Johanna's Anthology Reviews: Project Telstar, New Thing 2: Secrets, Top Shelf
Johanna Draper Carlson
Top Shelf Asks the Big Questions
New Thing Volume 2: Secrets
Project Telstar
AdHouse Books, 192 pages, $16.95
http://www.adhousebooks.com
This anthology is themed around robots and space. It's beautifully
formatted, with rounded corners and a metallic steel-grey ink used
throughout. Along with page numbers (too often missing from
anthologies), each page includes the author's name and the story title,
which makes it great for sampling.
Unfortunately, the two best stories here are by creators whose work I
already follow, Joel Priddy (PULPATOON PILGRIMAGE) and Rob Ullman (FROM
THE CURVE). Joel's "Long Slow Flight of the Ashbot" is the most
thoughtfully scientific of the fictions here and shows his usual
philosophical leaps of fancy that are so involving. I did find a typo,
and a different arrangement of the captions on the first page would be
more readable, but if I remember any of these stories, this will be the
one.
Rob illustrated "Meltdown", a goofy romance between a robot and an
engineer. (It's written by Bill Burg and Galen Showman with colors by
Eric Gordon.) The story includes clever twists on the obsessive
ex-girlfriend, the blind date, and the idea of a guy melting down after
a hot encounter. The cartoony style is perfect for this modern romantic
comedy.
In addition to those, Bernie Mireault's story about job boredom and the
desire to explore was an interesting approach to an idea I'd seen
before. The simplified language his characters use suggests an
international space station crew speaking a kind of futuristic pigin.
After these three, that leaves over three-quarters of the book to go,
and it was a letdown. Nothing really stood out or lived up to the beauty
of the packaging. The wrapping is much more attractive than most of the
contents.
Top Shelf Asks the Big Questions
Top Shelf, 334 pages, $24.95
http://www.topshelfcomix.com
I bought this chunky volume for two inclusions: the Cobweb story that DC
wouldn't publish, and a cartoonists' tribute to PEANUTS. The former is
about what I expected -- a profile of a wizard that mentions L. Ron
Hubbard in ways DC found disturbing, interesting to me only for
historical reasons -- while the latter was a touching surprise that
helped me understand why Charles Schulz's passing was such a tragedy.
Also included is a long interview with David Chelsea that touches more
on his recent illustration work, leaving me with questions about his
comics. The interviewer is obviously familiar with them, but since one
of the major pieces came out from Eclipse in the 80s, I would have liked
more information on them, having never seen one. That I'm curious enough
to want to track them down -- especially his book on PERSPECTIVE that's
favorably compared to UNDERSTANDING COMICS -- shows that the interview
accomplished at least one of its purposes.
The rest of the book... there were a few pieces that stood out. I liked
the monkey and crocodile folktale by Rob Goodin, done in delicate
linework. Jesse Reklaw's short piece about toilets and "Democracy" is
both thought-provoking and artistically involving, with its repetition
and varied characters. The rest of the book is mostly people I'm
unfamiliar with, many from outside the US, working in the expected artsy
styles.
An acquaintance called this anthology Top Shelf Cleans Out Its Slush
Pile, and there is a junky closet feel to the book, especially since it
includes two different previous covers. It's a very mixed bag, and I
found the price high, given how little of it I really liked. I don't
think it's overpriced, given the color sections and sheer width, but my
value for money wasn't as high as I would have hoped for. No wonder I'm
burnt out on anthologies!
New Thing Volume 2: Secrets
New Suit, 100 pages, $9.95
This new anthology series may be just the tonic I needed to redeem the
format. It's edited by Jim Higgins, who did wonderful work on DC's Big
Book series. It's a reasonable price for a sampler book, and the
production and presentation are professional, although there's nothing
unusual about that -- it seems that all the new collections are lovely
to look at, regardless of content.
What sets this book apart is the introduction from the editor, where he
lays out what he's trying to do with this volume. My attitude switched
from jaded to eager when he began discussing the problem of alternative
comic creators who get better as artists but not as writers, and the
need for good storytelling in all comics. I agree with him that there's
a problem with stories that lack satisfying climaxes or any real ending
at all, or stories that don't seem to be about anything.
It's refreshing to see someone defending the role of, and the need for,
the editor to address this problem. The nicest formats and prettiest (or
most involving) art won't make up for a lack of content. Anyway, on to
the content here. Each story is introduced by a brief biography of the
artist, complete with website if available, which helps in placing the
familiar and preparing the reader for the unfamiliar.
