andymoon's review
2.0
The only stuff I really liked were the abstract comics in the Kuiper Belt section. Otherwise, the comics were just not my style.
rachael_nz's review
4.0
My faves, to check out further:
-the hive: Charles burns
-Jane, the fox and me: Fanny Britt and Isabelle Arsenault
-RL: Tom Hart (looks beautiful but so sad, will make me bawl)
-march: John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell
-Canadian royalty: Michael Deforge
-the hive: Charles burns
-Jane, the fox and me: Fanny Britt and Isabelle Arsenault
-RL: Tom Hart (looks beautiful but so sad, will make me bawl)
-march: John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell
-Canadian royalty: Michael Deforge
jhstack's review
4.0
First time reading one of these Best American compilations, and there are some good selections in here. Toward the end, things get a little out there, though.
qwintermute's review
5.0
Helped me find authors that I now love. Highly recommend it to anyone trying to understand comics as a medium.
mountsleepyhead's review
5.0
These Best American Comics anthologies are always good, but usually a bit uninspired in that you can just pick and choose what you want to read and ignore anything that looks outside of your comfort zone. For the 2014 edition, Understanding Comics scribe Scott McCloud crafts a guided tour of 2014's best, most interesting, weirdest, most heartbreaking comics and, considering the man wrote the Book on comics, you're obliged to take his hand and gawk at everything he says is good. It's curating as art, and the selections play together like a perfectly crafted mixtape. While I could talk all day about McCloud's sequencing of the comics, the comics themselves are, naturally, outstanding. McCloud features a diverse range of artists and styles and provides copious notes to give you the necessary context to make each particular work sing.
Two selections caught me so off guard I had to put the book down and walk away. One was Tom Hart's entry from his series RL, which chronicles the tragic and sudden loss of his 2 year old daughter. I couldn't even deal. My heart broke into a thousand little pieces and I was too scared to pick up the book for half a week. As a new father I couldn't face it, and I was angry that I'd been suckered into reading something that put all of my deepest fears on display, but as it stuck to me, I felt deeply moved by Hart's bravery; of facing the most horrible part of his life head on and somehow managing to create a loving tribute to his departed daughter. The other side of that coin is the best story from Chris Ware's Building Stories, which I read before Rosie was born, but reading now made me tremble. It features a mother watching her daughter change and grow from birth to adolescence in a series of small, quiet moments. It's devastating, and evokes the terrifying prospect that Chris Ware, who is already the greatest living graphic novelist, is greater than you could even imagine. I don't think I've ever had such an emotional reaction to an ANTHOLOGY. At least not since the Ware-curated McSweeney's #13 which may as well be my Rosetta Stone in regard to my comics fandom.
I could talk about this all day. Everything is excellent. While I prefer the more narrative, slice of life stuff, there's a fascinating pocket of experimental and out there stuff at the end that is incredible. In addition to the above mentioned pieces, you get a couple of great stories from the Brothers Hernandez (Jamie and Gilbert contribute a story each), a beautiful and melancholy selection from Adrian Tomine, an eye-opening and hilarious look at old-people-sex from R. & Aline-Komisky Crumb, an insane look at mythic Canadian royalty from Michael DeForge, and incredible works from folks I'd never heard of like Sam Sharpe, Fanny Britt and Isabelle Arsenault, Sam Alden (whose Hawaii 1997 was sent to me via my best friend a while ago but seeing it again conveniently reminded me that comics don't need to be polished and perfect to move your soul), Nina Bunjevac, Miriam Katin, and Brandon Graham's insane Multiple Warhead's series, which I'm fairly certain I purchased last year and need to dig out of my long box.
This is a collection to shove into the hands of anyone who doubts comics as serious literature. I wish I had a truckload of these to hand out randomly to people on the street so as to spread the good gospel of sequential art.
