Bacter-Area

by Keith Jones

Early work from the creator of Catland Empire and the Colour Me Busy Colouring Book. Remarkable new talent Keith Jones joins the ranks of Julie Doucet and Marc Bell with this new "Petits Livres" book. Keith Jones once wrote, "People and Birds talk to each other and spend time doing it." This is as reasonable a description as you'll get for Keith's dense, cartoon-y people/animal-scapes. Arms twist and flail and behinds slip to the front. Keith comes from a doodle world tradition that belongs to underground giants like the aforementioned Marc Bell and Ron Rege, Jr. Another installment in Drawn & Quarterly's Petits Livres series tiny affordable art books with a comics bent.

Genres: Comics

80 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2005

Reviews

[Ash · Rating 2 out of 5]

This feels like a combination of Where's Waldo and Rick and Morty... The author is very clearly talented but I feel like there's so much going on all the time that it's hard to grasp. Maybe that was the author's intention... Maybe I just didn't get it?

[Always Becominging · Rating 2 out of 5]

I struggled to find my way into this book. It wasn't what I expected. I found it on the graphic novel shelf at the library and it is published by Drawn and Quarterly, so I expected comics. Although there are some comics (the Interdimensional Observations strips with their jargon laden dialogue were very good) I would describe this more as an art book. We are confronted by crowded Where's Wally like pages, filled with chaotic colours and characters. They are overwhelming and I found it hard to figure out where to start. The simpler pages with more white space were easier for me get a grasp on, and it was here that I began to appreciate Keith's talent. He has an impressive imagination that appears inherently connected to his technique. I imagine that Keith doesn't decide what to draw before he puts pen to paper or just scribble and decide later what the image is, when I picture him at work I see his hand and his mind moving at the same time. If I had known what I was in for beforehand I might have enjoyed this book more. Regardless I am interested in seeing more of Keith's work

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing! seemingly drug induced mania...but as i know the author perhaps it was just mental explosions uninduced . Well Keith?