The Best Digital Comics of 2012

The Year In Comics

This year saw the comic book industry continue its inexorable move into digital publishing. Along the way we’ve seen innovation, exploration, and inspiration as writers and artists pushed the creative envelope, expanding the definition of digital storytelling. While there isn’t enough space to highlight everyone’s attempts to further the medium it is worth taking a moment to recognize some folks whose efforts were especially noteworthy. Without further ado, and in no particular order, we take a look back at some of the most innovative, best digital comics of 2012.

INSUFFERABLE: By Mark Waid, Peter Krause, Nolan Woodard and Troy Peteri

Billing themselves as an “experiment in new-media publishing” storytelling maestro Mark Waid and the gang at Thrillbent are regularly exploring how print comics can evolve in a digital environment – with fantastic results!

 

XKCD: By Randall Munroe

A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language…and in this particular instance about the exploration of the infinite canvas.  If you haven’t already seen Click and Drag you owe it to yourself to head over there and spend some time exploring. You wont be disappointed.

AVENGERS VS. X-MEN: INFINITE: by Mark Waid, Stuart Immonen and Marte Garcia

Kicking off Marvel’s Infinite Comics experiment in digital storytelling in a way only Marvel can – big! The House of Ideas didn’t shy away from pushing the digital envelope with this introduction to the mammoth Avengers vs. X-Men event.

MADEFIRE

Melding comic book storytelling with animation and special effects, the Madefire team describe their comics as “Motion Books” and are trying to do nothing less than “revolutionize how stories are told.”

 

INSTA•COP: by Kwanza Johnson and Andy Belanger

A hard boiled action adventure delivered one panel at a time across multiple platforms. The fine gents behind Insta•Cop are exploring the increasingly thin boundary between comics and social media.

 

OPERATION AJAX: by Daniel Burwen

Based on a true life spy thriller, this multi-media comic is chock full of extras and support documents that let the reader dive deep into a truly immersive digital storytelling experience.

 

AMERICA: ELECT!: by The Guardian

The interactive team at The Guardian used a creative scrolling digital comic format to tell the story of Barack Obama, Mitt Romney and the US Presidential election. The results were far, far more fun than the election itself.