Staff Pick
In this magnificent expansion of a piece he did in 1989, McGuire fixes his lens on one patch of land spanning millions of years. Through vivid illustrations, we see life playing out — with appearances by dinosaurs, Native Americans, early settlers, modern families, futuristic creatures, and more — in a grand yet remarkably intimate display. The effect is astonishing and absolutely unforgettable. Recommended By Renee P., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
From one of the great comic innovators, the long-awaited fulfillment of his pioneering comic vision.
Richard McGuire’s Here is the story of a corner of a room and the events that happened in that space while moving forward and backward in time. The book experiments with formal properties of comics, using multiple panels to convey the different moments in time. Hundreds of thousands of years become interwoven. A dinosaur from 100,000,000 BCE lumbers by, while a child is playing with a plastic toy that resembles the same dinosaur in the year 1999. Conversations appear to be happening between two people who are centuries apart. Someone asking, “Anyone seen my car keys?” can be “answered” by someone at a future archaeology dig. Cycles of glaciers transform into marshes, then into forests, then into farmland. A city develops and grows into a suburban sprawl. Future climate changes cause the land to submerge, if only temporarily, for the long view reveals the transient nature of all things. Meanwhile, the attention is focused on the most ordinary moments and appreciating them as the most transcendent.
(With full-color illustrations throughout.)
Synopsis
From one of the great comic innovators, the long-awaited fulfillment of a pioneering comic vision. Richard McGuire's Here is the story of a corner of a room and of the events that have occurred in that space over the course of hundreds of thousands of years.
(With full-color illustrations throughout.)
About the Author
Richard McGuire is a regular contributor to The New Yorker. His work has appeared in The New York Times, McSweeney’s, Le Monde, and Libération. He has written and directed for two omnibus feature films: Loulou et Autre Loups (Loulou and Other Wolves, 2003) and Peur(s) du Noir (Fear[s] of the Dark, 2007). He has also designed and manufactured his own line of toys, and he is the founder and bass player of the no-wave band Liquid Liquid. The six-page comic Here, which appeared in 1989 in Raw magazine, volume 2, number 1, was immediately recognized as a transformative work that would expand the possibilities of the comic medium. Its influence continues to be felt twenty-five years after its publication.