and was not expecting to be so charmed by a reinterpretation. Appropriately gross, weird, funny and propulsive, this book is really firing on all cylinders and I can’t wait to catch up on the final volume.
Love Languages by James Albon. Look at this book! Perhaps the most beautiful thing I read this year, an inventive and tender story that also contains the best kiss I’ve ever seen in a comic. I should read more comics with great kisses!
November 30, 2025 at 5:59 AM
Love Languages by James Albon. Look at this book! Perhaps the most beautiful thing I read this year, an inventive and tender story that also contains the best kiss I’ve ever seen in a comic. I should read more comics with great kisses!
Cornelius: The Merry Life of a Wretched Dog by Marc Torices and translated by Andrea Rosenberg.
Really hard to overstate how ambitious and creative this book is. Constant invention and complete control of tone meant this was the funniest and most depressing book of the year for me.
Really hard to overstate how ambitious and creative this book is. Constant invention and complete control of tone meant this was the funniest and most depressing book of the year for me.
November 29, 2025 at 6:04 AM
Cornelius: The Merry Life of a Wretched Dog by Marc Torices and translated by Andrea Rosenberg.
Really hard to overstate how ambitious and creative this book is. Constant invention and complete control of tone meant this was the funniest and most depressing book of the year for me.
Really hard to overstate how ambitious and creative this book is. Constant invention and complete control of tone meant this was the funniest and most depressing book of the year for me.
I have a sleeping child on my chest and can’t move, so will start a list of the best comics I’ve read this year to stay awake!
Legend of Kamui by Sanpei Shirato! Holy moly, this is a revelation! So elegant and ambitious that reading it comes with a sense of discovery that I’ve not had in years!
Legend of Kamui by Sanpei Shirato! Holy moly, this is a revelation! So elegant and ambitious that reading it comes with a sense of discovery that I’ve not had in years!
November 28, 2025 at 7:48 AM
I have a sleeping child on my chest and can’t move, so will start a list of the best comics I’ve read this year to stay awake!
Legend of Kamui by Sanpei Shirato! Holy moly, this is a revelation! So elegant and ambitious that reading it comes with a sense of discovery that I’ve not had in years!
Legend of Kamui by Sanpei Shirato! Holy moly, this is a revelation! So elegant and ambitious that reading it comes with a sense of discovery that I’ve not had in years!
A terrible photo, but I loved Love Languages by James Albon, amazing cartooning (office bros never looked more monstrous) and the best kiss in a comic! More kissing in comics! Always kissing in comics! Also, fascinating and fluid ways to depict slipping between languages! And a big kiss!
May 17, 2025 at 6:43 AM
A terrible photo, but I loved Love Languages by James Albon, amazing cartooning (office bros never looked more monstrous) and the best kiss in a comic! More kissing in comics! Always kissing in comics! Also, fascinating and fluid ways to depict slipping between languages! And a big kiss!