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pyrrhicspondee's review
3.0
Cumulatively a 3.5. There are a few comics in here that are A+ 5-Stars Amazing. I loved Lilli Carre's Paul Bunyan story. Joe Sacco's nonfiction war comics are always satisfying and this one was no different. La Rubia Loca by Justin Hall was so compelling, but also he seems to have stolen and fictionalized a stranger's story (a lesbian woman, no less), so that's a problem. But Portrait of My Dad by David Heatley is worth the purchase price alone for its humanity and complexity.
Overall, the best comics in here were good because of their compelling stories. Sadly, and unsurprisingly, most of those stories were about white men or written by white men.
Overall, the best comics in here were good because of their compelling stories. Sadly, and unsurprisingly, most of those stories were about white men or written by white men.
jonh's review
4.0
Re-Read 9/29/2018
A fine-enough collection. Not as invigorating the second time around.
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*****
This is an excellent collection, excellently curated. I'm glad graphic novels--as a medium--are receiving the recognition they deserve.
It's been a while since I finished reading this, so I can't speak to any of my absolute favorites, except that most of the names I already recognized and respected--Alison Bechdel, R. Crumb, Kim Deitch, Chris Ware--had great contributions. And I discovered a few new names that I want to further investigate: Joel Priddy, Lilli Carre, Rebecca Dart, Gilbert Shelton, Tom Hart and Kurt Wolfgang.
As with any anthology, there's going to be duds, and those duds are going to vary depending on your personal taste. But for me, at least, there weren't any selections I outright disliked. A few did not keep my interest, but I'm open to a different perspective on future reads (and with a collection like this, there will be many future reads).
The only part of this anthology I didn't like was the author section at the back of the book. The bios were fine, but most of the author commentaries just reiterated what was already told in their graphic work. Majorly redundant, though I appreciated that a few of my favorite authors questioned the value of authorial input, believing that the work spoke for itself. Again: your mileage will vary depending on your personal opinion.
This collection also solidified a certain ethos that seems to exist among most graphic novelists. Not all of them, mind you, but a lot of graphic novelists I've read seem possessed of an introspective and melancholic disposition. A dour view of the world and of the people in it. It's a disposition I share, which may explain why I like the medium so much.
But of course, that's not all that graphic novels have to offer. The interplay of text and pictures, the variety of storytelling in this anthology, is astounding. No matter their worldview, these are talented creators and their work should be appreciated. ABSOLUTELY check this out.
A fine-enough collection. Not as invigorating the second time around.
---
*****
This is an excellent collection, excellently curated. I'm glad graphic novels--as a medium--are receiving the recognition they deserve.
It's been a while since I finished reading this, so I can't speak to any of my absolute favorites, except that most of the names I already recognized and respected--Alison Bechdel, R. Crumb, Kim Deitch, Chris Ware--had great contributions. And I discovered a few new names that I want to further investigate: Joel Priddy, Lilli Carre, Rebecca Dart, Gilbert Shelton, Tom Hart and Kurt Wolfgang.
As with any anthology, there's going to be duds, and those duds are going to vary depending on your personal taste. But for me, at least, there weren't any selections I outright disliked. A few did not keep my interest, but I'm open to a different perspective on future reads (and with a collection like this, there will be many future reads).
The only part of this anthology I didn't like was the author section at the back of the book. The bios were fine, but most of the author commentaries just reiterated what was already told in their graphic work. Majorly redundant, though I appreciated that a few of my favorite authors questioned the value of authorial input, believing that the work spoke for itself. Again: your mileage will vary depending on your personal opinion.
This collection also solidified a certain ethos that seems to exist among most graphic novelists. Not all of them, mind you, but a lot of graphic novelists I've read seem possessed of an introspective and melancholic disposition. A dour view of the world and of the people in it. It's a disposition I share, which may explain why I like the medium so much.
But of course, that's not all that graphic novels have to offer. The interplay of text and pictures, the variety of storytelling in this anthology, is astounding. No matter their worldview, these are talented creators and their work should be appreciated. ABSOLUTELY check this out.
rosseroo's review
4.0
I'm a big fan of comics, graphic storytelling, sequential art, whatever you want to call it, so I was psyched to see the form added to the "Best American" series. For full review, see http://www.amazon.com/review/R24BG0WQM69BZ0
erat's review
4.0
Not quite as powerful as McSweeneys 13 (the "comics" issue) but still well worth reading. It's the first Best American Comics issue so I'm going to guess subsequent issues are or will be better.
Again, still worth reading. Just because something is better doesn't mean this isn't good.
