****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
This is the second year in a row that Ivan Brunetti's `Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons & True Stories' has taken on `The Best American Comics'. Last year I gave the winning prize to Brunetti, although he does have a distinct advantage in that he doesn't limit himself to just a single year. So for 2008 which one is better? This year I'm declaring it a tie not because they were both so spectacular but because neither distinguished itself enough to win me over.The whole cast of Alternative artists appear including R. Crumb, Harvey Pekar, Chris Ware, Seth, Kaz, Kevin Huizenga and dozens and dozens more. My litmus test for success in these anthologies is whether or not I discover a new artist intriguing enough that I purchase something else by them. The artist that most caught my eye this time was R. Sikoryak who did some brilliant parodies of 1950's Action Comic covers with an unpleasant character named `The Stranger' in place of Superman. I can't really do it justice trying to describe it. You have to see it to understand. Unfortunately it's only two pages long and I couldn't find any books devoted solely to Mr. Sikoryak who seems to only do compilations and covers for magazines like the New Yorker.The comics in this collection run the entire gamut from the rough stick figures of Elinore Norflus and weird primitive drawing of Paper Rad (that look like they were done by a five year old) to the high school level art of Gary Painter, John Pocellino and Carlos Golus. On the other end of the spectrum is the frighteningly precise graphic design art of Chris Ware and the clean, profession lines of Jamie Hernandez. Anders Nilson gets the award for the most bizarre comics but in this case it's not really a compliment. Brian Chippendale gets the award for the most profane comic which is essentially raw porn and again this award is more dubious than distinguished. Seth's staid, dignified entry is the polar opposite and Chester Brown's comic is simply a straight out, but well done, explanation of schizophrenia.I've enjoyed Jim Woodring in the past and this years entry is one of my favorites in what I assume is a story based on dreams he's had given the incredible surrealness of it. Joe Matt has a fascinating entry that skirts the edge of too much personal information. I'm not usually a fan of Jeffrey Brown but this one wasn't bad; maybe because he drew a lot of pictures of his busty girlfriend naked.What really bothered me about this edition, and this is not a trivial complaint, is that a high percentage of comics will give the reader serious eye strain. I suspect that many of them were shrunken from their original size and they are literally painful to view. I actually skipped over entire sections because I could barely see them and my vision is quite good. I remember reading Quimby the Mouse by Chris Ware when it was presented in its original enormous size and it was difficult to read so imagine his works shrunk. And Ware is not the worst by a long shot. Chris Ware at least draws in clean bold colors but most of the artists in this collection work in black and white and when reduced in size the pages just look like a solid block of lines and tiny text. I really hope this is corrected for 2009 because it has reached the point of unacceptable.The 2008 collection starts off strong with a great entry by Kaz but the middle of the book is filled with clunkers and forgettable pieces. Personally I thought the efforts by Norflus, Panter, Nilson and someone named C.F. should have remained in whatever high school or elementary school notebook they were created in. In the end the 2008 collection was an ok effort so I'll give it a generous 4 stars. If nothing else this book is so packed with stuff that even a hundred of so pages of sub par material still leaves 300 pages of good stuff....For your entertainment dollar, comics anthologies are very much the way to go, and especially when you're new to the genre, or searching for new authors or artists. Brunetti (the man responsible for this collection, and its predecessor, This book is exactly what I expected it to be, just pure entertainment and fun to read. Some stories are kind of disturbing, you know, the kind with way too much information in which nasty sex plays a big part, so this book can be too heavy sometimes if you are not in the mood for crazy shit. Bottom line is that I enjoy mostly the element of surprise everytime I turned a page.I bought volume one. Then, I bought volume two and experienced such a nagging sense of deja vu that I was forced to give away my copy.There are a few 'printed-elsewhere' gems in here by the usual suspects (Clowes, Crumb, Ware, Sacco, Burns...), but you've got to put up with a bunch of visual noise to get to them....an american anthology, press in China, tsss, tsss, tsss.... I think is bizarre... its only a opinionregards Marco EsperidiónReally works as an anthology, several interesting stories and styles here (unlike some anthologies out there which seem like mere hodge-podges)Ummm. Maybe not this year. Life is depressing enough as it is. Ivan Brunettis' collection leans towards darkness, examining lesser known artists who seem to be leading lives filled with depression. The willingness to go into territory that usually is avoided in the world of comics is admirable, but makes the reading of this book mostly unpleasant.Antología muy variada en cuanto a temática y estilos, que constituye un excelente resumen y puede servir como referencia a la hora de buscar soluciones gráficas / narrativas. Hace especial hincapié en obras "alternativas" de autores norteamericanos, con lo cual puede ser menos atractiva para quien busque referencias de, por ejemplo, superhéroes Marvel, o de manga.Great price and great collection.
