Autobiographix (Dark Horse Collections) [Paperback]

Various (Author), Diana Schutz (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Dark Horse Collections | Publication Date: December 15, 2003

Dedicated readers have long known that the medium of comics and graphic novels isn't all about caped super-heroes and spandex-clad bad girls. In fact, the combination of words and pictures can be the perfect vehicle for telling all kinds of stories, from poignant memoirs to lighter takes on the mundane musings of modern life. This collection of short stories illustrates, quite literally, the effectiveness of the medium for telling the most personal of stories - the autobiography - and does so by showcasing some of the first published autobiographical stories from living-legend artists, mainstream greats, and young "indie" up-and-comers.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This slim anthology of autobiographical musings by established comics stars and up-and-comers alike is a mixed bag. Autobiography in comics is a tricky business; a unique perspective is key. Much of this material is straightforward reminiscences from aging talent: Will Eisner on his first rejection; Paul Chadwick on an old apartment; Stan Sakai on a trip to Europe; Sergio Aragones on an encounter with Nixon, etc. These pieces, like others in the book, are fairly prosaic memoirs by artists that veer often into sentimentality and vagaries. Though well drawn in loose, cartoony styles, the stories have no urgency and seem arbitrarily chosen. Furthermore, these and other artists show the world through their eyes, but reveal nothing unusual in the processâ€"it's like sitting next to someone on an airplane and listening to him recite his life story in a monotone. That's the bad news. The good news is that there are a few fine pieces. Frank Miller's hyperbolic account of going to the Daredevil film premiere is ridiculous and entertaining; Paul Hornshemeier's pencil and ink story about drawing his story is thoughtful and well rendered; and Eddie Campbell, of From Hell fame, trumps the entire book with a devastating account of losing his artistic confidence, drawn in his trademark shaky, sensitive pen line. This compilation may be nobly intentioned, but autobiographical comics pioneer Campbell's contribution ultimately shows its deep flaws: in the hands of a master, autobiographical comics can be poignant and affecting, but even those skilled at other kinds of graphic storytelling can't always bring that eloquence to their own experience.
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Product Details

• Paperback: 104 pages
• Publisher: Dark Horse (December 15, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593070381
• ISBN-13: 978-1593070380
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #577,031 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Frank Miller is one of the seminal creative talents who sparked the current gigantic sub-industry of motion pictures featuring comic book- initiated product. A sub-industry which had become a super-industry. This most profitable aspect of this millennium's film production, now producing an annual flow of box office profits in the Billions of dollars, was launched when Frank Miller's graphic novel re-take on the classic comic book hero, Batman, resulted in an entertainment industry-wide reconsideration of the genre in the deeper and darker vision Miller brought to it.

Miller re-defined the presentation of comic book characters and heroic fiction with his grand-daddy of graphic novels, "The Dark Knight." This revolutionary work
not only kicked off the series of Batman films based on his redefinition, but a craze for such material that has thrown dozens of such heroes into multiple film franchise heaven. Certainly chief among these has been Miller's uniquely classical take on superheroic narrative, "300," and his "Sin City" books, each of which entered motion pictures with historic successes, and each now in Miller's creative phase of achieving its highly-anticipated sequel. Miller's co-direction of "Sin City" has made him one of the hottest
directors... as well as a guiding creative force...for the new genre. Or one might say "super genre."

Miller's latest graphic novel, Holy Terror, is his first original graphic novel in ten years. Join The Fixer, a brand new, hard-edged hero as he battles terror in the inaugural release from Legendary Comics.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Usual Mixed Bag, November 22, 2005

By 

A. Ross (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Autobiographix (Dark Horse Collections) (Paperback)

The participants in this anthology (a mix of comics legends and younger talent) were asked to create an original piece of work based on something that they personally experienced. The sixteen pieces, like every anthology, be it fiction, non-fiction, or sequential art, are a mixed bag that different readers will have very different reactions to. Personally, I've never been a fan of prose forms of memoir or autobiography genres, so I held little hope for this collection. Naturally enough, many of the contributors took up some theme relating to art and creation. Some of these work, like modern legend Frank Miller's amusing "Man With Pen in Head" (about going to the premiere of the awful Daredevil movie) or Eddie ("From Hell") Campbell's thoughtful and self-explanatory"I Have Lost My Sense of Humor". Alas, others of these lapse into sheer cheesiness (especially grandmaster Will Eisner's "The Day I Became A Professional" and Will Stout's "Eyes") or pretentiousness (Paul Hornshemeier's "Of This Much We Are Certain").

The best pieces are those that tell straightforward personal anecdotes with a bit of humor or some kind of insight. Fabio Moon & Gabriel Ba's "Qu'est-ce Que C'est?" is a great piece about being away from home and the vulnerability that brings, it's also my favorite from an artistic standpoint. Sergio Aragones contributes a funny story in his signature Mad Magazine visual style about the time he met Richard Nixon and traded signed copies of books. Bill Morrison's charmingly drawn reminisces about his childhood fascination with "Batman" is cute, if not particularly provocative. Linda Medley's "Recess" is kind of weak in the art department, but has really sharp dialogue to make up for it. Some of the other personal stories tried a little too hard and ended up being kind of pretentious, such as Paul Chadwick's "The Building That Didn't Explode", Metaphrog's "A Traveller's Tale", and Jason Lutes' "Rules To Live By" (although I still love his clean visual style).

The rest of the pieces are kind of throwaways that don't leave much of an impact. Diana Schitz's "Tuesday Night at the Jazz Club" features the wild art of Arnold Pander, but otherwise, the three pages left me flat. Matt Wagner's "Comic Book Chef" is a lame effort in recipe presentation with pretty unengaging art. Stan Sakai's "France" is a straightforward account of his trip to a comic convention in France, with a lame punch line. Ultimately, there were enough decent bits to pull me through the bad parts, and it's not a bad way to sample the styles of a bunch of different sequential artists to see what one might like. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for Fabio Moon & Gabriel Ba.