Synopses & Reviews
andldquo;As I know well from my own field, trueand#160;vitalityand#160;consists of stuff thatandrsquo;s further off the radar of general acclaim. The influx of raw arrivals. The deep cuts.andrdquo; andmdash;Jonathan Lethem, from the Introduction and#160;
Featuringand#160;Gabrielle Bell, Mat Brinkman, Roz Chast, Anya Davidson, Eleanor Davis, Jules Feiffer, Blaise Larmee, Raymond Pettibon, Ed Piskor, Joe Sacco, Esther Pearl Watson, and others.
JONATHAN LETHEM is the author of nine novels, includingand#160;Motherless Brooklyn,and#160;The Fortress of Solitude,and#160;Gun, with Occasional Music,and#160;and most recentlyand#160;Dissident Gardens.
BILL KARTALOPOULOSand#160;is a Brooklyn-based comics critic, educator, curator, and editor. He teaches comics history at the School of Visual Arts. More information may be found at on-panel.com.
Review
"The latest annual roundup is more ambitious and conceptually audacious than is usual for any "Best American" series...The spirit of discovery makes this a good launching point for readers interested in the genre's variety and limitless possibility." --Kirkus
Review
andquot;McCloud could be the mediumandrsquo;s foremost deep thinker...There is much to be gained from his comprehensive embrace of the form and his nuanced, knowledgeable, and friendly essays preceding each of the themed sections...A master class in how to find the universally accessible in the intimately personal and transform images into emotions...Every page drives home the point that, if you can add only one book to your adult graphic-novel collection this year, this has got to be it.andquot; --
Booklist, starred review
andquot;The latest annual roundup is more ambitious and conceptually audacious than is usual for any andquot;Best Americanandquot; series...The spirit of discovery makes this a good launching point for readers interested in the genreand#39;s variety and limitless possibility.andquot; --Kirkus
andquot;Ever-essential...the widest-ranging comics collection of its kind...selected pieces are varied and absolutely vital...McCloudandrsquo;s entertaining and conversational introductions to each section educate and enlighten...offers readers the opportunity to discover new styles and a sense of the range of genres in the graphic novel world.andquot; --Publishers Weekly
Review
andquot;Keeps raising the bar for comics as an art form.andquot; --
USA Today andquot;A wide-ranging journey of 35 comics and interstitial text pieces that thoroughly engage the lifetime comics reader and the uninitiated alike...One splendidly eclectic trek, with McCloud as our especially articulate Sherpa.andquot; --The Washington Postand#160;andquot;A gorgeous book that does right by its subject matter...With its smart format and context, and#39;The Best American Comics 2014and#39; not only manages to unite clashing styles under one roof, it also makes an intimidatingly vast world of gorgeous, often challenging art accessible to a general audience.andquot; --The Denver Postand#160;andquot;This edition may be the best one yet...[McCloud] constructs this collection in an interesting and thoughtful way that makes these excerpts of some of the yearandrsquo;s best comics fit together in a cohesive manner.andquot; --Miami Heraldand#160;andquot;If thereand#39;s one thing Scott McCloud is better at than making comics, itand#39;sexplaining comics, which makes him the best possible editor for this yearand#39;s Best American Comics. McCloudand#39;s volume is surprising, delightful, diverse, brave and endlessly wonderful.andquot; --Boing, Boingand#160;andquot;The Best American Comics 2014 is the best edition of The Best American Comics to ever be published...The best book Iand#39;ve ever read in the whole Best American series. Itand#39;s informative, funny, surprising, and a satisfying reading experience on its own. This should be the book that every Best American guest editor aspires to emulate in years to come.andquot; --The Strangerand#160;andquot;Whether you want a laugh, intrigue, romance, or just plain weird, thereandrsquo;s something for everyone in this hardcover book.andquot; --The Awesomer
andquot;McCloud could be the mediumandrsquo;s foremost deep thinker...There is much to be gained from his comprehensive embrace of the form and his nuanced, knowledgeable, and friendly essays preceding each of the themed sections...A master class in how to find the universally accessible in the intimately personal and transform images into emotions...Every page drives home the point that, if you can add only one book to your adult graphic-novel collection this year, this has got to be it.andquot; --Booklist, starred review
andquot;The latest annual roundup is more ambitious and conceptually audacious than is usual for any andquot;Best Americanandquot; series...The spirit of discovery makes this a good launching point for readers interested in the genreand#39;s variety and limitless possibility.andquot; --Kirkus
andquot;Ever-essential...the widest-ranging comics collection of its kind...selected pieces are varied and absolutely vital...McCloudandrsquo;s entertaining and conversational introductions to each section educate and enlighten...offers readers the opportunity to discover new styles and a sense of the range of genres in the graphic novel world.andquot; --Publishers Weekly
Review
"A
rich selection of excellent graphic literature in this collection of 26 stories that
span the heartbreaking to the hilarious to the just plain oddball."
--USA Today "This years guest selector, Bechdel, opens with a terrific introduction that digs into the sense of awe felt by many underground vets on comicdoms recent hyperdevelopment... The picks are a typical mix of heavy hitters in top form (Chris Ware, Joe Sacco, Jaime Hernandez, Jeff Smith), younger art-comics darlings (Dash Shaw, Kevin Huizenga), and a nice smattering of talented newcomers."
