Book By Its Cover » Comics

Islands & Between Here and Here

julia — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 14:58:47 +0000

These two very beautiful comics/zines are by artist Brendan Monroe. So much of his work deals with science themes whether he is painting cells or collaborating with Evah Fan on a piece about soil layers. His abstract work is so stunning, I can imagine it being very hypnotizing in person. This is a wall mural! This comic Islands doesn’t steer from his common theme. It’s the wordless story of a man who goes on a journey through time and space “based on a fusion of astrophysics and recurring dreams”. Between Here and Here is a lovely collection of abstract drawings and words. You can pick up both these books and lots of other really nice stuff at Brendan’s etsy shop right here.

A Graphic Cosmogony

julia — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 17:30:42 +0000

You may have heard through the grapevine (or from an artists site) that my ALSO partners and I are working on a new book that combines science and art. We are super excited about it and I’ll be sharing more as soon as I am allowed. So with science mixed with art on the mind, I couldn’t help but be intrigued by this comic compilation created by my new favorite publisher Nobrow (How is it that everything they make so beautiful?). This book proposes the creation question wondered by all, “how did we get here?”. Twenty four artists made seven page comics explaining their own rendition of how it all began from legends to magic to a cyclops vacuum, there are a lot of crazy tales in here that I want to believe. The artwork is gorgeous, the printing is top-notch but I guess I wasn’t expecting anything less from these guys.

Gay Genius

julia — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 18:58:43 +0000

This comic anthology commemorates the best creators of queer comics offering a range of stories in style, length and subject matter, from personal reflective pieces to fantastical imagery. I love the hyper-patterned cover and also interior comic by Edie Fake, and I’m totally not biased by being friends with Edie : ) I also thought the portrait paintings by Lee Relvas full of intricately painted backgrounds with tiny scenes are really amazing. There’s also a handful of other stuff I really liked, although some other comics were just too crudely drawn to appear next to some of the more polished professional work. There’s a real range in this book which you can pick up, right here.

Durch die Nacht mit Egon Schultz

Leah — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 19:27:21 +0000

Durch die Nacht mit Egon Schultz is a comic by Ines Christine Geißer, and translates to Through the Night with Egon Schultz. It is written with both her original text and an English translation along the bottom. The comic begins with a woman going to sleep and ends with her waking up in the morning. In between, are scenes both harsh and peaceful as the woman goes in and out of her dreams. Ines’s bold, black ink marks command the page, giving weight to the characters. Her lettering is varied, and speaks as loud as the neighbor’s blaring television, or as soft as a dream. You can see more of Ines’s work, including amazing animations, on her portfolio site here. She also has a blog here.

Good Bye & Wedding Day

Leah — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 19:15:46 +0000

I first discovered the work of Clara Bessijelle at the 2011 MoCCA Festival in New York City, when I met a group of Swedish illustrators who published C’est Bon, an anthology of comics. I was immediately impressed at the Swedish comic style. Illustrators approached their narratives in fresh, innovative ways, far removed from American superhero conventions.

This zine by Clara Bessijelle’s contains two short stories. The first, Good Bye, is about a man retreating into his apartment, planning to never come out. The second, Wedding Day, and shows the unfortunate events leading up to a wedding. Clara’s drawings are all extremely detailed, extremely patterned and textured pencil drawings. The scale and proportions of the characters and scenes are all slightly off, placing the reader in a weird, surreal world. For just 5 or 10 pages, you are transported to a different time and place, filled with off-kilter characters and situations. You can see more of Clara’s drawings here.

The Game

julia — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 15:09:20 +0000

Anders Nilsen sent over his latest comic which is actually a huge fold-out poster sized piece. This comic was originally printed in the big Kramer’s Ergot #7 but this version includes the unpublished fourth page. As always Anders work is both captivating and beautiful to look at. You can pick up a copy of this in his shop. I also just bought this Meteorite print which is so awesome. I remember seeing intricate drawings like these in Anders sketchbook which you can see in Drawn In. Thanks Anders!

