Flight, Volume One [Comic]

Kazu Kibuishi (Editor)

Book Description

Release date: April 10, 2007

Originally published by Image Comics in 2004, Flight, Volume One launched this graphic novel series with a resounding bang. Since then the Flight series has steadily increased in popularity–and now all of the Flight backlist will be coming to Villard!

Flight, Volume One received a great boost when graphic novel hero Scott McCloud praised the quality and artistry of the book in an afterward entitled THE YEAR COMICS TOOK FLIGHT. Little could readers know at the time how prophetic McCloud’s words would prove to be.

“Regardless of where it’s shelved, this book belongs in every library.” — Library Journal on Flight, Volume One

Authors included in Flight, Volume One are: Bengal, Bill Mudron, Catia Chien, Chris Appelhans, Clio Chiang, Derek Kirk Kim, Dylan Meconis, Enrico Casarosa, Erika Moen, Hope Larson, Jacob Magraw-Mickelson, Jake Parker, Jen Wang, Joel Carroll, Kazu Kibuishi, Khang Le, Neil Babra, Philip Craven, Rad Sechrist, and Vera Brosgol.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Kazu Kibuishi was 24 years old and working full-time in the animation industry when he began developing the idea of doing Flight. He began contacting his friends in the animation, comics, and graphic novel world to see if they would want to join the project. Little did he know that it would draw him into comics full-time. He now works from his home studio in Pasadena, California, creating and promoting Flight and his popular young adult comic Daisy Kutter, which was nominated as an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults -- the only graphic novel on the list in 2005.

Product Details

• Comic: 208 pages
• Publisher: Villard (April 10, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345496361
• ISBN-13: 978-0345496362
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 0.5 x 10.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #54,103 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kazu Kibuishi is the writer and artist of the New York Times Bestselling AMULET graphic novel series, published by Scholastic. He is also the editor/art director/cover artist of the EXPLORER and FLIGHT Comic Anthologies. His debut graphic novel, Daisy Kutter: The Last Train, won a YALSA Best Books for Young Adults Award.

Born in Tokyo, Japan, Kazu moved to the U.S. with his mother and brother when he was a child. He graduated from Film Studies at the University of California Santa Barbara in 2000, and moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. He currently works as a full-time graphic novelist. Kazu lives in Alhambra, California, with his wife, fellow author Amy Kim Kibuishi, and their children, Juni and Sophie.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 43 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Oh wow... August 18, 2004

By Jimmy Lin

Format:Paperback

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 [...]

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. Read more ›

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars An artistic read August 4, 2011

By J. Maxon VINE™ VOICE

Format:Comic

Having not read the description before reading this book, I wasn't aware that it was an anthology. This is no one's fault but my own, but, since I thought I was getting an original work of Kibuishi's, I found myself disappointed.

That said, I didn't give up on reading it. Each entry is a short story that has something to do with flight (save for a few). Most took on an artistic expression, as if to show off the author's style. As such, some of the stories are a bit out there. I liked a few, but didn't care for them all, which is why I'm giving this book a 3-star rating.

Something about this reminds me of the Robot Carnival anime, which is a collection of different animation styles. Each story has something to do with robots, like this does with flight, but otherwise they were all very different . . . that is the case with Flight too.

In order to enjoy this story, it's best to put on your creativity cap and look at it as more of an art form than a collection of well written stories.

James D. Maxon
Author of Traphis: A Wizard's Tale

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars We all have wings, but some of us don't know why. June 23, 2010

By Robert P. Beveridge HALL OF FAMEVINE™ VOICE

Format:Comic

Kazu Kibuishi (ed.), Flight, vol. 1 (Image, 2004)

Interesting collection of graphic shorts, varying in quality (of course) but most relatively strong. Interestingly, I liked Kibuishi's the best (usually I find editors who include their own work in anthologies use second-rate stuff they couldn't get published elsewhere); appealing characters, strong storyline, manga-style artwork without being overly cute or cloying. But Kibuishi's two stories are by no means the only reason to pick this up; there are a number of solid artists represented here. Open to a random page and you're likely to like what you see. *** ˝

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Certainly not blown away... June 12, 2007

By C. T. Hunter VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

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.