--Booklist "Fun Home creator Bechdel selects 27 pieces for this year's Best American anthology, and though a reader can trace her sensibility in some of the entries . . . it's a pleasure to see many odd, gritty selections . . . This year's Best American is a handsome anthology with more than a few welcome surprises."
—Publishers Weekly "Another annual cornucopia of graphic narrative (and comic strips). Whether comics were ever striving for cultural legitimacy, they are now struggling with it—even resisting it—though this years collection suggests that the range of subject, tone and technique continues to expand. Perhaps no other graphic memoirist has achieved greater acclaim than this years guest editor Bechdel . . . While much of this work is at the cutting edge of contemporary culture, there is a historical perspective to some of the more ambitious pieces . . .The extended, wordless visual epiphany in 'Winter' is stunning . . . David Lasky shows the greatest range . . . Chris Wares inevitable selection is brilliant. The state of an art that has yet to reach stasis."
—Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
Scott McCloud, "just about the smartest guy in comics" (Frank Miller), picks the best graphic pieces of the year.
Synopsis
It s the perfect book to pick up to restore your faith in comics or help show infinite diversity in infinite combinations on display on paper using the world s greatest artform. Comics Bulletin
The Best American Comics showcases the work of both established and up-and-coming contributors and highlights both fiction and nonfiction from graphic novels, pamphlet comics, newspapers, magazines, minicomics, and the Web to make a unique, stunning collection. Frank Miller (Sin City, 300) called guest editor Scott McCloud just about the smartest guy in comics. "
Synopsis
and#8220;Itand#8217;s the perfect book to pick up to restore your faith in comics or help show infinite diversity in infinite combinations on display on paper using the worldand#8217;s greatest artform.and#8221; and#8212; Comics Bulletin The Best American Comics showcases the work of both established and up-and-coming contributors and highlights both fiction and nonfiction and#8212; from graphic novels, pamphlet comics, newspapers, magazines, minicomics, and the Web and#8212; to make a unique, stunning collection. Frank Miller (Sin City, 300) called guest editor Scott McCloud and#8220;just about the smartest guy in comics.and#8221;
Synopsis
Jonathan Lethem brings both literary and comics credibility to his picks for the best graphic pieces of the year.
Synopsis
Jonathan Lethem brings both literary and comics credibility to his picks for the best graphic pieces of the year. Critically acclaimed author Jonathan Lethem is no stranger to comics andmdash; he revived Marvelandrsquo;s cult classic Omega andmdash; and brings both literary and comics sensibility to The Best American Comics 2015. The collection showcases the work of both established and up-and-coming contributors and highlights both fiction and nonfiction from graphic novels, pamphlet comics, newspapers, magazines, minicomics, and the Web to make andldquo;a gorgeous book that does right by its subject matterandrdquo; (Denver Post).
Synopsis
A collection of the best graphic pieces published in 2012, compiled by art editor for The New Yorker, Françoise Mouly.
Synopsis
“When I started
RAW magazine in the ’80s, there were mostly superheroes, a few children’s comics, and the dirty, intentionally lowbrow, underground comix. And now, comics can tackle any topic.”—Françoise Mouly, from the Introduction
FEATURING Charles Burns, Chester Brown, Joyce Farmer, Chris Ware, Gary Panter, Sergio Aragonés, Christoph Niemann, Adrian Tomine, Sarah Varon, and others.
This year with a sampler of comics for kids!
Synopsis
Bestselling author and rockstar of the comic world Neil Gaiman delivers a remarkable collection of the year's best graphic stories and comics.
Synopsis
The Best American Comics showcases the work of both established and up-and-coming contributors. Editor Neil Gaiman—one of the top writers in modern comics and the award-winning author of novels and childrens books—has culled the best stories from graphic novels, pamphlet comics, newspapers, magazines, mini-comics, and the Internet to create this cutting-edge collection. With entries from luminaries such as Tim Hensley, Michael Kupperman, and Dash Shaw, “its hard to flip through this book without finding a lot worth reading (and rereading)” (The Onion, A.V. Club).
Synopsis
“If you have spent a long time resisting the status quo—whether its in art, society, or the political world—what happens when that status quo at last gives way?A universe of possibility opens up.”
—Alison Bechdel, from the Introduction
Featuring: Gabrielle Bell, Joe Sacco, Dash Shaw, Sabrina Jones, Chris Ware, Jillian Tamaki, Jaime Hernandez, Jeff Smith, Paul Pope, Kevin Huizenga, and others
About the Author
Alison Bechdel is the author of the bestselling memoir
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, which was named a Best Book of the Year by
Time, Entertainment Weekly, New York Times, People, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Village Voice, and
San Francisco Chronicle, among others. For twenty-five years, she wrote and drew the comic strip
Dykes to Watch Out For, a visual chronicle of modern life
—queer and otherwise
—considered "one of the preeminent oeuvres in the comics genre, period." (Ms.) Bechdel is guest editor of
Best American Comics, 2011, and has drawn comics for
Slate, McSweeney's, Entertainment Weekly, Granta, and
The New York Times Book Review. JESSICA ABEL is the author of the graphic novel La Perdida. MATT MADDEN is a cartoonist best known for his book 99 Ways to Tell a Story: Exercises in Style. Together, Abel and Madden are the authors of Mastering Comics and Drawing Words and Writing Pictures.MATT MADDEN is a cartoonist and the author of 99 Ways to Tell a Story: Exercises in Style. Together, they are the authors of Drawing Words & Writing Pictures.