McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, No. 13 [Hardcover]

Editors of McSweeney's (Compiler), Chris Ware (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 14, 2004

McSweeney's Quarterly Concern #13 is all comics. It is edited by Chris Ware (author of Jimmy Corrigan: Smartest Kid on Earth), and features so many artists to know and love: R. Crumb, Art Spiegelman, Daniel Clowes, Lynda Barry, Los Bros Hernandez, Adrian Tomine, Julie Doucet, and on and on. The issue also includes essays from Michael Chabon, Ira Glass, John Updike, Chip Kidd, and others. A hardcover, clothbound edition, this quarterly comes with an enormous dust jacket that does much more than guard against dust. This one makes our throats go tight.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Guest-editing Dave Eggers's literary journal, Jimmy Corrigan cartoonist Ware has assembled a beautifully designed anthology of contemporary art comics, with a few vintage treats thrown in, including an excerpt from "Obadiah Oldbuck"—an 1842 publication that's arguably the first American comic book—and a series of very rough sketches by Charles Schulz. A few pieces have recently been published elsewhere (including excerpts from Mark Beyer's loopy, design-heavy Amy and Jordan and Joe Sacco's comics essay on Sarajevo, The Fixer), but the book is a superb introduction to the best American cartoonists working today. Some of them, including Richard McGuire and Mark Newgarden, haven't published much since the heyday of RAW in the late 1980s and early '90s; others, like Lynda Barry and Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez, are prolific creators at the top of their form. As Ira Glass points out in his introduction, Ware seems to believe cartooning gets no respect at all, and his McSweeney's is a passionate defense of the medium. Ware has included work by artists with an impressively varied range of visual styles and narrative techniques. And Ware's own contribution is brilliant: the book's cover unfolds into a gigantic "comics supplement" of his bitter little cartoons, with extra, tiny comic books by Ron Regé Jr. and John Porcellino tucked into its folds.
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 263 pages
• Publisher: McSweeney's; 1st edition (May 14, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932416080
• ISBN-13: 978-1932416084
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.8 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #327,695 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Setting a fine example for how books should be made, September 9, 2004

By 

Gregory N. Alstad "gna" (Vancouver, BC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, No. 13 (Hardcover)

I echo the comments made by other reviewers that this book is beautifully and cleverly designed, setting a standard that promotes ownership and collectability at a very reasonable list price. The content overall is worthy as well, although I do admit to varying degrees of engagement with it. I was aware from time to time of what seems to be a trend in (I'm assuming) younger artists to seemingly construct autobiographical pieces that seem (to me) overly self-involved, self-referential and ultimately fairly trivial. These pieces may not even be truly autobiographical and perhaps only seemingly so but, still, not all that compelling. What I felt was that this somewhat sophomoric content seemed a bit out of place in this type of anthology and I was left feeling that surely there must be far better works that could have replaced these and made the anthology stronger and classic, particularly when accompanied by the essays and historical material. The book's subtance doesn't quite live up to it's style in this case, so I'm deducting a "star" for that but still recommend it as a purchase. Bonus for including SETH!

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best McSweeney's Yet..., August 17, 2004

By 

J. B. Erickson (Seattle, Washington) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, No. 13 (Hardcover)

Issue 13 of the McSweeney's Quarterly Concern is sure to blow you away. This 265-page issue is one of McSweeney's largest and quite unusual in that it embraces a variety of graphic aspects. Alternately titled All Your Favorite Comics, this is somewhat of a misnomer in that flipping through the pages you think less of comics and more of craft and social commentary. Contributor's "stories" range from boisterous, to serene, to penetrating to calamitous; a plethora of style and situations for a variety of readers. Perhaps the most notable feature of this book is the cover itself. A sturdy jacket embossed with gold leafing and riddled with comic clips, this jacket folds out to nearly three times revealing a stunning piece of artwork showcasing exactly why McSweeney's books are so coveted by collectors.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is..., July 14, 2004

By 

Dalton (Brooklyn, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, No. 13 (Hardcover)

...quite possibly the finest piece of literature I have ever held in my hands. It's an issue devoted entirely to comics, and aesthetically, I have never seen anything like it. First is the dust jacket - made to look like a daily sheet, it's intricately covered with different designs and characters, and then folded up very nicely around the book. Tucked in pockets on both the front and back are smaller, booklet type comics.

Inside, the issue is guest edited by Chris Ware and is positively stunning. Lots and lots of full color pages with comics by Daniel Clowes, Chris Ware, R. Crumb, Lynda Barry, Mark Newgarden (The Little Nun), and a newly discovered favorite, Richard McGuire. Also, some history of the comics from the editor.

If you like comics (especially the more conceptually adventurous ones) you'll love this book. If you don't like comics, or don't know if you like comics, go and look at it anyway. You might be surprised.