Tiny, but never mere - Small Press title of the Year

200 copies and under, photocopied

I'm a bit of a print ninny and have no idea if comics are offset, laser printed or photocopied. So I'm guessing here. Essentially i'm going by page count, cover specs (colour/BW) and general design. Judging on print run is weird but onwards and upwards.

Nose Bleed - Mandy Ord
Mandy gives herself a blood nose. It doesn't go overboard trying to pack the jokes in or become overly neurotic (though Ord's neurotic Dirty little Creep is also very good). Very simple - very enjoyable.

9V - Michael Li
Just a really good read, offering a simultaneously sensitive and awe inspiring world with a satisfying narrative.

Interior - Loren Morris
Loren's Interior is the highest selling australian book at Adelaide's Pulp Fiction Comics. The reason why is because, chapters came out regularly, the story had an interesting hook and the art is expressive and solidly good.

Spider Mickey Mouse - Aaron O'Donnell
It's a very beautiful gorgeous book but slightly hollow. Its an art comic, a very good art comic but I’m more satisfied by narrative. Though, I recognize the importance of art comics in moving the medium forward so…shit I’m rambling.

Brandi - melongod
Its weird having this following Spider Mickey Mouse, because they couldn’t be more opposite. I think in the beginning of the year Doug Holgate mentioned he saw this at his comic shop and thought it to be the worst comic he's seen. I was given a copy at supanova and was a bit hesitant to read it but i was surprised. It was a lot smarter and funnier than i expected; although it didn't help me get a better understanding of the human condition, nor did it make me laugh so hard i peed myself, it was still an enjoyable read. At first I did think it was because it was because I had low expectations but the second issue was also enjoyable.

Dreams of tommorrow - Liz A (edited by)
Part of me thinks this should be in the independent press category, but its a smallish page count (about 30ish) which isn't small but compared with The Pirate Anthology it is. It could go in both, but I'm putting it in here (an anthology category would be nice). I do have a story in this (and it has words and if i remember, a spelling mistake) so i may be biased, or have very good taste for who i write stories for or i may be just full of shit. I think the only criticism i can level at the book is that it sort of lacks a focus; the Grug story, the canaan story sort of don't match liz's stories; while this is ok for DeeVee or the pirates book because the former has no theme (except different voices) and the latter's theme is more tangible. Personally - I look at the cover, look at the title and since i know Liz to a degree i have certain expectations, i expect stories with a political/philosophical/artistic/humanistic slant, something that wasn't really that prevallent in the book.
But then again, dreams never have any real focus do they?

I don't put these in any order, well usually my top chioce is my top choice, what follows is not in order of preference, i just write it as it comes and then too lazy to copy and paste. I may be missing something, stuff like 5041 or Raymondo because its reprinted stuff from the web (maybe a best reprint category next year??) so i'm not sure if its applicable. Everything else just left me wanting. Otherwise, Mandy Ord's Nanna shower is good but i'm freaked out because a) she depicts herself with 2 eyes b) i had my own incident with a naked 90 year old that i'm trying to forget. I wanna say Fat Ankle, Culled from the pages of Phatsville - this is just mad, incredibly funny comicing. I found Plump Oyster a bit confounding/confusing and took too much effort to read, but Gold Plops was good. But all those, I think are reprinted stuff from Phastville.

But of course the idea is that other people nominate what they liked. There's plenty of time (nominations finish early january) so check out www.phasetwocomics.com and buy stuff.
Otherwise get ye to the nomination forms and nominate.