2012 in Review: Creators Pick the Breakouts of 2013

This month, we’re going to have an elaborate run of looks at the best of 2012 and what we’re excited about for 2013. To kick that all off, we’ll have a week of some of our favorite creators sharing their thoughts on the year to date as well as what they’re looking forward to in 2013.

Today, we asked “what creator do you think we’ll see make a huge leap in 2013?” Here are the creators’ thoughts, and look for more tomorrow.

Ed Brisson (Comeback)

There’s a few writers who I think will start to make waves in 2013: Curt Pires, Ryan Ferrier and Paul Allor. Paul’s already written an TMNT spin-off issue for IDW and has a few other things in the cooker, so is probably the first dude that you’re probably going to see hitting stands. Paul’s got a good head on his shoulders and I’m sure he’s going to go far.

Curt Pires has a really good eye for artists and is a solid writer. He self published a book called LP this past year that people need to go and hunt down. It’s tops! I’ve had a sneak peek at the new project he’s working on and it’s cool as hell. If it doesn’t get picked up by a publisher, I’ll be shocked.

Ryan Ferrier some people may know from Tiger Lawyer, but he’s got about 3,000,000 other things that he’s working on, all of which are great. To my mind, it’s a given that he’s going to land something with a publisher in 2013. NO DOUBT. Ryan also recently launched the site Challenger Comics (http://readchallenger.com/), which has been posting a lot of great free to read comics by up and coming creators.

Ales Kot (Change, Wild Children)

Morgan Jeske. The way he’s evolved while working on ‘Change’ alone is something people will probably write essays about. Morgan’s a very capable writer as well, and his own project, ‘The Disappearing Town’ (first parts are here for free), is a very promising comic. I am astonished by how far he’s taken the pages for Change #3 that are coming in right now. They’re a part of the same whole as #1 and #2, but the leaps Morgan makes between issues – sometimes between pages – are enormous. He’s committed to his craft and he’s doing his best to get better and better at telling stories. And he’s hot. We need more hot nice people in comics. I mean, look at him, it’s like Michael Fassbender had babies with Burt Reynolds:

Brandon Graham (Prophet, Multiple Warheads)

Aaron Conley and Damon P. Gentry are putting out this book called Sabertooth Swordsman through Dark Horse that I think will be fantastic.

Matt Kindt (Mind MGMT)

Ray Fawkes. That guys is starting to get some more writing gigs and I can’t wait to see them!

Box Brown (The Survivalist)

Charles Forsman, who runs the small press Oily Comics with his partner Melissa Mendes has TWO books coming from Fantagraphics in the future. I’m looking forward to both.

Jamie S. Rich (A Boy & a Girl)

I’m going to be self-serving and say Natalie Nourigat. In January, Oni Press will start serializing our comic A Boy and a Girl online, and I think people are really going to be impressed by her level of growth since Between Gears. We’ve seen some of it in her issue of Husbands and the Meet Your Mind: The Science of Consciousness one-off she did with Jim Ottaviani, but it’s just been a teaser. She and I have another short collaboration in the pipeline that will be out in the summer that, I guarantee, is in an area that is nothing you’ve seen her do as of yet; and though I don’t think we’ll see Over the Surface vol. 1 any sooner than next winter, that graphic novel series, which will be her both writing and drawing, will just cement for everyone how incredibly talented she is.

Natalie Nourigat (A Boy & a Girl)

I work around a lot of cartoonists and get to see what’s in the pipeline for them, and I can say I’m excited about what every single one of them has planned. Ben Dewey has a ton of irons in the fire that are going to blow people away when they manifest. Angie Wang and Emi Lenox are up to their usual secretive awesomeness, Joëlle Jones somehow continues to top herself with every new page, and Wook Jin Clark’s Megagogo is going to be sweeeeet. Ohoho, and just wait until Erika Moen’s next project comes out! Game changer.