The first piece, by June K., has two friends walking around the city as
one prepares to leave for Paris. It's full of realistic conversation,
bits and pieces of meaningless topics that fill the space of what they
can't or won't say. It's comfortable, between the two of them, yet
uncertain. The art's lovely, using the medium to achieve effects that
couldn't be done in any other. It's a collection of well-selected
moments that adds up to much more. I wanted to close the book after
reading it, just because it was so well-done that in itself it was
satisfactory.
There was more, though. Shannon Brady adapts a Middle Eastern version of
Bluebeard in an ornate, flatly exotic style. Jim Campbell illustrates a
story written by Jim Higgins with rich grey tones and thick lines. It's
about a couple on a stormy night who both have a kind of amnesia. I knew
where it was going long before it got there, but it was a pleasure
seeing it work itself out, and the message of loving ones partner beyond
all is one I appreciate.
I didn't care for the panels of Katja Tukiainen, but it was short enough
to skip. Following that, it was a pleasure to see the confident lines of
Jeff LeVine again. He plumbs familiar areas -- depression, anxiety,
rootlessness -- but he does it well. The last story is by Dash Shaw,
about him and Winona Ryder.
It surprised me that this little unassuming book was the best of these
three, but that feeling of pleasant discovery is why I keep trying new
comics.
--
Johanna Draper Carlson
Reviews of Comics Worth Reading -- http://www.comicsworthreading.com
Newly updated: Rover, Little White Mouse, Image Reviews - Capes,
Noble Causes, Rex Mundi, Sword of Dracula, Wildguard
Mikel Midnight
<johann...@comicsworthreading.com> wrote:
> Top Shelf Asks the Big Questions
> Top Shelf, 334 pages, $24.95
> http://www.topshelfcomix.com
>
> An acquaintance called this anthology Top Shelf Cleans Out Its Slush
> Pile, and there is a junky closet feel to the book, especially since it
> includes two different previous covers.
I'm not sure what this means. Are there two versions of the title
available, or did they include alternate covers inside the book?
--
_______________________________________________________________________________
Mikel Midnight
"You will die, sir, either on the gallows or from the
pox." (John Montagu, fourth Earl of Sandwich)
"That depends, sir, on whether I embrace your principles
or your mistress." (John Wilkes, sometime friend of his
and rakish member of the aristocracy)
blak...@blaklion.best.vwh.net
_______________________________________http://blaklion.best.vwh.net/comics.html
Johanna Draper Carlson
> <johann...@comicsworthreading.com> wrote:
>
> > Top Shelf Asks the Big Questions
> >
> > Pile, and there is a junky closet feel to the book, especially since it
> > includes two different previous covers.
>
> I'm not sure what this means. Are there two versions of the title
> available, or did they include alternate covers inside the book?
They included previous cover art pieces inside the book, labeled as
such.
--
Johanna Draper Carlson
Reviews of Comics Worth Reading -- http://www.comicsworthreading.com
Newly updated: Rover, Little White Mouse, Anthology Reviews,
Image Reviews - Capes, Noble Causes, Rex Mundi, Wildguard, more
Steve Block
<johann...@comicsworthreading.com> wrote:
>New Thing Volume 2: Secrets
>New Suit, 100 pages, $9.95
>What sets this book apart is the introduction from the editor, where he
>lays out what he's trying to do with this volume. My attitude switched
>from jaded to eager when he began discussing the problem of alternative
>comic creators who get better as artists but not as writers, and the
>need for good storytelling in all comics.
To be honest, I found after reading the intro that the spelling
errors just leaped off the page at mne and killed my enthusiam for
this book dead.
Steve Block http://www.block.plus.com/
Johanna Draper Carlson
>
> To be honest, I found after reading the intro that the spelling
> errors just leaped off the page at mne
I noticed a few typos, but not in the comics. It didn't get in the way
of the content for me.
--
Johanna Draper Carlson
Reviews of Comics Worth Reading -- http://www.comicsworthreading.com
Newly updated: Rover, Little White Mouse, Anthology Reviews,
Image Reviews - Capes, Noble Causes, Rex Mundi, Wildguard, more
Steve Block
<johann...@comicsworthreading.com> wrote:
> Steve Block <steve...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>> To be honest, I found after reading the intro that the spelling
>> errors just leaped off the page at mne
>
>I noticed a few typos, but not in the comics. It didn't get in the way
>of the content for me.
I've just reread and I can't find any in the comics themselves, and
I found it a lot better on second read. I must have conflated it
with Blankets which I was reading concurrently, and is full of
spelling errors. The introduction really did have the opposite
effect on me than on you, though, in making me want to hurl the book
across the room. Still, I do recommend it.
Steve Block http://www.block.plus.com/