Hotwire Comix and Capers Vol. 1 [Paperback]

Glenn Head (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 31, 2006

2007 Eisner Award nominee: Best Anthology; 2007 Harvey Award nominee: Best Anthology: a new comics anthology from the editor of the legendary Snake Eyes, featuring such authors as Tony Millionaire, Johnny Ryan, Ivan Brunetti, Michael Kupperman, R. Sikoryak, Sam Henderson, and Danny Hellman.

Hotwire Comix isn't supposed to be good for you. It won't lower your cholesterol, make you a better person, or prevent tooth decay. Hotwire Comix will not be reviewed in The New Yorker or the New York Times. Hotwire Comix is a full-throttle, kick-ass jolt to the nervous system, a return to the glory days of underground/alternative comics before we all started to drown in 200-page graphic novels in which the most exciting part is the moment when the perpetually depressed protagonist gets up, walks across the room, and makes himself a cup of tea.

Edited by New York cartoonist Glenn Head (who put together the classic 1990s trilogy of Snake Eyes anthologies), Hotwire Comix is a big, bold, beautiful poke to the old eyeballs featuring short, punchy, hilarious, all-around comics 'n' stories. Head himself, whose work looks like a demented cross between the Roberts Williams and Crumb, starts the dance with the epic "Switchblade Shenanigans!," in which nitrous oxide-addicted balloonheads indulge in dangerous knifeplay while they bungle a kidnapping.

Elsewhere, David Lasky relates "The Last Days of Joe Strummer"; Tony (Maakies) Millionaire contributes a "Little Nemo in Wonderland"-style dream story; plus new strips by Max (Death and Candy) Andersson, Tim Lane, Matt Madden, Mats!?, Brad Johnson, Danny Hellman, Angry Youth Comix' Johnny "Rolling Stone Cool Cartoonist of the Year" Ryan, Mack White, Judith McNicol, and a six-page fold-out by Craig (Modern Arf) Yoe. There's also an eye-popping color section, led off by Carol Swain's "Family Circus" (not a reference to the syndicated strip but a character study of two young girls visiting a circus), with new work by Ivan Brunetti, Al Columbia, Sam Henderson, Mike Wartella, and Doug Allen. R. Sikoryak wraps it up with a new installment of his letter-perfect parodies of classic literary works retold as cartoons with "Mephistofield" (the devil as a fat, lasagna-eating cat). Color and black-and-white comics throughout

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

When was the last time you were truly shocked by a comic? Take a look at this collection and you could be. Editor and bad boy cartoonist Head has created an anthology that seeks to recapture the spirit of the underground comics movement. The stories range from the outrageous—like Head's own lurid, over-packed, ultra-violent noir pastiche "Mindless Thrills!"—to the surreal, like Max Anderson's wordless tale "Car Boy." Other tales are subtly melancholy—"Family Circus" by Carol Swain—or the just plain strange—a retelling of the story of Faust in the style of Jim Davis (R. Sikoryak's "Mephistofield"). The only thread connecting the divergent styles of storytelling and art is the unlikelihood that any of these stories would be published by the mainstream comics industry. Although the story approaches vary so greatly that readers might be confused, this collection manages to capture the anarchic outsider spirit of good subversive cartooning. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Editor Head explains that what sets this alternative-comics anthology apart is that it consists not of sophisticated, arty comics or sensitive autobiographical works but of comics with attitude. Indeed, the title of Head's over-the-top hard-boiled-gangster parody, "Mindless Thrills," could be that of the whole shebang, a showcase of the comics medium's in-your-face bad boys near the top of their form. The flavor of the flock is well exemplified by such willfully offensive entries as Johnny Ryan's "My Mother the Idiot," Doug Adams' "Hot Rod Hillbillies," and Rick Altergott's proudly gross Doofus story. Despite Head's disclaimer, many contributions do veer toward the arty, but even those possess a disquieting strangeness, and the fact that the best of them, Max Andersson's and Carol Swain's pieces, are among the most memorable in the book puts Head's attitude-based premise in question. As is his wont, R. Sikoryak steals the show with his retelling of Faust in the style of Garfield Needless to say, for adults only, and with caution even to them. Gordon Flagg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 136 pages
• Publisher: Fantagraphics Books; 1 edition (May 31, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560977280
• ISBN-13: 978-1560977285
• Product Dimensions: 12 x 9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,558,050 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book., April 26, 2010

By 

Daniel Burke "The Figure Coach" (Orlando, Florida) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hotwire Comix and Capers Vol. 1 (Paperback)

Wierd, odd and disturbing. Cool visuals. For fans of the twisted genre. Loved this book.