Popgun Vol. 1 (Paperback)

~ Rick Remender (Author), Erik Larsen (Author), Corey Lewis (Author), Tim Seeley (Author), Mark Andrew Smith (Author, Editor), Beni (Author), & more (Author), (Author), Chris Moreno (Author), Jim Mahfood (Author), Mike Allred (Author), M. Zachary Sherman (Author), Ben Roman (Author), Toby Cypress (Author), Chuck BB (Author), Joe Keatinge (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Anthology fans will find a lot more variety and accessibility in Image's mammoth "mix-tape" Popgun Volume One, which reads like a 450-page answer to Villard's lovely Flight collections. The contents run from extended stories like Derek Hunter's 15-page Powerpuff Girls-esque goofy-girl-hero comic Gamma Rae to one-page posters and smirking faux-ads like Danny Hellman's sly, smirking ant-farm solicitation. While there are some kid-friendly stories, the tone runs generally darker, with ninja battles, noir murder mysteries, ghosts, vampires, monsters, zombies, and robot-on-robot violence cropping up amid the odd, alternative superheroes. Virtually all the work is colorful, entertaining, and immediate, with a strong sense of experimentation and play throughout; it's hard, in this rich an environment, for any one work to stand out. But Andy Kuhn's "Mexican Wrestler Funnies," in which two wrestlers trade Monty Python-esque barbs like "It is I who will make love to your corpse, with a Waring blender… set to puree!" is pretty hilarious, and Adrian Dominguez and Matthew Weldon's anime-influenced teen-hero story "Ellie Saves The World" is particularly gorgeous. But then, the wide variety of tones and visual styles guarantees something for just about everyone… A- --The Onion AV Club

The sheer diversity in style of art, lettering, layout -- everything -- is enough to keep neophytes and nerds alike rapt. The work is at turns touching, hilarious, suspenseful and then some. This is a fine collection. 9/10 --Under the Radar Magazine

[POPGUN is] a comic book mixtape that will keep the art junkies very happy ... acrazy collection of cutting edge comic book art. POPGUN pulls selections from some of the top indie artists in comics ... Aspiring artists and fans will want to flip through POPGUN for the inspiring images that demonstrate just how much talent is floating around comics these days. --Blair Butler, G4's Attack of the Show

Product Description

PopGun is a graphic mixtape crossing the protected borders of every genre, fulfilling the desires of anyone hungry for the pungent taste of creativity. Features tracks by well-known names doing work they're not known for, brand-new talent set to change the industry and rare b-sides unearthed for the first time in years.

Product Details

• Paperback: 450 pages
• Publisher: Image Comics (November 28, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582408246
• ISBN-13: 978-1582408248
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 6.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #307,809 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Mixed Bag of Wonder, April 7, 2008

By	HJ Louw "Scatterbrain" (South Africa) - See all my reviews

Popgun Vol. 1 by Image Comics literally contains something for everyone. Whether you're a sci-fi nut, fantasy fan, horror addict, noir junkie, superhero fanboy or a cheesy romantic, this comic anthology will almost certainly have a story tailored specifically for you. It's 450 pages of innovative, colorful, well-written and well-drawn comics that kept me reading consistently for a week or so. Many of the stories I read twice, and there weren't any particular ones that I disliked. Most of them are printed in gorgeous color and range from anything between 2 pages to 8 pages in length. The following four comics were the ones I enjoyed most:

1) First among these were "Mexican Wrestler Funnies," written and drawn by Andy Kuhn, where El Tigre and Hombre Supremo face off against each other without actually wrestling. Their ridiculous insults are what makes this story hilarious. ("The time for insults is over! But if it were not, I would call your mother a Gravy Boat full of Kaka!")

2) My second favorite is "Sanz Panz: Ninja Platypus," where an ultra-cool duck-billed martial artist goes up against The Cheesy T-Shirt Gang. Awesome.

3) Next I would have to pick "The Amazing Joy Buzzards in The Fearless Vampire Hunters" by Mark Andrew Smith and Dan Hipp. Ridiculous, but funny as hell.

4) Finally, "Tag" by David Crosland - An artistic repesentation of a game played throughout the eons by evolution, which gives a whole new meaning to the term "survival of the fittest."

Other great stories also appear, and some by renowned comic creators such as Fear Agent Rick Remender ("The Death of the Midnight Sky"), Savage Dragon Erik Larsen ("Cheeseburgerhead") and Madman Mike Allred ("For the Record"). Numerous fictitious adds also appear between stories, most of which are quite good. Some stories are very experimental though, and may put off readers who are looking for a particular fix. I loaned Popgun to a friend and he only enjoyed about 10 out of the 50 or so stories, so it might not be as enjoyable if you are merely a casual reader of graphic storytelling. Having said that, Popgun Vol.1 is one of the best comic anthologies I have ever read, and that's saying a lot. Pick it up if you like short comics or don't have time to read longer story arcs.

5.0 out of 5 stars A little something for everyone!, April 2, 2009

By	arachnidman (Upland, CA USA) - See all my reviews

There's a little something for every taste in comics. My personal favorite and the main reason I bought this was for "Jazz" starting on page 375. Words and art by my favorite artist Moritat. Start there and then go thru the rest of the book. If you're a comic fan you will find a lot to like about this anthology of short stories and all the different styles featured here.