Reincarnation Stories - Hardcover

Deitch, Kim

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1683962613 ISBN 13: 9781683962618

Publisher: Fantagraphics, 2019

Synopsis

The award-winning cartoonist returns with a graphic novel that spans the past, present, and future of human history, in which Deitch himself, in a parallel reality, meets his spiritual nemesis, Waldo the Cat.

Kim Deitch is an underground cartoonist―i.e., a contemporary of Spiegelman, et al.―whose craft just keeps getting better and better. Aesthetically inspired by silent film and 1930s animation, Deitch’s comics are infused with 1960s psychedelia and spiritualism. Reincarnation Stories is a collection of comics narratives that combine into a graphic novel. It spans the past, present, and future of human history, with appearances by Frank Sinatra, monkey gods, a forgotten cowboy star of the silver screen, and a tribe of Native Americans that successfully resettled on the moon. In a parallel reality, Deitch himself is the mega-successful creator of a series of kids books about a superhero called Young Avatar, who helps marginalized souls lead better lives and whose alter ego is a carpenter. Deitch’s spiritual nemesis (an incarnation of Judas Iscariot), Waldo the Cat, makes an appearance. Black & white illustrations.

About this title

About the Author

Kim Deitch lives in New York, NY, with his wife, the artist Pamela Butler. His books include The Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Shadowland, Alias the Cat, and The Search for Smilin' Ed!

Review

“Kim Deitch, a mainstay of the underground comix movement, gives a full display of his ebullient creativity in his new book, Reincarnation Stories.”
- The New Yorker

“Reincarnation Stories goes flamboyantly off the rails, making a hash of narrative throughlines and pulverizing the divide between truth and fiction. Underneath the appearance of lawlessness, there's a huge amount of craft and care.”
- NPR Books

“Deitch has created one of the most complex, sprawling, strange and great ongoing works of American art ― in any medium ― of the last century. The latest volume in his universe is Reincarnation Stories, and it’s one of his very best. At 75 years old, [Deitch] is creating more vibrant and exciting work than other graphic novelists half his age.”
- Chris Ware, The Guardian

“Deitch's latest ― and most ambitious ― graphic novel explodes with the full range of his visual styles.”
- The Paris Review

“Gloriously mad and bordering on nonsensical, this ribald Rubik's Cube of a book feels both like paean to 1960s alternative comix, which Deitch helped define, and gleefully ignorant of any tether whatsoever.”
- Publishers Weekly

“Deitch’s love of classic films, old cartoons, and 1960s psychedelia is clear, and aliens, demons, talking cats, and time travel abound in these beautifully crafted, wonderfully surprising stories.”
- Library Journal

“A joyful, labyrinthine, and profoundly strange journey through the cosmic history of creator Kim Deitch.”
- Shelf Awareness

About this edition

• Publisher: Fantagraphics
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 1683962613
• ISBN 13: 9781683962618
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 260