Overview
The first quarter of this jacketed hardcover will collect the work-storyboards, scripts, character designs, etc.-that Shaw has created for "The Unclothed Man in the 35th Century A.D." animated series to begin airing on IFC.com on December 7th, 2009. The latter three-quarters will collect his acclaimed short stories from MOME, as well as several little-seen stories from elsewhere, and a new 20-page story.
The Unclothed Man in the 35th Century A.D. is Shaw’s first book since his breakthrough graphic novel of 2008, Bottomless Belly Button, which was named Publishers Weekly’s best graphic novel of 2008, one of Entertainment Weekly’s top ten books of 2008, and one of Amazon.com’s top ten graphic novels of the year, amongst numerous other accolades.
The book also collects Shaw’s acclaimed, genre-bending short stories from MOME, including “Look Forward, First Son of Terra Two,” a remarkable story of two lovers traveling in opposite directions… in time. Also featured: “Galactic Funnels,” the 2008 Ignatz Award nominee for “Outstanding Story,” about the parasitic relationship between an artist and his lover/mentor; “Satellite CMYK,” a sci-fi mindwarp that ingeniously drives the narrative through Shaw’s masterful control of color, and “Making the Abyss,” a fictionalized story of a surreal film set filled with nuclear tanks, hot tubs, and blind ambition.
“Like the very best illustrated fiction, Shaw’s work moves between pathos and humor, between the fantastic and the familiar.”—The Christian Science Monitor
“Shaw’s style deftly combines cartoon drawings with a slavish attention to detail…Masterfully using the comics medium to juggle all the different characters, weaving their stories together seamlessly.”—Publishers Weekly
Synopsis
From the acclaimed author of Bottomless Belly Button comes a collection of his short-comics work and the designs for his first-ever animated series for IFC.com.
Publishers Weekly
Collecting storyboards and comics from the animated series created for the Independent Film Channel along with short stories previously presented in Mome, this anthology spotlights Shaw’s complex visual poetry about human relationships. The book opens with alternating full stories and storyboards taken from Shaw’s work on his animated project, about a special agent in the far future sent to impersonate a robotic life model at an art school in order to secretly break the custom against drawing real human beings. Shaw’s artwork creates a unique, fantastic future and gives the reader insight into his creative process through its presentation of multiple stages of production. The rest of the book assembles short pieces on how people relate to each other. Often with elements of science fiction and distorted time presentation, the best of these, “First Son of Terra Two” combines both into a story of a man and a woman from different worlds, each traveling in an opposite direction in time. In a stunning display of visual creativity, each story has its own distinct artistic style and presentation format. Color and shape serve as language as much as if not more than written words in this striking collection. (Jan.)