Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #129060 in Books
• Published on: 2006-10-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 320 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780618718740
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
The idea of Houghton Mifflin's distinguished Best American series turning to the comics would once have seemed unlikely, but the powerful narratives in this collection prove why it's a good idea. Editors Pekar (American Splendor) and Moore (Punk Planet magazine) concentrate on the graphic equivalents of literary fiction and essays, and the best results are haunting. The contents range from the fantastic (Rebecca Dart's "Rabbithead," which channels Topo Gigio and Clint Eastwood) through fiction (an excerpt from Alex Robinson's graphic novel Tricked) to serious nonfiction (Joe Sacco's account of a Marine unit in Haditha). The longer chunks of story tend to be the most effective, like Justin Hall's "La Rubia Loca," an engrossing story about a bunch of hippie slackers stuck on a bus tour through Mexico with a crazy woman. Although there are strong offerings from established comics greats like Crumb, Jaime Hernandez and Lynda Barry, the editors also showcase newcomers like Jesse Reklaw (his touching "13 Cats" is the story of a fractured childhood told through the author's attachment to a series of doomed kittens. A few of the shorter pieces are almost amateurish by comparison, but in general this volume shows the Best American Comics concept to be a showcase for thought-provoking and evocative work. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
For the inaugural volume in Houghton's newest Best American Series annual, American Splendor auteur Pekar made the final selection of 30 pieces from 150 that comics maven Moore, who shows an impressive grasp of the current scene, culled from graphic novels, alternative newspapers, self-published minicomics, and the Web. The choices expectedly include the medium's most prominent names, all near the top of their form, but Moore also unearthed first-rate contributions from artists likely to be known only to the most dedicated comics mavens. There's nary a dud in the bunch, although Justin Hall's account of adventure travelers in Mexico, David Heatley's powerful portrait of his father, and Rebecca Dart's formally accomplished, wordless fantasy tale are especially outstanding. The tyros may be raw in spots, but they sit comfortably alongside their more accomplished colleagues, and the high standard this edition sets heightens expectations for future series installments and the talent they may introduce. Gordon Flagg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Customer Reviews

Not as strong as other comics anthologies currently out
With at least two other comics anthologies out this past year, this one is good but certainly not the 'best' as its title claims. Pekar's choices seem very unstructured. Some of his selections have already appeared in (the legendary) "McSweeney's 13" two years ago which was edited by Chris Ware. Ware's selections though seemed to weave a narrative of their own with a bit of comics history thrown in. A direct follow-up to McSweeney's is "An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons, and True Stories" edited by (Ware colleague) Ivan Brunetti who continues in the idea of providing a historical context (or at least background) for today's comics. Equal to all of these is the well-designed, daring "Kramer's Ergot 6" (though "Kramer's Ergot 5" is better, if you can find it) which was created by Sammy Harkham who has an editing style like a curator of a contemporary art exhibit.

It's not that Pekar's selections are bad, it just seems repetitive if you've been paying attention to "alt-comics" (or "art comics" or "comix" or whatever you want to call them) for the past 5 or so years. The challenge that a comics anthology has over an anthology of short stories or poetry is that a range of narrative styles is not necessarily a good thing. Without a theme of sorts (at least within the editor's head), the stories seem to swim around in this book and certainly don't hold well together as they do in the aforementioned ones. Not bad, but certainly not the best as Houghton-Mifflin is jumping in late on the game.

A mixed bag, redeemed by a handful of very strong contributions
The Best American Comics 2006, edited by Harvey Pekar and Anne Elizabeth Moore, is something of a mixed bag. The physical components are top notch, so this collection will look very nice on the bookshelf. Also, there is a nice variety of techniques and styles in the offering. In this respect, it is probably a good representation of the state of American comics today. On the downside, I feel that there is a bit too much filler in this volume.

Make no mistake, Pekar and Moore deserve a good deal of credit for this work. Several of the stories are extremely good. Among these, I would include Complacency Kills by Joe Sacco, La Rubia Loca by Justin Hall, Dance with the Ventures by Jonathan Bennett, Portait of my Dad by David Heatley, Thirteen Cats of my Childhood by Jesse Reklaw, and Walkin' the Streets by Robert Crumb. These stories are well drawn, emotionally moving, and very well written. Some of the other work, however, is simply average, or just didn't appeal to me. A small portion of the book is not very good at all, in either story or art.

One of the more questionnable offerings, in my opinion is Rabbithead by Rebecca Dart. This story is highly innovative, but it comes across as more bizarre than enjoyable. Chemical Plant/Another World by John Porcellino is another one that I found objectionable. It falls in that "slice of life" category without much meaning or substance. Fortunately, these weaker stories are in the minority.

One very admirable aspect of this work is the price. The hardbound book is an exceptional value at $22.00. When compared to the usual price of graphic novels, you get quite a lot of bang for your buck. If a reader doesn't mind some inconsistency in the quality, it's probably a good buy.

Anthology is hardly a "best of..." and suffers from exclusionary practices
I have to say, this is an uneven bunch of stories. Pekar's bias toward autobiography and slice-of-life, and against anything mainstream is palpable. Many of the comics are also poorly written non-linear claptrap that use random acts of violence in order to negotiate their "plots." Just about all of the one-two page stories he picked out were boring in the extreme - how Peter Kuper's SPY VS. SPY or Sergio Aragones's work in Mad, didn't make it in against such obviously poor competition is beyond me.

Worst off, Pekar makes a point, in his intro, to disparage superhero comics, then starts the collection off with a poorly drawn satire of superhero comics - the satire being obvious and blunt - making fun of the fact that deadly radiation, which will kill you in the real world, will somehow give you super powers in the comic world - wow! that's an original observation! The artist, in his bio in the back of the book, admits that he used stick figures in his drawing, because he was caught in a deadline crunch, and essentially cheated on the job he was getting peanuts for, to free up time for the job he was getting paid well for. He was embarrassed to admit that he had become the much sought after "stick figure artist," when he was actually a realistic artist who was just phoning one in. You'd think Pekar, and the rest of the alternative comics world, would be embarrassed to think that the cheaply done work of an artist was considered "the best."

Many of the comics suffer from a dearth of camera angles. Comic story after comic story mainly uses the strait on camera angle to the viewer. Alternative comics are far far behind the mainstream artists in their ability to tell a story with their art, using angles, silhouette, perspective, shading, panel and page layout, etc.

To be fair, there are good stories in here as well. This whole series, tho, suffers from a narrow point of view. It is as if, if it's an alternative comic, it is automatically on par with literature. This anthology gives that point of view the lie. Good literature requires literate writing. Good sequential art, requires good story telling technique. Just being non-corporate doesn't make it good.