The Wrong Place

julia — Thu, 12 May 2011 15:03:32 +0000

This comic by Brecht Evens is like nothing I’ve seen before. It’s amazingly painterly, created with watercolor in vivid colors. There are so many thin layers of loose blob shapes that come together somehow to make the characters and settings. Often the layers are so transparent that patterns from the floor, or drawings of other people, are visible underneath other drawings. This works particularly well in the crowded party scenes creating energy, motion and confusion. There is also a great use of light and shadows that adds another layer of interest to the compositions. The story centers around a group of 20-somethings all captivated by a guy named Robbie: women want to sleep with him, guys want to look like him, everyone wants to be his friend. It’s a fun read filled with party scenes and realistic dialogue. Because the text is un-contained and there’s no obvious direction you’re supposed to read them in, your eyes just float around the page reading the conversations very naturally. I really enjoyed both the story and the style of this book which is rare. You should get a copy right here.

Vignettes of Ystov

Leah — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 22:22:01 +0000

Once upon a time, a meteorite hit somewhere in Eastern Europe, forming the land mass and Y-shaped river that the city of Ystov was built around. In Willam Goldsmith’s new graphic novel, we get a glimpse into the vaguely interconnected lives of the inhabitants of Ystov. William’s wispy brushwork creates very human, relatable settings and interactions. There is a charismatic vendor of strange foods, scientists set on disproving coincidences, and a couple, Wassily Balaska and Marta Perovic, who driven apart, lock their fingers and vow to meet again one day. Each spread introduces a new set of characters and a little window into their lives. You can get a copy of this book right here. Also be sure to check out this gallery of sketches and commentary from Willam about making the book right here.

Highlights from MoCCA

Leah — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 22:53:27 +0000

The annual Museum of Comic & Cartoon Art Festival took place this past weekend, with hundreds of exhibitors selling their comics, zines, books, and other printed matter. I manned the Parsons Illustration table for a few hours on Sunday, and had a ton of fun talking to festival-goers and browsing as many tables as I could get to. Styles varied from Xeroxed superhero comics to beautifully printed artist books. I got to look through a whole table of Tove Jansson books, trade zines with Swedish illustrator and comic Sarah Klapp, and meet other illustration students from Pratt and MICA. Here are some of my favorites:

Anthony Cuday’s Vita is a dark narrative of a man who wakes up in the woods. I’ve been following Anthony’s work for a while, and I was excited to meet him and pick up this zine. His beautiful, curving linework and strong graphic sensibility make every image compelling.

Katie Turner’s My Week in Bologna is a personal narrative of the trip she took to the Bologna Children’s Book Fair in March 2010. Her crayon drawings, fun lettering, and little labeled pictures perfectly match the journal-style writing.

Aron Nels Steinke’s The Super Crazy Cat Dance is, like the cover says, a super fun crazy comic for kids and grownups alike. Even if you’re not a cat person, it’s hard not to like two little girls doing the cat dance, going to the moon to find moon kitties, and then being friends with dogs and cats alike. I especially love Aron’s intricate patterning. He’s adapted this comic into a full-color children’s book you can buy here

Gaylord Phoenix

julia — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 14:23:15 +0000

Edie Fake is one of my super talented friends from college who has been doing incredible things! Amongst them is creating the comic series Gaylord Phoenix which I posted about way back three years ago. Since then there have been a couple more amazing issues which you can pick up at fine comic stores. More importantly Secret Acres has just published a book of all of his collected comics!!! Complete with a mesmerizing cover and the full insane story of magic and obsessive love, this book is pure delight. I can get lost in Edie’s pattern crazy world for hours. The intricate line quality gets so precise is some places, I am so impressed that this is all hand drawn. The book is printed in two lovely colors and you can pick up a copy right here. I’ll have to get Edie for an interview one of these days to get a look into that crazy imagination! ps. Edie works at my favorite Chicago comic store Quimby’s so you should stop in and tell him how much you love this book!