* Comics Bulletin listed “Hottest Chick in the Game” by me and Andrew White as one of the Top 10 Online Comics of 2012. I really liked this part of Danny Djelsjovich’s write-up, which describes the atmosphere that attracted me to comics in the first place:

…this is comics, where budgets are low and creativity is high, where you can create something special and distinct and put it on the Internet at a low risk, in the hopes that it will find its audience. And it has.

* Ales Kot named me one of his favorite comics writers of 2012, in a paragraph that lists me alongside Michael DeForge, Grant Morrison, and a bunch of the biggest writers in comics. That’s quite unexpected and quite nice.

* I’ve updated the sidebar of this blog some, making links to some of my other outlets more prominent and updating the list of comics reviews I’ve done for the first time in a few months. The TV links should be complete as of today for all the shows listed, too. (I still need to go back through the archives and link to movie reviews and interviews and things like that. Someday.) Give it a look and give the links a spin.

* I can’t recall ever being sketched before. Thanks, Alex Nicholson.

* Finally, I’ve gotten Superheroes Lose, my tumblr where I post pictures of superheroes losing, up and running again. Tune in to watch colorful avatars of humanity’s brightest hopes and greatest strengths experience abject defeat again and again.

I’m very, very happy that two comics I did in 2012, “Hottest Chick in the Game” with Andrew White and Thickness #3 featuring “The Cockroach” by me and William Cardini, made it into the Truth Zone gang’s Best of 2012 list (via Simon Hanselmann). If you’re guessing that I frantically scanned this thing to see if I made the cut, you are a good guesser.

DOWNLOAD VOLUME ONE // MIRROR
The Nights of Wine and Roses – Japandroids // Summer Child (feat. Sarah Teresa Brown) – Intermissions // The Fever (Aye Aye) – Death Grips // Mercy (feat. Big Sean, Pusha T, 2 Chainz) – Kanye West // Beez in the Trap (feat. 2 Chainz) – Nicki Minaj // Genesis – Grimes // Losing You – Solange // Her Fantasy – Matthew Dear // Bangarang (feat. Sirah) – Skrillex // Some Nights – Fun. // Die Young – Ke$ha // Let’s Have a Kiki – Scissor Sisters // 1991 – Azealia Banks // Anything Could Happen – Ellie Goulding // Unto Caesar – Dirty Projectors // Let Me Be Him – Hot Chip // Something Inside – Jessie Ware

DOWNLOAD VOLUME TWO // MIRROR
Every Single Night – Fiona Apple // Into the Black – Chromatics // How Do You Do? – Hot Chip // This Kiss – Carly Rae Jepsen // Oblivion – Grimes // Money Trees (feat. Jay Rock) – Kendrick Lamar // Okay Cupid – Kitty Pryde // Purple Kisses – A$AP Rocky // New God Flow (feat. Pusha T & Ghostface Killah) – Kanye West // Liquorice – Azealia Banks // Don’t Deny Your Heart – Hot Chip // I Belong in Your Arms – Chairlift // Cool Light – Bear in Heaven // Blue Meanies – Opossom // Elephant – Tame Impala // Some Time Alone Alone – Melody’s Echo Chamber // Monkey Riches – Animal Collective // Hacker – Death Grips

DOWNLOAD VOLUME THREE // MIRROR
The Night – School of Seven Bells // Met Before – Chairlift // Offspring Are Blank – Dirty Projectors // Call Me Maybe – Carly Rae Jepsen // I’ve Seen Footage – Death Grips // Gotta Ball – V Nasty & Lil’ Debbie // Go Hard (La. La. La.) – Kreayshawn // Crush – Sleigh Bells // Kiss Me Crazy – Bear in Heaven // Back from the Grave – Chromatics // Everything Is Embarrassing – Sky Ferreira // Locked Out of Heaven – Bruno Mars // Running – Jessie Ware // Lemme See (feat. Rick Ross) – Usher // Oh Yeah – Bat for Lashes // Swan Song – Jessie Ware // The House That Heaven Built – Japandroids // A Wall – Bat for Lashes // Dome Horizon – Geoff Barrow/Ben Salisbury // Wide Awake – Katy Perry // Hot Knife – Fiona Apple

DOWNLOAD VOLUME FOUR // MIRROR
The Exact Colour of Doubt – Liars // Devotion – Jessie Ware // Bird on a Wire – Action Bronson & Riff Raff // Ice age – How to destroy angels_ // Scavenger – School of Seven Bells // Laura – Bat for Lashes // Running from the Sun – Chromatics // Sun in Your Eyes – Grizzly Bear // Mladic – Godspeed You! Black Emperor // When David Heard – Eric Whitacre

In the grand tradition of 2009, 2010, and 2011, here are several mixes of my favorite songs of the year. I’ve enjoyed making and listening to each disc, though let’s be honest, Vol. 4 is where I’ve lived for some time now.

If you want to go a little deeper, here are the 10 albums I liked the best this year:

Godspeed You! Black Emperor: ‘Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!
Jessie Ware: Devotion
Chromatics: Kill for Love
Grimes: Visions
Azealia Banks: 1991 EP
Death Grips: The Money Store
Bat for Lashes: The Haunted Man
Dirty Projectors: Swing Lo Magellan
Chairlift: Something
Bear in Heaven: I Love You, It’s Cool

The Kendrick Lamar album seems pretty good too, but something that lyrically dense will take me a while to properly appreciate.

If you like anything you hear, please buy it, because people who make music you like to hear deserve your money!

With the help of many talented artists I made a lot of comics this year. Here, in the order in which they were published, are links to the places where you can read them, or in some cases buy them. I hope you like them.

Destructor Meets the Cats (in progress)
script: Sean T. Collins
art: Matt Wiegle

Kiss of Life/Roman Charity
script: Sean T. Collins
art: Isaac Moylan

Yellow Calx
script: Sean T. Collins
art: Chad Hanna

The Cockroach (NSFW)
from Thickness #3
script: Sean T. Collins
art: William Cardini
available for purchase at thickness.me

No Way Out for a Family of Five
script: Sean T. Collins
art: Jonny Negron

Hottest Chick in the Game
script: Sean T. Collins
art: Andrew White

Stoner Alien (guest strips)
scripts: Sean T. Collins
art: anonymous
Stoner Alien created by anonymous

Cage Variations
a graphic novel
script: Sean T. Collins
art: Matt Rota
edit: Chris Staros

Here at the End of All Things
script: Sean T. Collins
art: Colleen Frakes
available for purchase from me: paypal $5 and your mailing address to nonserviam dot aya dot yale dot edu

“I want me to fuck you, David.”
script: Sean T. Collins
art: Colin Panetta
based on a page from David Boring by Daniel Clowes

Stoner Alien [“Origin of Stoner Alien” minicomic]
script: Sean T. Collins
script and art: anonymous
Stoner Alien created by anonymous
available for purchase from me: paypal $2 and your mailing address to nonserviam at aya dot yale dot edu

Who He Is, and How He Came to Be: The Secret Origin of Chuck Bass
a Gossip Girl comic
script: Sean T. Collins
art: Dan White
Gossip Girl created by Cecily Von Ziegesar, Josh Schwartz, and Stephanie Savage