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saidtheraina's review
3.0
A collection of short sequential art pieces arranged by region of the United States. It seems to have been a project that came out of the 911 national trauma. According to the Introduction, each of the artists were asked "to capture the moment in which they realized they were Americans."
As such, it is NOT (as the cover might imply) a collection of actual road trip stories, but instead a collage of tales from places across America. Virtually all of the pieces are original, and by artists I already know and love (Hernandez! Tyler! Kuper! Kelso! Sala! Kindt!.....). A few of them do include travel in some way. Most of them tell stories rooted in their various childhoods, which generally took place somewhere between the 1950s and the 1980s.
A nice anthology from a particular place and time.
As such, it is NOT (as the cover might imply) a collection of actual road trip stories, but instead a collage of tales from places across America. Virtually all of the pieces are original, and by artists I already know and love (Hernandez! Tyler! Kuper! Kelso! Sala! Kindt!.....). A few of them do include travel in some way. Most of them tell stories rooted in their various childhoods, which generally took place somewhere between the 1950s and the 1980s.
A nice anthology from a particular place and time.
indeedithappens's review
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, War, Abandonment, Excrement, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Slavery, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Racial slurs, Blood, Classism, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Murder, Violence, Vomit, Addiction, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Xenophobia
elisala's review
De courtes histoires relatant la relation à ce qu'est l'Amérique pour chacun des auteurs-dessinateurs.
J'ai pas kiffé: les dessins ne sont pas trop mon style, les histoires elle-mêmes ne me parlent pas, je ne les ai pas trouvées représentatives de quoi que ce soit. Peut-être parce que je ne suis pas américaine? Auquel cas je trouverais ça dommage de faire une BD sur ce thème et que seuls les Américains la comprennent... (Le terme "nombrilisme" me vient à l'esprit...)
Je n'ai pas fini car j'arrivais en fin de période d'emprunt à la bibli. J'aurais pu renouveller l'emprunt, mais les pages déjà lues ne m'ont pas convaincue que ça valait un nouveau déplacement.
J'ai pas kiffé: les dessins ne sont pas trop mon style, les histoires elle-mêmes ne me parlent pas, je ne les ai pas trouvées représentatives de quoi que ce soit. Peut-être parce que je ne suis pas américaine? Auquel cas je trouverais ça dommage de faire une BD sur ce thème et que seuls les Américains la comprennent... (Le terme "nombrilisme" me vient à l'esprit...)
Je n'ai pas fini car j'arrivais en fin de période d'emprunt à la bibli. J'aurais pu renouveller l'emprunt, mais les pages déjà lues ne m'ont pas convaincue que ça valait un nouveau déplacement.
lanikei's review
3.0
Picked this up at SPX 2012 because I am a sucker for compilations. Apparently several of the artists were at the event, but I had about 5 minutes before they closed so I didn't have time to go track anyone else down.
It was a pretty hit or miss group, and I didn't feel like this was a 'journey across america' so much as 'some comics about cities'. The Midwest section was about Chicago and some people who don't know where the Midwest is.
There were a few comics that I enjoyed - though none that are leaping to mind which says something - and the weakness is really the tenuous attempt to link these comics together. This didn't tell a story or link things or cover a vast geographic swath of the U.S. But it did boast a wide variety of art styles which I appreciated, and is probably a good starting point for finding some artists to look for more information about.
It was a pretty hit or miss group, and I didn't feel like this was a 'journey across america' so much as 'some comics about cities'. The Midwest section was about Chicago and some people who don't know where the Midwest is.
There were a few comics that I enjoyed - though none that are leaping to mind which says something - and the weakness is really the tenuous attempt to link these comics together. This didn't tell a story or link things or cover a vast geographic swath of the U.S. But it did boast a wide variety of art styles which I appreciated, and is probably a good starting point for finding some artists to look for more information about.
debnanceatreaderbuzz's review
3.0
What does it mean to be American? Graphic artists from across the country grapple with that theme in this book.
So many times I don't like graphic novels, but I liked this one. The theme of the book felt suited to the graphic novel format.
So many times I don't like graphic novels, but I liked this one. The theme of the book felt suited to the graphic novel format.
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