An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons, and True Stories: Volume 2 - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0300126719 ISBN 13: 9780300126716

Publisher: Yale University Press, 2008

Synopsis

Ivan Brunetti returns with a new selection of 20th and 21st-century comic creations by some of the most original artists in the medium

Comic art is a vital, highly personal art form in which change—rapid and unpredictable—is the norm. In this exciting new anthology, comic artist Ivan Brunetti focuses on very recent works by contemporary artists engaged in this world of change. These outstanding cartoonists, selected by Brunetti for their graphic sophistication and literary style, are both expanding and transforming the vocabulary of their genre.

The book presents contemporary art comics produced by 75 artists, along with some classic comic strips and other related fine art and historical materials. Brunetti arranges the book to reflect the creative process itself, connecting stories and art to each other in surprising ways: nonlinear, elliptical, sometimes whimsical, even poetic. He emphasizes continuity from piece to piece, weaving themes and motifs throughout the volume.

As gorgeously produced as Brunetti’s previous anthology of graphic fiction, this book does full justice to the creative work of Art Spiegelman, Chris Ware, Charles Burns, Gary Panter, and the other prominent or emerging comic artists who are currently at work at the cutting edge of their medium.

About this title

About the Author

Ivan Brunetti teaches at Columbia College Chicago and the University of Chicago. He has published four issues in his comic book series Schizo; two collections of cartoons, Haw! and Hee!; and numerous comics and illustrations for magazines ranging from the New Yorker to Mother Jones and the Comics Journal. He lives in Chicago.

Reviews

Starred Review. Brunetti's second collection of his favorite cartoonists' work is even better than the first—more far-ranging, more personal and eccentric. Clearly a tour of one person's singular tastes, it's arranged in a stream-of-consciousness oh, and you have to see this one sort of way: work by 80-odd cartoonists, mostly from the past few decades, but also incorporating some early-1900s comic strips, a 1940s-vintage Fletcher Hanks story and several circa 1950 Harvey Kurtzman pieces as well as a smattering of previously unpublished gems. It's possible to quibble with some of Brunetti's aesthetic biases (or with his clustering most of the book's women cartoonists together in a block), but not with his selections. Nearly every piece is a killer, from big names like Chris Ware and Daniel Clowes as well as lesser-knowns like Laura Park and Matthew Thurber, and there's an enormous range of expressive styles and narrative approaches on display. The effect is something like Jerome Rothenberg's poetry anthologies: an investigation of unsettling, mind-opening places where only comics can travel. It's a pleasure to read straight through, and all but the most experienced art-comics enthusiasts are likely to discover a few new favorites. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

While Brunetti’s 2006 Anthology was a thoughtfully selected, impressively inclusive compilation of contemporary “art comics,” it didn’t purport to be the final word on the subject but left plenty of room for this volume, which overlaps its predecessor mostly by presenting second helpings of work by the usual suspects, such eminent veterans as R. Crumb, Art Spiegelman, Chris Ware, and the Hernandez brothers, who invariably—and rightfully—show up in such anthologies. The book’s greatest value lies in the less-well-known, younger talents on view, some of whom, like Kevin Huizenga, John Porcellino, and David Heatley, appeared in the earlier volume, while others—Megan Kelso, Renee French, Carrie Golus—did not. The only cavil to make is that this collection, like the first, ignores mainstream cartoonists other than a handful of pioneers who influenced the current generation. One such legend, MAD creator Harvey Kurtzman, receives affectionate tributes from Crumb and Spiegelman. Once again, the selection comes down to a matter of Brunetti’s tastes, which, fortunately, are well informed, eclectic, and occasionally cockeyed enough to shape an engaging, provocative, and valuable survey. --Gordon Flagg

Edition details

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0300126719
• ISBN 13: 9780300126716
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 400
• Editor: Brunetti Ivan