Customer Reviews

An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons, and True Stories (Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons, & True Stories, Volume 1)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I knew this book would be great, but I didn't quite imagine it would be THIS amazing.

Perfect choices of stellar material from the cream of the 'alt' comics creators (or insert buzzword of choice here). Beautifully packaged, enticingly laid out, just an amazing confection of visuals presented in a treasure of a book.

Perfect for the newcomer hoping to investigate this convoluted 'new' graphic novel phenomenon, and a necessary teaser to entice further investigation. Just right for the dabbler or anyone returning to comix after laying them down however many years ago. - - And a 'must-have' for aging life-long comics nerds like me.

Over the years I'd already seen much of the stuff reprinted here, but was very pleased by both the choices of material and the choices of how to sequence them. There's also some amazing pieces by newer, younger creators that I wasn't familiar with at all.

There is a flow of subject matter, styles or 'schools' that make this a difficult book to put down. Also the choices of the more vintage material and where they're placed, the placement of the colored pages, and the pages that require you to turn the book sideways. The occasional thoughtful text pieces & Ivan Brunetti's compelling introduction - - Just enough, not too much in a book that remains visual. The particular choices for material excerpted from longer stories - - where in the story it brings you in, how it sucks you in, and the way it ends leaving you wanting more...

...and the printing! The end papers, the dust jacket!

It doesn't stop. The choices for how much of a page count certain artists receive are also significant, as well as who gets omitted alltogether. These are all choices that must have been painstaking for editor Brunetti, but I feel they show the book as labor of love imbued with personality, rather than a potentially dryer completist encyclopedia.

An important look at the comics scene, every inch crammed with eye candy.

Can't say enough good things about this book! (Had you noticed?) It knocked me out, I think anyone who sees it will be recommending it to others for years to come.

Ivan Brunetti, best known for his simplistic Misery Loves Comedy series from the 1980s, has compiled one of the more compelling tomes of graphic fiction in recent days. But what is it that differentiates this book from the dozens of similarly-themed books available? There are a number of things...

First of all, most of the artists and writers featured in An Anthology of Graphic Fiction are cream-of-the-crop when it comes to independent (read: mainly self-produced) material. A cursory glance through this book will expose the eye to the free-flowing styles of James Kochalka, Mark Beyer, and John Porcellino mingling merrily alongside the relatively more stringent Seth, Chester Brown, and R. Crumb. However, there are a few wild cards, such as the unknown "secret" (almost pornographic) work of reclusive Henry Darver, discovered in his cluttered apartment shortly after the deranged man's death, and a dated magazine cover illustration by the late Gene Deitch. Though much rarer amongst the bigger name talent, these "outsiders" add a definite flavour to the more popularly known artists.

Secondly, the book itself is quite stylishly designed. An elegant tri-colour dust jacket by Canada's own Seth graciously invites the reader to investigate the outside of the book as well as the inside. For a book of its size compiled by one of the big names in the business, one might expect to pay a premium, yet it retails for less than $30 (American).

And thirdly, while Mr. Brunetti makes no bones about this not being a "definitive" collection of independent cartoonists and comics, he (along with the likes of Tom Devlin, Kim Thompson, Chris Ware, Fantagraphics' Gary Groth, and several others) does a fine job of selecting some of the best pieces and excerpts by the artists featured therein. Many of the excerpts are from significantly larger sources, yet (for the most part) work perfectly for the format in which they are offered.

There are, of course, a few instances where a snippet feels incomplete (due to exactly this issue), however this does not hurt the book's appeal.

In fact, a few of the stories seem at a glance to be thematically linked (the disturbing nature of Phoebe Gloeckner's "Fun Things to Do with Little Girls" is introduced by an excerpt from Justin Green's equally dysfunctional Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary, and glides into a moving passage from Chester Brown's I Never Liked You). A coincidence, perhaps? Nobody's giving away any secrets.

On a down note, the table of contents for this book is lacking (nor was there an index). Comprised of miniature (yet not unattractive) caricatures of a primary character from each story or comic, with a numeral below signifying the page on which said character can be found, this book presumes some familiarity with the artists or stories. In fact, very few of these selections were "new" to me - but in this new context, I felt as if I had been re-introduced to some of my old favourites, as well.

For a book that could be considered Mr. Brunetti's personal collection of favourites, it is fortunate for the reader that - should this, in fact, be the case - Mr. Brunetti has a fine eye for selection.

The only reason I give this a 4 out of 5 rating, is that I personally own most of the material collected here. That said, Brunetti, (a HUGE talent in the 'underground' Comix scene) has wisely selected a wonderfully diverse selection of the classic's, but also, some new talent that really deserves to be seen. Thank you Ivan Brunetti for including the zen like genius John Porcellino (King Kat Komix)!!
Very Handsomely bound and designed, this is a real treat! A perfect gift for the budding 'Comix' enthusiast or even the jaded old school 'Comix' lover!!
Thumbs way up!!!

There is a stark difference between mainstream commercial graphic fiction and the alternative or independent variety featured here. The difference is between Michael Bay and Darren Aronofsky although maybe even Aronofsky is too commercial. In many cases it's the difference between Bay and a college film maker. The point is that mainstream comics are generally intended for safe consumption by a mass audience while independents tend to reflect an artists true vision. Let me just say that this collection is not for everyone and it most certainly is not for children. The stories feature molestation, pedophilia, raw language and graphic nudity both male and female. Don't be fooled by the whimsical cover.

