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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
This is hard to rate, November 26, 2008
This review is from: Liquid City (Paperback)
Comic compilations are hard to rate. When you put together a wide range of artists and creators in one volume, the results end up mixed, and the reading experience disparate. As a consequence, I feel like I'm checking out the portfolios of new talent and some older artists. And comparing one to the other.
South east Asia is a new hub for comic creation in some ways. The artists can draw, but storytelling abilities are still either esoteric or lacking in areas. I'm guessing that mature comic book readers will probably approach this with love-hate or indifference.
Curiousity brought me to Liquid City, which is well packaged but lacks something. You're unlikely to learn much about the worlds that the artists come from since most of the worlds featured here delve in fantasy, but there is one real established artist - LAT - from Malaysia who contributes a fragmentary look at life in his backyard.
Let's hope stronger storytelling will emerge at some point. LIQUID CITY works better as a portfolio glimpse than a wondrous experience.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
There are some pretty weird stories, December 2, 2008
This review is from: Liquid City (Paperback)
Length:: 0:19 Mins
Liquid City is a compilation of short comic stories from artists in Southeast Asia. If you've read the Flight series by Kazu Kibuishi, this anthology is somewhat similar except in style and storytelling. Sonny Liew is the editor for the book, and has his contribution inside.
There are some really weird stories in the book. A few times weirder than the weirdest stories from the Flight series. This is especially true for Leong Wan Kok's Metamorphosis which is the first story. Kenfoo's two entries are more horror comics -- think David Cronenberg's The Fly horror.
Then there are some truly nice stories that talk about culture and way of life the characters are in. The Pouch Puppeteer by Koh Hong Teng and The Trip by Lat are two examples.
There is a great collection of artistic styles used, ranging from duotone, sketchy, texture-styled to simple line art. Some, well, doesn't appeal to me while others are really great.
I felt that storytelling aspect for some stories could be better.
Be sure to check out the Liquid City blog. There are more previews there. You can also find the list of artists who have contributed and their websites.
(More pictures are available on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Amazing Comic Book, July 17, 2009
This review is from: Liquid City (Paperback)
An amazing collection of short comics by some very talented creators. In general the level of artistry was very high, as well as the emotional involvement of the stories. Some of the best stories were "The Boy and the Paper Plane"- a mostly wordless comic about a little boy, "Regrets"- another wordless story with stunning artwork about a troubled man, and "Me and My Food"- a humorous but also disturbing story about a hamster in a postapocalyptic world. These are not the only good stories, just a few of the best.
The were only a couple stories I actually didn't like, which is amazing for a collection this big. My only problem was that there were a few spots where I think the book could have used a better copy editor. I look forward to more books in the series.
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