Two selections caught me so off guard I had to put the book down and walk away. One was Tom Hart's entry from his series RL, which chronicles the tragic and sudden loss of his 2 year old daughter. I couldn't even deal. My heart broke into a thousand little pieces and I was too scared to pick up the book for half a week. As a new father I couldn't face it, and I was angry that I'd been suckered into reading something that put all of my deepest fears on display, but as it stuck to me, I felt deeply moved by Hart's bravery; of facing the most horrible part of his life head on and somehow managing to create a loving tribute to his departed daughter. The other side of that coin is the best story from Chris Ware's Building Stories, which I read before Rosie was born, but reading now made me tremble. It features a mother watching her daughter change and grow from birth to adolescence in a series of small, quiet moments. It's devastating, and evokes the terrifying prospect that Chris Ware, who is already the greatest living graphic novelist, is greater than you could even imagine. I don't think I've ever had such an emotional reaction to an ANTHOLOGY. At least not since the Ware-curated McSweeney's #13 which may as well be my Rosetta Stone in regard to my comics fandom.
I could talk about this all day. Everything is excellent. While I prefer the more narrative, slice of life stuff, there's a fascinating pocket of experimental and out there stuff at the end that is incredible. In addition to the above mentioned pieces, you get a couple of great stories from the Brothers Hernandez (Jamie and Gilbert contribute a story each), a beautiful and melancholy selection from Adrian Tomine, an eye-opening and hilarious look at old-people-sex from R. & Aline-Komisky Crumb, an insane look at mythic Canadian royalty from Michael DeForge, and incredible works from folks I'd never heard of like Sam Sharpe, Fanny Britt and Isabelle Arsenault, Sam Alden (whose Hawaii 1997 was sent to me via my best friend a while ago but seeing it again conveniently reminded me that comics don't need to be polished and perfect to move your soul), Nina Bunjevac, Miriam Katin, and Brandon Graham's insane Multiple Warhead's series, which I'm fairly certain I purchased last year and need to dig out of my long box.
This is a collection to shove into the hands of anyone who doubts comics as serious literature. I wish I had a truckload of these to hand out randomly to people on the street so as to spread the good gospel of sequential art.
akmargie's review
4.0
An interesting collection. And yes Scott McCloud, I read them in order. So bossy.
jeanneerin's review
4.0
Unfortunately, nothing you do is going to make me like R. Crumb. And this gross sex scene (I am not a prude, even about geriatric sex!) made me need to hide this book from my six year old.
But Chris Ware! Holy crap. Has anything so completely shown the solitude of existence and motherhood (and how you can truly never know what happens when your asleep? I guess? I don't know, I was afraid of the end).
And Allie Brosch, who helped me put words to my own depression what seems like so long ago.
And now I need to go find more Michael DeForge.
And Tom Hart. I have no words for Tom Hart.
I admit that about halfway through I started feeling a little "Emperor's new clothes" and tried to like it even if I didn't. Experimental just isn't me. Between that and the Crumb piece I just can't say I liked the book more than a three, though the parts I loved were a ten.
My son is trying to check it out again, damn that fucking R. Crumb.
But Chris Ware! Holy crap. Has anything so completely shown the solitude of existence and motherhood (and how you can truly never know what happens when your asleep? I guess? I don't know, I was afraid of the end).
And Allie Brosch, who helped me put words to my own depression what seems like so long ago.
And now I need to go find more Michael DeForge.
And Tom Hart. I have no words for Tom Hart.
I admit that about halfway through I started feeling a little "Emperor's new clothes" and tried to like it even if I didn't. Experimental just isn't me. Between that and the Crumb piece I just can't say I liked the book more than a three, though the parts I loved were a ten.
My son is trying to check it out again, damn that fucking R. Crumb.
veewren's review
4.0
This was a really cool, varied, tantalizing collection of comics that introduced me to a number of authors/artists I didn't know about previously. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, and came away from the experience wanting more.
I wasn't too crazy about the text in between the sections but meh. That's not really what I was here for anyway.
I wasn't too crazy about the text in between the sections but meh. That's not really what I was here for anyway.
aprileclecticbookworm's review
3.0
A good collection of sequential art diverse in style some better than others and exposes you to work you might not have seen before.