Again, still worth reading. Just because something is better doesn't mean this isn't good.
gengelcox's review
2.0
It's true that the graphic story medium remains a ghetto, even though successes in the last couple of decades such as [a:Alan Moore|3961|Alan Moore|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1182935774p2/3961.jpg]'s [b:Watchmen|472331|Watchmen|Alan Moore|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1238274511s/472331.jpg|4358649] and [a:Art Spiegelman|5117|Art Spiegelman|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1206557373p2/5117.jpg]'s [b:Maus I|64233|Maus I|Art Spiegelman|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg|1947012] did a lot to renovate it. The majority of American comics, and the graphic novels collected from them, are filled with what [a:Cory Doctorow|12581|Cory Doctorow|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1212526024p2/12581.jpg] calls underwear perverts, otherwise known as superheroes. Japanese comics, while exhibiting a wider variety, have a similar issue in that much manga simply repeats what has been successful in the past, and a lot of what is now being brought to our shores reflects only the lowest-common-demoninator. Which means that a collection such as this new one from The Best American series should be able to highlight the exciting and important work that is being overshadowed by the claptrap. Unfortunately, it falls victim of a different problem: pushing graphic work as the best simply because of its level of being outre, rather than being good.
There's some interesting comics in this collection, but a lot of it just leaves me with a feeling of "bleah," even those comics from creators I had previously enjoyed such as [a:Chris Ware|5112|Chris Ware|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1205103618p2/5112.jpg] and [a:Lynda Barry|11646|Lynda Barry|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1197581544p2/11646.jpg]. The best of this best of collection are the longer pieces, such as the [a:Joe Sacco|32468|Joe Sacco|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1235021657p2/32468.jpg] embedded reporter in Iraq, the autobiographical piece by [a:Robert Crumb|34528|Robert Crumb|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1199497036p2/34528.jpg] (although does he ever not do autobiographical?), the stranded in the dessert short by [a:Anders Nilson|322538|Anders Nilson|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg], and the fascinating story of the bus trip in Mexico with the crazy lady by [a:Justin Hall|1640050|Justin Hall|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg]. I also was intrigued, although still confused, by the non-verbal piece from [a:Rebecca Dart|329894|Rebecca Dart|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg] that lived by its own rules and was probably the most successful of the experimental work collected here. In page count, that was probably half of the book, and made the price worthwhile, but I still felt slighted somehow, because of the stuff I didn't like, I really didn't like it. This is in contrast to my experience with other Best American collections, which usually have enough variety that you're not going to be "wowed" by everything, but rarely contain stuff that is just dreadful.
One of the most glaring omissions, which unlike the superhero comics isn't even mentioned by [a:Harvey Pekar|5125|Harvey Pekar|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1208208364p2/5125.jpg] in his mea culpa of an introduction, is no material published in mainstream newspapers such as examples of daily humor strips or editorial cartoons. You could make a case against the latter, I suppose, as they are more "set pieces" than short stories, but many daily strips have a storyline that would lead to excerpted collection. Even the restriction against editorial cartoons seems fragile compared to some of the inclusions herein.
While I do not fault the editors (Harvey Pekar is the guest editor for this inaugural volume) for not selecting anything from a mainstream publisher, given the selections that they did make I wonder about the criteria that they used. The collection was interesting, but I'm not sure I'll pick up the 2007 edition based on my experience with this book.
There's some interesting comics in this collection, but a lot of it just leaves me with a feeling of "bleah," even those comics from creators I had previously enjoyed such as [a:Chris Ware|5112|Chris Ware|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1205103618p2/5112.jpg] and [a:Lynda Barry|11646|Lynda Barry|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1197581544p2/11646.jpg]. The best of this best of collection are the longer pieces, such as the [a:Joe Sacco|32468|Joe Sacco|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1235021657p2/32468.jpg] embedded reporter in Iraq, the autobiographical piece by [a:Robert Crumb|34528|Robert Crumb|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1199497036p2/34528.jpg] (although does he ever not do autobiographical?), the stranded in the dessert short by [a:Anders Nilson|322538|Anders Nilson|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg], and the fascinating story of the bus trip in Mexico with the crazy lady by [a:Justin Hall|1640050|Justin Hall|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg]. I also was intrigued, although still confused, by the non-verbal piece from [a:Rebecca Dart|329894|Rebecca Dart|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg] that lived by its own rules and was probably the most successful of the experimental work collected here. In page count, that was probably half of the book, and made the price worthwhile, but I still felt slighted somehow, because of the stuff I didn't like, I really didn't like it. This is in contrast to my experience with other Best American collections, which usually have enough variety that you're not going to be "wowed" by everything, but rarely contain stuff that is just dreadful.
One of the most glaring omissions, which unlike the superhero comics isn't even mentioned by [a:Harvey Pekar|5125|Harvey Pekar|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1208208364p2/5125.jpg] in his mea culpa of an introduction, is no material published in mainstream newspapers such as examples of daily humor strips or editorial cartoons. You could make a case against the latter, I suppose, as they are more "set pieces" than short stories, but many daily strips have a storyline that would lead to excerpted collection. Even the restriction against editorial cartoons seems fragile compared to some of the inclusions herein.
While I do not fault the editors (Harvey Pekar is the guest editor for this inaugural volume) for not selecting anything from a mainstream publisher, given the selections that they did make I wonder about the criteria that they used. The collection was interesting, but I'm not sure I'll pick up the 2007 edition based on my experience with this book.
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