Dori Stories: The Complete Dori Seda [Paperback]

Dori Seda (Author), Don Donahue (Editor), Neil Gaiman (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1999

Dori Seda was the queen of San Francisco Bay Area underground cartoonists, a woman whose off-the-wall, over-the-top style won her fans across America. This complete-works collection presents her book Lonely Nights as well as all the stories she did for Wimmin's Comix, Cannibal Romance, and Weirdo.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Underground comix are an obscure branch of art, and even if you've heard of them, you might assume they died along with the rest of the '60s counterculture. But comix are still with us at the dawn of the new millennium--though not the same comix, and certainly not in the profusion of the hippie daze. The best underground magazine of the early to mid-1980s was the anthology series Weirdo, edited initially by R. Crumb. Weirdo #2 contained the debut of one of underground comix's greatest talents, arguably the greatest after Crumb: Dori Seda.

Dori Stories collects Dori Seda's complete works: not only her comix (one previously unpublished) but also her foto funnies (one written by R. Crumb), sketches, posters, and impressive, full-color shots of paintings and ceramics. In addition, it includes several photographs of Seda; a bibliography; a spare, sharp introduction by Neil Gaiman; the moving tributes of friends and lovers (including comix by the cartoonists Krystine Kryttre and Leslie Sternbergh); and the award-winning story "Dori Bangs," an alternate history by Bruce Sterling in which Dori Seda meets the rock critic Lester Bangs--and they both live a lot longer than they did in real life. (Lester Bangs died in 1982; Dori Seda died in 1988, in her 30s, apparently of a combination of untreated car-crash injuries, alcohol abuse, flu, and emphysema.)

Seda's debut, "Bloods in Space" (a blaxploitation-style story about space men, written by K. Lambert), is pretty weak, but by the next year her artistic and narrative talents had blossomed. Her more or less autobiographical comix were the perfect vehicle. Confessional stories are hard to make interesting, but Seda's stories are terrific: well drawn, incisive, disturbing, and funny. Having read these confessionals, her fans were deeply saddened but not really surprised by her early death. "The Life Cycle of an Artist" shows an artist's evolution from creative isolation to hearty partying to, well, a reminder of why she hadn't been going out much in the first place. In "The Love Life of an Artist," a 30-year-old Seda, engaged to an extremely inappropriate man, ends up instead with a purple-haired teenage punk--a doomed relationship, but not for the reasons you'd expect. "The Artist Meets a Swinger, Or... Crabs Eating Raoul" portrays the sexual misadventures and conflicts that result when Seda's new man insists they both swing. If you're easily shocked, avoid Dori Stories at all costs. --Cynthia Ward

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Last Gasp; 1st edition (December 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0867193751
• ISBN-13: 978-0867193756
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 8.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #745,558 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Some of the best underground comix ever made!, June 11, 2000

By 

Steven D. Miller (Sebastopol, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dori Stories: The Complete Dori Seda (Paperback)

Someone else describes Dori as the 'queen' of the underground comix; I don't think I'd go there, and given R. Crumb as the 'king,' you'd have to consider Aline Kominsky, among others, as the 'queen.' Dori WAS a princess, though; AND a brilliant artist, and also a very good writer. She's definitely my favorite among the underground comix artists, male OR female. Her stories are among the best, and ARE the most entertaining, of the self-examining underground comix of the 70s. There was no subject too touchy for Dori, but she applied her keen sense of humor with a wonderfully gentle touch. Her artwork is incredible. There are few with a better command of pen and ink. This collection provides most of her work in one convenient place, and however you've gotten to this review, I know you have enough interest to appreciate the book. Buy it, you'll like it!

5.0 out of 5 stars Seed, September 2, 2011

By 

Rick Weber - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Dori Stories: The Complete Dori Seda (Paperback)

Dori was a dear friend from Elk Grove High School. Her stories are just as offbeat as she was back then. We miss her.

5.0 out of 5 stars A woman, a pen and her filthy dog, November 1, 2004

By 

Abby Adler "ClassicGirl" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dori Stories: The Complete Dori Seda (Paperback)

I discovered Dori Seda in college. I happened upon the classic "Twisted Sisters" compilation and I fell in love with Dori's stuff. Totally hilarious and gross realism, pitch perfect dialogue, great artwork. She's a slob, she drinks too much, she falls in love, she has an incredibly large and smelly dog that she has to shower with in order to get him clean. She also smoked too much and died too young, a tragedy. This is a great collection for lovers of Aline Kominsky, Julie Doucet, R. Crumb, Joe Matt, Harvey Pekar... RIP Dori...