Customer Reviews

Flight Volume 1 (v. 1)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Remember 1990 and what a desolate time it was for comics? The major companies weren't doing anything remotely interesting and had started the whole mess of needing to buy 5 titles to get a single story; Image hadn't come along to with creator-owned stuff yet; and Jademan had pulled out of the US market. Sure, there were a few bright spots - The Vertigo line was just starting, but overall, it was pretty bleak.

All of a sudden, Heavy Metal got a second wind and started publishing *good* stories again - full of life and vibrance and with plots and art that weren't afraid of nay-saying normalists. Nothing lasts forever, but for a few years, Heavy Metal was the place to go for interesting stories every month.

Reading *Flight* took me back to those days, back to when, as a jaded teen, I opened up Heavy Metal and was blown away by the vitality of the art and writing on the page.

Kazu Kibuishi's genius was to ask a bunch of his webcomics and artist friends to contribute to an anthology, which was intended for a small press release. Little did they know that Image Comics would see their work and be blown away enough to publish it, thus ensuring that a larger audience would read it.

*Flight* is a collection of stories, many of them having to do with flying, but not all. There's an action story involving a zeppelin; a wonderful mixed-media story about discovering people you've know for years; a nearly wordless piece about triumphing over fear (my personal fave, done by Dylan Meconis and Bill Mudron); a post-script by Scott McCloud; and a couple "Copper" pieces by Kazu himself (featured on his website www.boltcity.com).

These are comics, pure and simple. Graphic storytelling at its best by people who don't care about "rules" in art and who didn't wait for "permission" to make their own book. There's nothing trendy or throw-away in this book - no manga, no steroid-superheroes, no grim lines to be muttered in a badas$mofo manner. Little tales - some cute, some dark, some deeply personal, some poetic. All of 'em wonderful.

Pick it up. Pick it up and read it. And then give it to a friend. And then tell someone else about it. Because work like this deserves to be seen.

I don't mean to come down too hard on this original and beautifully done collection of comics, but I have to admit to being disappointed. After reading the glowing reviews on Amazon, I thought I was really in for a treat. I dived into this volume as soon as it arrived on my doorstep only to find myself wondering what all the hoop-la was about. Many of the stories contained in this anthology (especially the 6-7 crammed into the middle) do very little to inspire, and in fact left me with a rather bitter feeling. Some of the stories led me to a bored feeling that had me thinking of better ways to spend my time.

While I can appreciate the beauty of simplicity and enjoy the rather abstract message presented by some of the contributors, I felt like a number of the stories here took those concepts too far. Stories of girls flying kites and crazily (unintelligible) pointless confusions of maps do very little to kick-start the imagination or capture the attention. IMHO, about half of these stories could have been left out for an overall more pleasant experience.

Either my expectations were simply too high for this volume, or I'm a dullard who cannot recognize artistic talent when I see it, but this book certainly did not blow me away. However, I did enjoy a number of the stories within. Particularly the first and last few. Beautiful artwork and simple but gripping stories can be found here, but you'll have to look for them amid a choir of blandness.

Because it has even more raving reviews than this one, I'll probably check out Flight Volume 2, but if it doesn't impress me more than this one did, it'll be my last.

I ordered this collection on the strength of a few authors I had read before but never really fell in love with the work as a whole.

There are a few charming pieces, a few gems, and a few pieces that struggle with their narrative and never quite get off the ground.

"Flight" as a theme may be a bit too airy and loaded with cliche to build a cohesive set of stories, but these authors -- many of them not yet well known -- try their best.

This is a compilation. As such it gives you a short introduction to a lot of brilliant comics/artists. But, it has some weaker stories that are more "art projects" than comic. It also lacks pagination, so it is hard to jump to a specific story. But overall definetly worth the read!

Flying is something we've all probably thought about once in our lives. The freedom, the adventure. This book collects a number of short graphic stories playing on the common theme of flight. Some stories were good, others bad; some art was very good, some not so go, some avant-garde. Nothing groundbreaking, but an interesting collection examining a few different angles of a theme. Overall, an enjoyable, if quick, read. I'll probably pick up others in this collection.

Charming, funny, delicate, deep, whimsical, rhapsodic, and altogether uplifting. I feel priveliged to be able to read these tales and take in the amazing range of art.

I've been waiting for this book since I found out about it back in the Spring. It was worth the wait.

This is one of the best books I own. The art is brilliant, the stories enchanting, and the book beautiful overall. Everyone should buy a copy of this book.

This is really a nice mix of short comics from several artists, some at this time already highly accomplished. I particularly enjoyed Kazu Kibuishi's comics and Vera Brosgol is excellent as always (do buy her Anya book!). A beautiful new discovery for me is "Outside My Window" by Khang Le. Way to go! A few of the comics are on the weaker side (but who am I to complain, I can't draw most anything), but overall an enjoyable and varied collection.

I went looking for this book after hearing about on Kazu Kibuishi's webpage (www.boltcity.com), which I discovered surfing the web a couple of months back. His comic "Copper" is an enthralling read. This book I found not in the graphic novel section of my local bookstore, but in the art section. That is what it is, a collection of incredibly creative pieces that inspire the same amount of creativeness within myself. I cannot reccomend this book enough.

Even the so-so stories in this anthology are better than average. Highly recommended!