I’ve written before about the importance of anthology releases to independent comics at large. A place for creators of unique, bizarre, and impactful short works that might not have an easy market elsewhere in the industry, anthologies showcase incredible talent, both established and fresh-faced, in a way that eschews the largely genre-limited larger industry.
Fantagraphics Now: The New Comics Anthology has been delivering high-quality comics for nearly a decade now, packing incredible comics into a sleek, beautiful package. The contents are varied, never reined in by common theme or genre, so that each issue provides a sort of scattershot cross-sample of contemporary cartoonists.
The newest edition, #14 of the series, is no different. 18 cartoonists with wildly varying styles and mediums butt up against one another in a hectic, beautiful collage of singularly talented output. The effect is dizzying, as anthologies can sometimes be, so that sitting down and reading the book straight through can produce a sort of style and sensibility whiplash, so distinct are the entries.
This can mean a bit of an uneven quality to the book; some stories land for the reader while others most likely will not (depending, of course, on the individual tastes of that reader). There are true highlights throughout, powerful and strange in their diversity and sensibility.
Roman Muradov, whose recent All the Living dazzled me, delivers an abstracted parable with “My First Goose”, in which a repeating family tree encounters a father-like goose in glasses. Directly following, Iris Hautaniemi’s “Bangable” throws the reader into a loosely-rendered, absurdist sex-scene in which a woman ponders her hairstyle. Both stories are equally valid entries, are equally wonderful in their execution, and are so different in their content and execution that you can’t help but be charmed by the editor’s insistence that they sit next to one another in the sequencing of the book.
Maggie Umber’s “Jonesy” is a frantically watercolored tone poem, more vibe than narrative; Ben Horak’s “Always Good to Catch Up” is an ever-expanding gag strip, absurd in its persistent commitment to its punchline.
Incredible standout “A Monty” by Zak Sally breaks the gimmicky, joking aesthetic and delivers a tightly-remembered autobiographic coming-of-age strip, all about the protagonist’s slow-dawning regret spawned from teasing a developmentally disabled neighbor. Its heartfelt commitment to real-world anxiety makes it a surprise, after Horak’s work and before a more cartoon-y strip by Max Clotfelter, so it feels somehow like a emotional gem in the rough of different, more brazen gems.
These pieces might not have made it into the world without the safe place of the anthology, and what a shame not having them to cherish would be. Now #14 is a fantastic example of the series’ commitment to diverse concepts and executions, and to the world of independent comics.
‘Now: The New Comics Anthology’ #14′ is a scattershot cross-section of independent cartoonists
Now: The New Comics Anthology #14
Continuing its commitment to diverse and conflicting styles, Now #14 presents and exciting slew of new work that might not have found a home elsewhere.
Reader Rating0 Votes
0
Amazing diversity of style.
True gems, both touching and hilarious.
Beautifully collected.
Features some real highs and lows.
9
Great
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