One thing you get at this time of year is a plethora of Best Of The Year lists, as everybody that talks about cultural artifacts reviews what we’ve seen and what we’ve loved. It’ll be nonstop on the best movies, TV, music, books, comics, and suchlike for the next couple of weeks, and each year that goes by sees our weird little corner of the culturesphere become a little more prominent.

Case in point: The AV Club (which I trust above all other review sites) released today its list of their favorite comics of 2015, and creators from in and around webcomics are all over that thing. Out of 25 properties so mentioned, we find current and former webcomickers honored for print comics: Cameron Stewart (for co-writing on Batgirl), John Allison (for creating and writing Giant Days), Sopie Campbell (art on Jem and the Holograms), Kate Leth (for writing Power Up), and Ryan North (for writing The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl).

Is it a coincidence that these comics come from a primarily female point of view, with main characters almost entirely women¹ and a less-than-total emphasis on solving problems through fisticuffs. There’s lots about the value of relating to others on a personal level, and an overwhelming respect for empathy in all these books. Okay, I don’t read Jem because I’m not in the age cohort for it to be For Me, but the rest are all terrific.

The honors don’t stop there, with actual webcomics also getting nods: Berkeley Breathed (for the revived Bloom County), Blue Dellaquanti (for O Human Star), and Meredith Gran (for Octopus Pie). I’m on record that Bloom County was a product of its time, and think that Breathed may be getting recognized more for what he represents than anything else. Dellaquanti and Gran, though? They’re doing the best work of their careers, and Gran especially has been on an ever-better upward slope for about two and a half years now. OHS and OP have always been about character above all else, and both are delving deep into what makes us who we are; in this way, they are very much of a piece with the creators recognized above.

Most importantly, let’s look at aggregate influence; our webcomics and webcomics-adjacent creators list is responsible for 8 of the 25 total honorees — a full third of what a well-read panel of comics readers thinks is the best of the year comes from our neighbors. Add in the rightful recognition being given to the likes of Nimona, The Princess and the Pony/Step Aside Pops, The Sculptor, and more, and it appears that the creator-owned world has established yet another peak level of acceptance for the sheer quality of their work.

This is what I always hoped for ten years ago² when I started writing this blog — not that we’ve hit the Promised Land yet … let’s make sure that these great creators are making a decent living with the possibility of the occasional non-working holiday and well-deserved retirement someday — but I’ll confess that I didn’t think it would happen this soon. We’ve come a long damn way.

Spam of the day:

Rent a Private Jet in style!

Dude, the only people making more modest livings than your average webcomic creator are your hack webcomics pseudojournalists. This gig costs me money. I’ll rent your private jet after I win the lottery that I don’t play.

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¹ Power Up and Squirrel Girl being possible exceptions; in the former, half the main cast are women, one’s a dude, and one’s a fish of indeterminate gender. But the topic of the book is Magical Girls, and the dude is dressed like Sailor Moon. In the latter, there’s been an introduction of supporting characters that are male (Koi Boi and Chipmunk Hunk), but the titular SG, her squirrel Tippy-Toe, her roomie Nancy, and Nancy’s cat Mew are all ladies. The villains tend to be dudes though.

² Holy crap, I’ve spent a decade of my life on this? If I ever do a word count, I’m going to cry, aren’t I?