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Tim Daniel (Enormous)

• Justin Jordan (Luther Strode)
• Ales Kot (Wild Children/Change)
• Ed Brisson (Comeback/Murder Book)
• Jeremy Holt (Cobble Hill-Southern Dog)
• Michael Moreci (Hoax Hunters)

This list can go on and on because we have scores of writers and artists who are just on the cusp of establishing in the market, and it might be easy to assume that Justin Jordan already made that leap in 2012, but his career really has all the hallmarks that make for a long and celebrated tenure. He honors his creator-owned work and delivers on his work-for-hire with a comparable quality in every effort. I have a lot of admiration for those folks that can balance that workload and deliver. Joe Keatinge, Joshua Williamson, Nathan Edmonson, and James Asmus are those types of workhorses that set a standard for solid ethic and delivering great work. Anyone of them could become ‘that person’ in the coming year given the right project and collaborative partner.

Kieron Gillen (Iron Man, Young Avengers)

I think AL EWING is about to blow up. Brits know him already. The US critics are finally aligning to 2000AD (I’ve a theory which draws a line to Hong Kong cinema’s rediscovery by the audiences in the early/mid-nineties and 2000AD’s current position, but I won’t bore you) and Al’s been doing incredible, under the radar stuff on JENNIFER BLOOD. Blood’s was a relatively minor Ennis book for its first issue – and there’s no shame there – but Ewing has just ran with its core concept to a genuinely horrific villain-protagonist book with a real ethical center. Breaking Bad is the real world thing everything gets compared to right now, but the going-to-hell-one-step-at-a-time is done expertly there.

Rob Williams (Ghost Rider)

It’s only a matter of time before Al Ewing breaks the US market. He’s that good. Dredd’s a very tough character to write. A lot of the best of the business have tried and not quite nailed him down – Garth, Grant Morrison, Mark Millar. But Al not only writes strong plots and crazy visuals, but he really gives a sense of a three-dimensional REAL man under the helmet. I’d not be susprised at all to see Al make the leap.

Joe Eisma (Morning Glories)

Tradd Moore.

Shane Houghton (Reed Gunther)

I think Sam Humphries made a huge leap in 2012 with all the craziness he’s been up to from self-publishing SACRAFICE to writing ULTIMATES, HIGHER EARTH and now UNCANNY X-FORCE. Predicting who the next Sam will be tough… A huge leaper takes a potent combination of talent and prolificacy. Sina Grace is setting himself up nicely with working on L’IL DEPRESSED BOY and releasing his original graphic novel, NOT MY BAG. I’m hoping Sina keeps up his awesome streak and continues putting out some incredibly unique works.

Chris Houghton (Reed Gunther)

James Stokoe. The guy’s incredible.

Brandon Seifert (Witch Doctor, Hellraiser)
Hmm. Personally, I’m super excited about Kieron Gillen’s upcoming work. I’m a huge Phonogram fan, and I can’t wait for volume three. I also can’t wait for his Young Avengers. I really liked the Young Avengers title to begin with, and was sorry to see it languish the last few years. Having Kieron come in and revitalize it, and add Marvel Boy – one of my favorite under-used/mis-used Marvel characters? Sold.

Marc Lombardi (Shadowline/Grayhaven Comics)

I think that both Justin Jordan and Kurtis J. Wiebe are poised for big jumps in recognition for their work. They both seem to be writing machines and it’s looking more and more like people are finally starting to notice. Hopefully that translates into success for both of them.

Paul Allor (Orc Girl, TMNT: Fugitoid)

I think a lot of the Comics Experience folks I mentioned above will be breaking out over the next several years. In 2013 in particular, I think Ed Brisson is poised to make a huge leap forward. His earlier work, including Murder Book, is just fantastic, and his new Image mini-series Comeback is off to an awesome start. I’ve also really enjoyed everything IDW editor Bobby Curnow has written this year, including his Godzilla one-shot, his Battle Beasts mini and his creator-owned mini, Night of 1,000 Wolves. So I’m really looking forward to what he does in 2013.