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4.5 So excited when I saw what I thought was Eleanor Davis's work on the cover (it was!).Filled with funny, relaxed, more traditional comics, and some short graphic stories that are more literary. A fun mix that is really well paced. I raced through it, but paused between each of the more serious stories, and sometimes flipped back for a second read.
I wasn't gaga about as many comics in this year's compilation as I usually am, but the ones I liked I really liked. Favorites: "Something About Madeline", "Graveyard", and the one about the art teacher in the Bronx.
[guessing at the star rating / mining my old FB notes now that they are almost impossible to find]i found this anthology when searching for lynda barry stuff last month (she's listed as editor). for every really good segment, there was an equally boring one. and then i couldn't find any of these good leads at the library! so i won't be wasting any more time on anthologies :(
Like popcorn!
Of the three "Best American Comics" which have been released I found this one the least satisfying.The two earlier collections were page-turners from beginning to end. While reading this I found myself putting it down and forgetting about it.I love Lynda Barry, especially for her recent book: "What it is." The stories tended towards child like narratives, and that makes sense with Barry's work, and if I was in another mood - a mood to be enchanted by memories of my own childhood, I would have en...
Hit and miss as anthologies usually go, but the ones that hit are terrific.
Mixed bag but it got me to read comics i wouldnt have otherwisr read. Some of the text was really small though due to the formatting so that made it a little difficult to read
It was an ominous sign when Lynda Barry went on in the introduction about her love for The Family Circus, the feeblest comic strip ever. This volume only confirms that Barry, who has done some good work of her own in the past, has dreadful taste when judging other cartoonists. This collection is simply wretched. Lame page after lame page makes you wonder whether any cartoonist working today has any actual talent.
The book gets 5 stars for the first story alone (Burden by Graham Annable). I think about it often, which is what good stories are for imo. Even the inner covers were a cute comic. Love Alison Bechdel and Gene Luen Yang always. The Thing About Madeline by Lilli Carré was also hauntingly thought provoking. Both The Monkey and the Crab by Shawn Cheng & Sara Edward-Corbett and Seven Sacks by Eleanor Davis started off like fables and quickly got dark. Rick Geary took the opposite approach and starte...
I really can't get enough of these collections, and even if there are moments when I wish the full story would be included instead of the snippet that is provided, I'm glad to know of a comic/writer's existence through these. Too many enjoyable ones to list, but I particularly liked Graham Annable, Rick Geary, Jaime Hernandez, and Jason Lutes.
--Unable to read a lot of it due to very small print/writing in panels. Not many of the stories or themes was of any interest to me and even the few that were interesting sere mostly of a morbid nature.--
Lynda Barry's introduction is awesome and she discusses her favorite cartoonist Bil Keane of Family Circus. But I've come to realize these anthologies are not for me - rather, they are for people who do not know what kind of comics they like or who are interested in a broad range. Everything I liked in this anthology I had already read elsewhere, and since the style of comics drawing and writing I like is somewhat specific and narrow I'm not open to many new things.
So good. And the forward by Barry rocks. I love this series.
Reading this ten years in the future, it's nice to see that the world wasn't so dramatically different in 2008 that these comics make no sense. Well, I should say, it's nice to see that many of these comics make no sense now just as they made no sense then.What I'm trying to get at: Lynda Barry picked a wild bunch here. There are a few touching stories and clever allegories, but for the most part, this is a collection of the weird stuff. Personally, I like the non-fiction comics in these collect...
I always wantto like comics yet find that I'm not actually all that into them. They're overwhelming to me -- the pictures and the text. And so small. I prefer picture books. Tiny panels are too difficult to read and I always wonder if I'm reading them right.Anyway, there were several delightful comics in here that made me think maybe I can be into comics! But the majority of them were not for me. Eh.
Reading this in 2020, it feels more like a flashback session than necessarily a collection of indelible comics that will pass the test of time. Some of the selections seem fairly random — like, it was great to see Alison Bechdel in here, but the selection of "Dykes to Watch Out For" strips feel pretty arbitrary and unrelated. And I'd forgotten all about Kaz — it seems like forever since I've read a Kaz strip — but ditto, I have no idea why this particular strips were chosen. Mostly it was a plea...
I like the guest editor; I don't like the series editors. Solid collection, but was annoyed that the comics were ordered by the authors' last names. I prefer it when the editors arrange a particular order, like a mix tape.
discarded
Solid collection of strange little stories. More coherent than the 2007 volume, thankfully, and I really enjoyed the intro comic.
3.5. Some very good things, some boring things, a couple artists whose work I hadn't heard of before but enjoyed a lot.
