"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.