Overview
A new quarterly anthology of the best new talent in the sequential arts.Written and Illustrated by Andrice Arp, Gabrielle Bell, Marc Bell, Jonathan Bennett, Jeffrey Brown, Sophie Crumb, Sammy Harkham, David Heatley, Paul Hornschemeier, Anders Nilsen, John Pham, and Kurt Wolfgang. Designed by Jordan Crane. Edited by Gary Groth & Eric Reynolds.
MOME: (mome) n. 1. (archaic) blockhead; fool. 2. The cutting-edge of literary comics for the 21st Century.
Every "period" in modern comics history has had its anthology that tapped into the zeitgeist and foreshadowed a new "generation" of cartoonists (Zap in the '60s; Arcade in the '70s; RAW and Weirdo in the '80s, etc.). For the new millennium, there is MOME. This accessible, reasonably priced quarterly book will run approximately 136 pages per volume and spotlight a regular cast of a dozen of today's most exciting cartoonists. Designed by acclaimed designer and cartoonist Jordan Crane, MOME will feature an iconic design and consistent format that should quickly establish the anthology as the most distinctive and accessible anthology of literary comics available.
Awareness of comics with greater aesthetic ambition continues to rise simultaneous to the rebirth of the literary journal, as seen with publications like McSweeney's (which features several MOME contributors) or The Believer magazine. Though virtually every cutting-edge literary journal these days has flirted with comics, MOME is the first all-comics literary anthology designed to sit alongside publications like Granta, The Baffler, McSweeney's, et. al., and is designed to appeal as much tofans of contemporary literary fiction as longtime comics fans.
Synopsis
A new quarterly anthology of the best new talent in the sequential arts.
Written and Illustrated by Andrice Arp, Gabrielle Bell, Marc Bell, Jonathan Bennett, Jeffrey Brown, Sophie Crumb, Sammy Harkham, David Heatley, Paul Hornschemeier, Anders Nilsen, John Pham, and Kurt Wolfgang. Designed by Jordan Crane. Edited by Gary Groth & Eric Reynolds.
MOME: (mome) n. 1. (archaic) blockhead; fool. 2. The cutting-edge of literary comics for the 21st Century.
Every "period" in modern comics history has had its anthology that tapped into the zeitgeist and foreshadowed a new "generation" of cartoonists (Zap in the '60s; Arcade in the '70s; RAW and Weirdo in the '80s, etc.). For the new millennium, there is MOME. This accessible, reasonably priced quarterly book will run approximately 136 pages per volume and spotlight a regular cast of a dozen of today's most exciting cartoonists. Designed by acclaimed designer and cartoonist Jordan Crane, MOME will feature an iconic design and consistent format that should quickly establish the anthology as the most distinctive and accessible anthology of literary comics available.
Awareness of comics with greater aesthetic ambition continues to rise simultaneous to the rebirth of the literary journal, as seen with publications like McSweeney's (which features several MOME contributors) or The Believer magazine. Though virtually every cutting-edge literary journal these days has flirted with comics, MOME is the first all-comics literary anthology designed to sit alongside publications like Granta, The Baffler, McSweeney's, et. al., and is designed to appeal as much tofans of contemporary literary fiction as longtime comics fans.
Publishers Weekly
This new anthology highlights both the strengths and weaknesses of a new generation of alternative comics artists. Today's art comics scene seems to offer a variety of unusual, nuanced drawing styles on the one hand, but a lesser variety of wan, hyper-quirky narratives on the other. The comics in this volume can be engaging, but they can also be too opaque for clear meaning or just elegantly aimless. Anders Nilson's genially surreal story "The Beast," in which a faceless cartoon figure roughly drawn on photographs delivers an absurd tale, falls into the later category. So does "Passing Before Life's Very Eyes," Kurt Wolfgang's cartoon meditation on impending death, though its comic intent and lively drawing rescue it from complete oblivion. Gabrielle Bell's "I Feel Nothing," in which diffident girl meets passive-aggressive boy, and "221 Sycamore Ave," John Pham's enigmatic story of an utterly ordinary girl and a boy with an utterly unusual nose, are two of the best examples of thoughtfully rendered artwork combined with an engagingly oddball story. Also of note is Paul Hornschemeier's "Living with Mr. Dangerous," a methodically paced story of individual torpor. Additional work by Jeffrey Brown, Sophie Crumb and Jonathan Bennett add up to a very good selection of new art comics. (Aug) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.