Ironically what got me interested in independent artists was a collection from DC comics called `Bizarro Comics' which featured alternate-comic creators doing their takes on the DC characters. Inspired by the unique stories in Bizarro I purchased `McSweeney's Issue 13' which absolutely blew me away. However, my next purchase, `The Best American Comics - 2006' was a big disappointment and led me to wonder if there just weren't enough quality alternative comics produced in a single year to create an entire 300+ page book. Some of the stories were entirely too long and left me wishing they were over. `An Anthology of Graphic Fiction' is an out of the park home run. The author presents comics going back to the 1940's but leaning decidedly towards current stuff. They run the gamut from Aline Crumbs primitive scratchings to Chris Ware meticulous works that look like they came straight from a graphic design class. The writing is much more profane and a helluva lot more gloomy than what you find in mainstream graphic fiction. Someone should do a study on why alternative artists are so depressed.

One final point. At the risk of sounding like an advertisement you DEFINITELY get your money's worth with this one. It's 400 pages jam packed with great material. Get this one... get `McSweeney's Issue 13' but skip `Best American' and if you still need more grab up the vastly underrated Bizarro Comics. If you've never experienced some of the alternate comics out there you really should give it a try. It's certainly different and definitely more intimate, honest and thought provoking.

This is one of the best graphic novel/alt comics anthologies that I have ever read.

The choice of selections and their arrangement are outstanding, allowing this anthology to serve as a great introduction for someone not familiar with the form and a terrific read for devotees.

Highly recommended, even if you already own Pekar's Best American Comics or Ware's volume of McSweeney's.

Brunnetti's book is quite well put together, and the cover design by Seth makes it a very pretty package as well. The selections make sense and serve Brunetti's purpose of giving a good overview of the best of the underground/independent/small press comics world. It is a great introduction for those unfamiliar with this realm of comics, though for those who are initiated it includes a lot of material that should already be well known. My only dissappointment was having to skip the chunks of it that I already owned or had read in their full form. It serves as a great textbook for a course on comics, which it is in fact being used as and is the reason I bought it. The greatest compliment I can pay the book is that it is like a really good DJ mix tape, flows nicely, no trainwrecks. You get some things that are familiar and some that are obscure. A good buy, but if you're already familiar with some of the bigger artists on this side of the biz, flip through it to make sure you're not shelling for stuff you already have.

I wanted to get a taste of some "graphic fiction," and this book looked pretty good. I've enjoyed it, and it has certainly increased my knowledge of the medium, but it could have been better. By sticking to only the North American continent, there are a number of glaring omissions, such as Tintin, Asterix, and the enormous field of Japanese-language comics. The rising medium of webcomics has not a mention. There are even a few notable American comics which were omitted, such as Popeye and Dick Tracy. Krazy Kat is here, but with only one strip. Though I realize that space is at a premium here, there are a number of things which seem poorly represented.

Much of the book is made up of graphic novel excerpts, which irritate me slightly, as they tend to end just when they've captured my interest. However, there are also a lot of "short stories" and single-page or single-spread comics.

It should also be noted that this book is not intended for children. There is a good deal of what is often referred to as "language" and a number of depictions of sex and/or nudity.

One last thing...this book includes two "farewells" to Charles Schulz by Art Spiegelman and Chris Ware, which will no doubt interest Peanuts fans.

I'm not extremely well-read on the subject of graphic fiction/cartoons/ comics as editor Ivan Brunetti refers to his anthology. This collection is extremely lengthy and definitely provides a taste of several different and very unique styles of artistry and story-telling.

There are about 30 contributers to this anthology. Some are more entertaining than others, but nearly all of them are intriguing in their own way. They each have some special draw that keeps you reading. And that's what Brunetti is putting on display here.

It seems like if you already knew what cartoonists you liked this book might be kind of useless, considering you'd probably already own the collections of comics that this book takes excerpts from, but as an introduction to this world of interlaced stories and drawings, it's perfect.

I felt like they could have been ordered in a more understandable way, maybe by date published, or alphabetically. But overall I have no complaints. The pages are beautiful and each different comic has its own style of paper and printing. It makes the anthology even more exciting to read. This is the perfect book to keep around for those times when you feel like reading a few non-committal pages.

pretty good - a bit dry at times, but very dense and rich in content. Recommended for anyone interested in the art of comics and their creation.

I don't know if there is a softback version of this book, but I got the hardback and it is a bit of a pain to handle; the spine is real stiff and it is heavy and sharp edged; like it would be hard to lug in a back pack to be read on a subway train.

If I'm not mistaken, there is no Brunetti material in the book, other than his intro, sequencing, etc.! This was an oversight of Mr. Brunetti's!

There are some wonderful artists here, people whose work I haven't come across yet - I'm making a list as I read and googling them and buying their works. In this way the book is a wonderful guide - you could almost call it a buying guide. As mentioned in another review here, the book is hurt by not having a TOC or an index - no index! It makes researching these artists a little harder, but I'm getting around it.

This is a must buy for anyone that wants to be up to date on the more recent alt comics. It will be one of the reference works that will be left standing 30 years from now, when libraries and the great learning institutions finally realize how important these works are and teach them in lit courses and collect manuscripts, ha ha. I love the new attention for this genre that I have loved and followed for something like 35 years now, but since it's become mainstreamed the prices have gone up, and we are forced to read pompous, over-intellectualized and uptight reviews by the likes of Gary Groth, etc. I hope they relax one day and stop straining so hard to legitimize this genre; it is getting there in its own way and own time.