Deitch's Pictorama [Paperback]

Kim Deitch (Author), Simon Deitch (Author), Seth Deitch (Author), Gene Deitch (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 2008

Presenting a new type of graphic fiction from a legendary family in American cartooning. Underground cartoonist Kim Deitch has recruited his entire cast of siblings to produce a unique, all-new "picto-fiction" pocket book. Deitch's Pictorama leads off with Kim's comic "The Sunshine Girl." Then it's time for Seth's prose short story "Children of Aruf," about a man and his dog... in a world where dogs talk. Third up is "Unlikely Hours," a paranoid picto-story about a conspiracy of sentient rats written by Seth and illustrated by Kim. Next comes "The Golem," once again written by Seth and decorated with a series of superb pencil illustrations by Simon, a prose novella about the mythical Jewish monster/protector. Kim wraps with "The Cop on the Beat, the Man in the Moon and Me," one last comic - this one autobiographical. The book features an introduction by the Academy Award-winning animator, cartoonist and illustrator Gene (Tom and Jerry) Deitch, who happens to be the proud father of the trio.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Noted independent cartoonist Kim Deitch (Alias the Cat; Boulevard of Broken Dreams) teams up with his brothers, writer Seth Kallen Deitch and illustrator Simon Deitch, to provide this experimental collection of Pictofiction. It's not quite the revolutionary expansion of graphic novels the Deitches sell it as; it's illustrated prose with an occasional comics page. Kim's artwork, when it appears, is the highlight of the book, demonstrating the assurance he has acquired over years of underground cartooning. His depiction of a bottle cap convention in his novella, Sunshine Girl, is sly and witty, and his illustration of brother Seth Kallen's story, Unlikely Hours, is more of an illumination, employing inventive interactions between drawing and printed typeface. Simon's artwork is more static, so it's appropriate that he confines himself to illustrating a prose story (Seth Kallen's pastiche, The Golem). Still, like many experiments, this one is a qualified success. In some stories, extended blocks of text undermine the visceral impact of the artwork. Both Kim and Seth Kallen exhibit a tendency to wander off into various odd digressions, understandable in traditional prose but oddly redundant when paired with their brothers' illustrations. Still, a failed Deitch brothers experiment is more engaging than many lesser talents' moderate successes. (Sept.)
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Review

Comics alchemist Kim Deitch transforms cultural ephemera into artistic gold. (Richard Gehr, The Village Voice)

The stories in this volume are fascinating as they mix a lot more fiction than found in a traditional art volume and this combination of very strong and intriguing fiction mixed with superb illustration makes this quite an unusual volume. (Synergy Magazine)

Deitch’s Pictorama is a powerful statement about the ways words and images can combine, as well as a testament to the creative power of the comic book form. (Troy Brownfield, Newsarama)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: Fantagraphics Books (September 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560979526
• ISBN-13: 978-1560979524
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #965,452 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Something New, and with a classic richness, January 18, 2009

By 

Lost Felix (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Deitch's Pictorama (Paperback)

The Deitch brothers, led by long-time underground cartoonist Kim Deitch, ganged up to write and draw this collection of illustrated stories. The Newness of this collection is the format -- instead of laying out the stories as straight comics or as illustrated fiction, most of the stories are so neatly integrated with graphics that the stories are denser and rich with nuance and clever fun as a result.

Kim D.'s imagination is phenomenal. He starts with a plausible scenario, pulls in the reader with solid characters and charming drawings, then takes off on flights of fancy that incorporate his love for vintage curiosities such as illustrated bottle caps or obscure old jazz sides and the people who made them. It is as if his soul was born 30 years before his body. In both "The Sunshine Girl" and "The Cop on the Beat" he sprinkles in enough truth to his fiction that I often wonder just where reality drops off. A master of the comics form, his stories have an edge on the amalgamated tales.

But Seth D.'s stories "Unlikely Hours" and "Children of Aruf" are close seconds. The former is craftily illustrated by Kim, engaging and loads of fun. The latter story is text with an illustrated title page. This story happily took me by surprise with its alternate-world treatment of the age-old relationship between man and dog.

"Golem" is a good effort at retelling an old legend, but perhaps because Seth's story followed the drawings it didn't engage me as well as the others and feels a bit old-fashioned. Simon D.'s drawings are kind of "normal" (as contrasted with Kim's accomplished, idiosyncratic style) and rendered in pencil, so they don't quite meld with the rest of the book. But this is a family production and it's interesting and quite entertaining to see the differences in style among the three brothers.

Gene Deitch's introduction to his sons' works ties the package together with love and pride. His own be-bop drawing style is miles apart from what his sons deliver, and although his work is not showcased here, his talent and genes might be read between the lines.

It will be interesting to see if more cartoonists will venture into this little-explored territory of illustrated story. If so, we have Kim Deitch to thank for leading the way.

5.0 out of 5 stars Suprisingly good, May 13, 2011

By 

JoE Cardenas "Design Foo" (Beaverton , OR) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Deitch's Pictorama (Paperback)

I actually wasn't knowing what to expect when I purchased this. I saw that it was by Kim Deitch but then learned that it was co-written by his brothers as well as other contributors.

The idea of having a large ration of words to pictures kind of deterred me at first but I really came to enjoy it. I think this was a great experiment by the Deitch boys and would mind a sequel. Hoorah!

4.0 out of 5 stars Pict-ish, February 13, 2011

By 

Sam Quixote - See all my reviews

This review is from: Deitch's Pictorama (Paperback)

This isn't really a comic book like Kim Deitch's other stuff, this is mostly prose with Kim or his brother Simon illustrating the text with a picture on every other page. The good news is that despite one or two duds, it's mostly a good read!

Kim's stuff is the best (as you would imagine) - his Sunshine Girl story of bottle cap collecting maniacs and acid casualties is good fun and gets the book off to a good start. It's snappy despite being very wordy in places and his excellent artwork adds to the overall effect of a good, fun story.

Kim's other contribution is a shorter piece set in the late '60s featuring himself as a struggling underground comix artist who falls in love with a singer in a band who in turn falls in love with an older guitar playing man with a tall story to tell. Kim uses this strip to talk about his love of obscure musicians from the 20s, 30s, and 40s, and is quite interesting in places.

Kim's brother Seth writes a funny story about working for a pharmaceutical company who is experimenting on rats to make them super-smart and what they get up to when they escape. Kim supplies the art and it's another plus to the book.

The only duds were the golem story - Seth writes, Simon draws - that felt a bit leaden and just a reworking of Shelley's Frankenstein. There's also a text only piece by Seth that I didn't bother reading as I didn't enjoy the golem story at all.

Overall, not a bad book but probably Kim Deitch's least interesting book. I'd recommend to readers "Smilin' Ed" or "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" if you can get your hands on a copy. "Pictorama" is probably best appreciated for fans of Deitch only.