Words Without Pictures [Paperback]

Alan Moore (Author), Neil Gaiman (Author), Jon J. Muth (Author), Charles Vess (Author), Stephen R. Bissette (Author), Mark Evanier (Author), Steve Niles (Editor), John Bolton (Illustrator), Matt Feazell (Introduction)

Product Details

• Paperback: 180 pages
• Publisher: Eclipse Books (November 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560600314
• ISBN-13: 978-1560600312
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,331,266 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Born and raised in Vermont, I've been drawing comics and illustrating books professionally since the mid-1970s. My latest book is TEEN ANGELS & NEW MUTANTS, which is available here and now on amazon.com--check it out! Here's my "official" biography, for what it's worth:

Stephen R. Bissette won many industry awards as cartoonist, writer, editor and publisher. A pioneer graduate of the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon & Graphic Art, he currently teaches at the Center for Cartoon Studies and is renowned for Saga of the Swamp Thing, Taboo (from which From Hell, Lost Girls, and Throat Sprockets came), '1963,' Tyrant, co-creating John Constantine (inspiring the film Constantine), and creating the world's second 24- Hour Comic, invented by Scott McCloud as a challenge for Bissette. He illustrates books and has authored fiction (including the Stoker Award-winning Aliens: Tribes) and non-fiction (co-authoring Comic Book Rebels, The Monster Book: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and solo articles/essays for books and magazines). His papers reside in HUIE Library's Special Collections, Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. He recently contributed the short story "Copper" to The New Dead (St. Martin's Press, 2010), co-authored The Prince of Stories: The Many Worlds of Neil Gaiman (with Christopher Golden and Hank Wagner; St. Martin's Press, 2008) and illustrated The Vermont Monster Guide (University Press of New England, 2009), and is currently packaging and co-editing (with Tim Stout) Tales of the Uncanny: A Naut Comics History, Volume 1 (About Comics, 2011). Visit his daily blog at http://srbissette.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Good collection, worth reading, May 18, 2005

By 

Reb (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Words Without Pictures (Hardcover)

What an odd, compelling book! The stories are magnificent, there isn't a bad story among them. The stories have themes around sadness, grief, fear, change, love, and sex. I really enjoyed this book! Interesting that the first story, by Alan Moore, was the only one that didn't fully keep my interest, and I had the same experience with The Watchmen.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hunt This Baby Down!, May 28, 2001

By 

Jonathan Schaper (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Words Without Pictures (Hardcover)

Words Without Pictures is a nicely designed paperback collection of prose stories and poems written by people known primarily for writing or drawing comic books. With the exception of the introduction (by Matt Feazell of "Zot in Dimension 10 1/2" fame) which reverses the concept of the book by being pictures without words, and spot illustrations of the authors by John Bolton, there are no drawings.

The stories range from good to excellent. With the exception of Neil Gaiman's infamous story about V.D. which has been reprinted several times, including in his colleciton Angels and Visitations, none of the stories have been reprinted to my knowledge.

All the stories are by people who were at the vanguard of adult comic books at the end of the 80's. Included are stories by Steve Bissette (graphic horror, of course), Jon J. Muth (poetic, of course), Ann Nocenti, etc. The best and longest story, and one that is worth the price of admission all on its own, is by Alan Moore. It is a vey strange and exotic story about a young woman in the orient undergoing a process that will put her more deeply in touch with her unconscious mind in order to turn her into a sort of Shaman. This story should appeal to fans of Moore's Promethea.

This book, which serves as an illustration that some in the comic book industry deserve as much acclaim as any other in the field of literature, will be treasured forever and make your friends jealous. It is worth the trouble hunting it down.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Track This Down!, May 25, 2001

By 

Jonathan Schaper (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Words Without Pictures (Paperback)

Now here's an interesting obsurity worth hunting for. Basically, it is a nicely designed paperback collection of short stories written by comic book writers and artists who were at the vanguard of ground-level comics in the late 80s/early 90s, but completely in prose (the exception is the cute and amusing introduction by Matt Feazell of "Zot in Dimension 10 1/2" fame that is completely comprised of pictures without words).

Included is Gaiman with an infamous story about VD that has been reprinted several times, including in his collection Angels and Visitations. Other stories are by Steve Bissette (graphic horror, of course), Jon J Muth (poetic, of course), Ann Nocenti, etc., none of which I am aware of having been reprinted. But the longest and strongest story, clearly worth the price of admission by itself, is by Alan Moore. I won't attempt to explain Moore's bizarre, exotic plot beyond saying that it is about a woman being subject to a procedure that will allow her to tap into her unconscious mind to a greater extent than the average person which fans of Promethea will likely enjoy.

The quality of the stories and poems is uneven and can at times be accused of pretentiousness, but they all range from good to excellent. This book serves to prove that comic writers can be just as good as any other style of writer, and it will be treasured forever by those who manage to get a copy.