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“As a medium that was locked into a
fairly rigid set of storytelling strictures by Long before novels and movies became my way to cope with the grim reality of my childhood, comics captured my imagination and made it possible for me to laugh and and find wonder in the world. “Hot Stuffâ€, “Doctor Strange†and “Mad Magazine†were my first real teachers. Sure, I read all of the stories and books I was assigned to in grammar school and some of them were even interesting, but nothing took me away into another world like comics. I'd spent the afternoons in my hometown drugstore pouring over the racks of new comics that would sometimes appear every day. My surroundings would melt away and become insignificant compared to the colors and shapes that assembled themselves into amazing visual stories with strange and compelling characters. If it was possible to put the comics down on the floor and dive into them, I would have done so. Over the years as I pursued my degree in college, I would occasionally leaf through a rack of comics at the local comics store, but I didn't find much of interest. So many super-heroes and super-villains who all looked and acted the same way. As Chris Ware points out in the opening quote, the comics were commercialized and predictable. Eventually, I just gave up on comics all together. Then, while I was living in New York in the early eighties after graduating from college, I happened on an issue of RAW magazine in one of my favorite Greenwich Village bookstores (St. Mark's). Immediately, I experienced the same fascination I had as a child, but this time the content was adult and stories were strange and tragic. I was particularly impressed with MAUS, a anthropomorphic (mice are jews, pigs are Nazis) retelling of the rise of Nazism and the holocaust. I realized right then and there that comics were once again important to me. They hadn't lost their magic, it had just gone to sleep for a while. A whole new generation of comic artists like Art Spiegelman (author/artist of MAUS) had completely re-imagined comics as an art-form, but without losing that sense of wonder and imagination I had loved so much as a boy. “...one does not merely read comics, right – one sees them. One watches them unfold like a tiny little hand-held movie, the language of which you learn to comprehend only as you move through it†-Anne Elizabeth Moore We are currently in a renaissance of sorts with comics. Even mainstream stores like Barnes & Noble have an elaborate comics section, frequently crowded with browsers of all ages. And old-world newspapers like the New York Times regularly review comics and graphic novels (a new term for long, book-length comics). The Internet has also ushered in an explosion of comic, mini-comics and series comics. Comics are art, now. Of course, I've always felt that comics were art (well, some of them at least), but today it's become legitimate and believable to see the comic as an art-form. One recent example is the recent Caldecott Award (Children's illustrated book award) going to a graphic novel for the first time in it's history (this years winner was "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" by Brian Selznick). So, it was with great pleasure that I read the Best American Comics: 2007 this week. In addition to having an imaginative and interesting book design covered with comic-style artwork (be sure to look on the inside of the dust-jacket for two additional comic strips!) the book is slightly larger than a typical hard-back, but a bit smaller than a coffee-table art book. In other words, perfect for scaling a large variety of page layouts and for reading either in bed or in a chair. The price is great too: $22 bucks is much less than other books this size and length (smart thinking Houghton Mifflin). And this beautiful book is packed with 34 complete comics (or extended excerpts) and 341 pages of every style and type of story you can shake a stick at. In his informative (if a tiny bit rambling) introduction, Chris Ware points out that he doesn't really agree with the “best of†concept (probably forced into the title, I think) and that he's “...chosen stories or excerpts of stories that fulfill what I think I'm regularly looking for from art and literature (which when boiled down past all the things that don't really matter like a snazzy style and clever writing and accomplished drawing, means 'telling the truthâ€. And for all 341 pages you understand just how excellent his sense of “truth†in art really is. There is not a weak comic in the entire book, although some stories are more effectively told, in my opinion. “The best comics create an all-encompassing environment in which characters, actions, and landscape fall into a pattern of decipherable logic. We readers piece this logic together between panels, watch the subtle ways the same object may shift over time through line variance or plot advancement†-Anne Elizabeth Moore In her excellent introduction to the book and to the overall series (of which this is the second), Anne Moore makes the point that it's tough to create an anthology where the material represented is “high quality, yet diverse enough to engage a variety of readersâ€. She further states that in order to do this you have to move “outside your comfort zoneâ€. I think that this is the most important aspect of the entire anthology for me; you can read within and beyond your comfort zone with this collection. Autobiographical stories like Alison Bechdel's “The Canary-Colored Caravan of Death†and Jeffrey Brown's “These Things, These Things†read like slightly surreal stories of daily defeats, frustrations and epiphanies. And while the themes are familiar, the style of each comic is unique and adds that element of “truth†that Chris Ware referred to in his introduction. Ok, maybe there is a slightly narcissistic tone to some of these types of confessional stories, but it wasn't a major flaw for me. And then there are the very strange, poetic stories like C.F.'s “Blond Atchen & the Bumble Boys†and Paper Rad's “Kramer's Ergotâ€, both of which have such a striking visual style that only a surreal and highly poetic story could fit. The Gary Panter comic “Untitled†(a selection from his remarkable “Jimbo's Infernoâ€) is another one that has to be seen to be appreciated. Again, a striking and individual style supports fragmented and surreal writing to create a sometimes disturbing effect, although many of the scenes are very funny, in a black sort of way. I'm so glad Chris Ware included these unique works. They really stretch the boundaries of the readers imagination. And even though I very much enjoy experimental work, the comics that moved me in this anthology were somewhat traditional. Dan Zettwoch's “Won't Be Licked! The Great '37 Flood in Louisville†is an absorbing, elegiac portrait of a real historical event. Zettwoch, who grew up in Louisville, spoke to family members (especially his grandfather) and researched the event thoroughly before he started drawing. It certainly shows on the page. Each panel perfectly represents the story being told while being beautifully drawn as well. The “Fritz After Dark†comic by Gilbert Hernandez was an amazing story of a large bosomed woman and those obsessed with her. The writing is some of the best in the anthology and the visuals are striking black & white panels filled with detail. The story reminded me at times of a smarter Henry Miller. And then there's Chris Burn's amazing Black Hole excerpt. Do me a favor, if you read any graphic novel at all read Black Hole. It's a strange and beautiful story of teenagers who become victim of a special disease which causes them to transform into something that cannot be accepted in society. Rather like a Kafka story, Burn's adds a modern teen-angst + David Lynch visual style to create a completely unique look for his sad and alienated characters. The scene Chris Ware chooses to represent the novel is a perfect choice as not only shows Burn's simple/complex style, but the writing is some of the best in a book filled with beautiful scenes. So, go and get this well edited comics anthology. You'll not only get a cool looking book for your bookshelf, but there are mini-bios of each contributor and short comments on each story as well. Anne Elizabeth Moore provides an excellent list of 100 distinguished comics (published from August 31, 2005, to September 1, 2006) that has many more really good comic authors that didn't quite make the anthology. This is a book I'll be reading and re-reading all year. Not to mention the fact that I'll be looking out for other works by many of the authors I've mentioned. I just wish I had more space to mention all of the authors included in this anthology. Now that comics are cool, I should be able to find them pretty easily. It feels so good to be a kid in the drugstore browsing the comic racks again. Notes:
A short list of some favorite graphic novels and comics:
 Ricky
Grove [gToon], Contributing Columnist with the Renderosity
Front Page News. Ricky Grove is a bookstore clerk at the best
bookstore in Los Angeles, the Iliad Bookshop. He's also an
actor and machinima filmmaker. He lives with author, Lisa Morton,
and three very individual cats. Ricky is into Hong Kong films, FPS
shooters, experimental anything and reading, reading, reading. You
can catch his blog here. |
Best
American Comics: 2007January 21, 2007
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