12.26.12 Shipping Report

THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE. It's the last shipping date of the year and if you're willing to cede the point that this small week is a representative snapshot of what's going on in the industry [and trust me, there *is* a case to be made for that idea, with Dark Horse reprints, Before Watchmen and New 52 dreck from DC, a slick creator-owned debut from Image, big franchise Marvel event hooha (Spider-Man #700), and shlocky (Deathmatch) multiple cover deluge (Crossed: Badlands) from the the rest of the publishers], then it means the one book I'm picking up this week is in the top tier. Mara #1 (Image) by Brian Wood and Ming Doyle is 1 of 10 distinct floppies coming out this week, among 17 actual items inventoried on the Diamond Shipping List, which means this creator is in the 90th percentile, producing in the top 10% of the material currently being churned out by the industry. You can't argue with math. My review of Mara #1 is already written and will be posted late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning. Happy Holidays!