"An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons, and True Stories"

"An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons, and True Stories" edited by Ivan Brunetti is a collection graphic art and essays on graphic art. The stories are from a wide variety of artist/writers and it is a good survey for the uninitiated (such as myself) as to what is out there. There is no common theme that runs through the anthology other than the fact that these are all graphic works and few of them seem to be in the mainstream. As such, it is a very eclectic work that varies from the comedic, personal, bizarre, vulgar, experimental, and straight up storytelling. Some of the works are self contained, others are from larger stories (such as an Excerpt from the graphic novel "Maus" by Art Spiegelman.

I'll admit that it took a little bit for me to tackle the Anthology art first. It is a fairly sizable tome (around 400 pages with creator bios). The first few strips by Mark Newgarden, KAZ, and Tony Millionaire where quite a new reading experience for me. I liken it to when I was a kid and I was introduced to Punk Rock for the first time. It was raw, edgy, experimental and left me with a mixed bag of feelings. As I progressed through the volume, I liked some of the works more than others. I found some familiar reference points like Charles Schultz, R. Crumb, Art Spiegelman, and Harvey Pekar amongst others. I was pleasantly surprised to see a few pieces by Archer Prewitt whom I'd sort of known when I was younger (he played in a few bands with one of my friend's older brothers). Going back to the punk music analogy, the compilation really does seem like a mixed tape of punk band with some spoken word stuff by guys like Henry Rollins thrown in. The quality and craftsmanship varies but there is a tenuous thread that seems to hold it all together. I read through the entire volume. Some of the pieces didn't work for me (didn't care for the Mark Beyer work so much), but others really drew me in (I really liked James Kochalka's work) and that's OK. Just like the mixed tapes when I was a kid, for whatever reason some of the pieces really clicked with me and others didn't. Overall, for someone looking to get out of the mainstream of graphic fiction and see what else is available, I highly recommend this book. You may or may not like all of the work, but you are sure to find something that makes you want to read further. Overall, I give this four and a half stars and especially recommend it to people who don't have a lot of exposure to the indie comic scene. It makes a great place to start.

The Imposter's Daughter: A True Memoir by Laurie Sandell

On a whim, I was browsing through the graphic novels on Amazon and happened across "The Imposter's Daughter" by Laurie Sandell. I got the Kindle version "which is a little hard to read on the Kindle 2 because of the small size. I have to admit, 1) I'm fairly new to the indie comics scene so when I select something it is usually on a whim. I'm not part of the indie intelligentsia and I am rather isolated from any other comic readers. 2) Since I am an American and live in Italy; I pretty much have to stick to Amazon and other online sources for my reading selections. I'm not apologizing or making excuses, just wanted to frame how I choose my reading material.


Having said that, reading through the blurb on Amazon, the premise hooked me right away. Essentially the memoirs of a girl/woman and her relationship with her larger than life father. I shouldn't say just larger than life, I mean her father pretty much crafted himself into a family folk hero, dashing rebel, suave insider, and mercurial enigma all rolled into one. The memoir involves Laurie and how her relationship with her father evolves as she ages and how she comes to learn of his false faces and unravel his mysteries and what that does to her and her family as a whole. It is incredibly interesting reading. Her father genuinely seems like a erudite and interesting character even without all of the fictions he has grafted on to his past life. It is interesting to see how Laurie grows up with these stories of her father and how they become woven into the family mythology and watch how they unravel over time. I think it is fairly typical to go through a period of disillusionment with our parents as we come of age and we being to realize that our parents are simply... human and flawed like everyone else. This goes beyond that since Laurie has much larger and more towering heights from which to plummet while unraveling her father's true self. It is like watching Paul Bunyan getting whittled down to an overgrown toddler clinging to his self identity. And that's not even mentioning the lies and apparent fraud that Laurie's father puts the family through. He is living this imagined life literally at the expense of his family and it has repercussions for Laurie and her later relationships with others. I found the artwork a bit crude at first but as I got absorbed into the story, I found it suited the overall narrative. I will have to check out a print version as opposed to the Kindle version as I'm sure that the overall effect will be much better. All-in-all, I found this an engrossing story that I wanted to get back to. The print version runs 256 pages but it is a very quick read as it pulls you in. I highly recommend this and give it four out of five stars.

This Blogging Thing and "Followers" or "Plea to My Viewing Audience" :)

Not sure anyone is actually out there reading any of this, but that's OK. This whole blog thing is totally experimental anyway and an echo chamber of sorts for me. I feel like I can get my ideas outside myself and have them exist in a realm that is apart from my inner thoughts and manifest on their own. There is something quite satisfying about that. Anyway, I was actually reading the suggestions from blogger and it said to mention my follower's widget in a post in order to try and, you know, garner followers. So, not solely because I want to be loved, but because as an artist I honestly and sincerely do appreciate feedback and criticism; if you are intrigued by what I've got here then please comment. If you like, please follow my updates and progress. Give me feedback. Good or bad doesn't really matter. You don't get it, that's cool to, let me know. Despite the experimental nature of what I want to do here, I don't necessarily want to work in a vacuum.

Latest Sequential Art Project

Here's a raw scan of a new project I'm working on. Ideally, I'd like to do an average of three new projects on this blog per week. This is another stream of consciousness piece entitled "Null Pattern Sequence (Erebus 1843)". I've been reading up on the Sir John Franklin expedition to find the Northwest Passage back in 1843. At the time, it was the largest, supposedly most advanced, best equipped, and most skilled arctic expedition to date. However, all of the crew members of the H.M.S Erebus and H.M.S. Terror disappeared and no one is 100% sure what happened. There is much speculation that the the canned provisions for the voyage were tainted by lead and/or botulism thus leading to the crew's ultimate demise. Anyway, if you're interested, check out the books "Ice Blink" by Scott Cookman and better still " Frozen in Time" by Owen Beatie and John Geiger for more. Ultimately, I'm going to do some more embellishment via Photoshop on this piece.

Sequential Art Projects

I've been feeling pretty crappy this weekend but I did manage to get some productivity out of myself. As you can see, I have a new masthead (I know, I've still got to tweak it a bit - particularly the text). I've also changed the name of the blog once again to Ostensible Cat. I just happened to think of the name driving to work one day and was actually going to use it as a character, but it seems more fitting as a name for my sequential art projects. Anywho, here's another piece I created today:



Enjoy! I've got one that I'm having to stitch together in Photoshop because it was too large to scan in one pass. Hopefully I'll have that up soon.

Abstract Comics

I just received my copy of Abstract Comics by Andrei Molotiu in the mail. I am really hugely impressed. A year ago, the thought of abstract comics probably would have met with a less favorable response with me. However, as I continue with my own artistic experimentation, comics seem to be the perfect forum for abstraction. I've been working on my own experimental "sequential art" projects. I hope to post more soon.

Long time Gone...

For whatever reson, I have been absent from the "blogosphere" for half a year. I originally intended this blog to track my gaming thoughts and project, but well, I've decided to change all of that. Mostly because, well, let's face it; I don't game any more. Not because I don't want to, mostly because the opporuntiy has not presented itself.

So, what does that mean? I have quite a lot of interests and would like to widen the scope a bit. I love comics and have been quiet obsessed with collecting of late. I also have been trying to broaden the scope of my artwork beyond fantasy illustration. Lately, I've come across the concept of abstract comics. I find this to be rather intriguing and am doing some of my own experimentation in sequential art. I also have an avid interest in Pop and street art. I ran across an interesting blog by Andrei Molotiu about Abstract Comics (Here's the link: http://abstractcomics.blogspot.com/). I've ordered his compilation of abstract comics and am eagerly awaiting it's arrival.

Here's one of my recent sequential art projects entitled "Space Ape and the Bubble Love Gun"