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School Spirits
Chicago-based artist and musician Anya Davidson (born 1983) is the author of numerous zines and mini-comics and was a member of the cult favorite band Coughs. "School Spirits" is her idiosyncratic and captivating debut full-length graphic novel. Described by the author as ""Beavis and Butthead" meets James Joyce's "Ulysses,"" it is the story of Oola, a high school student with an unusual connection to the supernatural. Comprised of four chapters, each deploying a different narrative technique, "School Spirits" is at once funny, sexy, mystical and, above all, utterly readable. Davidson's crisp cartooning style makes even the strangest occurrences somehow seem plausible. This publication is sure to appeal to Davidson's existing extensive underground following, as well as to fans of the farther reaches of contemporary graphic fiction.
152 pages, Hardcover
First published October 31, 2013
3 people are currently reading
64 people want to read
About the author
Anya Davidson
10 books11 followersAnya Pauline Davidson is an American cartoonist, educator, printmaker and musician.
Davidson grew up in the US and Canada. She received a BFA (2004) from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she currently teaches comics. She has written or done illustration works for a number of pubblications, including The Comics Journal, Mad Magazine, The Fader Magazine, Pitchfork Magazine, VICE, Chicago Reader.
Davidson grew up in the US and Canada. She received a BFA (2004) from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she currently teaches comics. She has written or done illustration works for a number of pubblications, including The Comics Journal, Mad Magazine, The Fader Magazine, Pitchfork Magazine, VICE, Chicago Reader.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 22, 2016
Chicago-based pretty much underground graphic novelist/zine artist/musician Anya Davidson's book with a sort of unique mixture of stuff, including music, sci fi, teen angst, humor… hard to categorize for me, like it seems like it owes something to edgy influences like Crumb and Jim Woodring and Daniel Clowes… what women influences? Interesting and unique…and Chicago!
March 5, 2020
The kind of comic you wished you could draw in middle school (high school?). Definitely “out there,” but blessedly coherent, and never tedious in the way some “alt” comics can be, when they’re just page after page of bizarre doodles, you know? Not my exact cup of tea, but it’s got great style and fantastic characters.
March 4, 2018
I liked the concept of the rock star as psychic mentor. So many small panels in here are of explosions/exploding monsters.
March 22, 2021
I had been unfamiliar with the work of Anya Davidson, a Chicago-based musician and artist, before picking “School Spirits” off of the new releases list at the library, but I would definitely check out more of her creative output. An anarchic and wild romp through high school and adolescence, it was among the most interesting and unique graphic novels I’ve read recently. Davidson's cartoonish, vivid art and snappy writing is infused with a bizarre and wonderful sensibility that zig-zags from one surreal, fantastic scene to another (though it can be, on occasion, difficult to see where one ends and the other begins). Following Oola and Garf, an angsty pair of misfit metal heads through a "normal" school day, that is periodically interrupted by either of the pairs extended day dream fantasies, including space travel, historic battles, weird sex, and a talking venn-diagram.
This variety of information really appeals to me as different ideas are expressed by Oola, Garf or one of their friends and then explored through vibrant dreamscapes, which is especially evident in the epic tale of colonialism and conquest that opens Oola and Garf’s visit to the museum. It is also great how much Davidson can express without even the use of dialog or exposition, as many of the dream sequences are I think she really captures some of the unlimited weirdness and confusion of the teenage years. These long, protracted daydreams are something I recall from my own high school existence, though granted a lot less hallucinogenic. Altogether, I found “School Spirits” a punkish, fun, and thought-provoking comic read, carried along by a great manic energy, that would reward extended analysis.
This variety of information really appeals to me as different ideas are expressed by Oola, Garf or one of their friends and then explored through vibrant dreamscapes, which is especially evident in the epic tale of colonialism and conquest that opens Oola and Garf’s visit to the museum. It is also great how much Davidson can express without even the use of dialog or exposition, as many of the dream sequences are I think she really captures some of the unlimited weirdness and confusion of the teenage years. These long, protracted daydreams are something I recall from my own high school existence, though granted a lot less hallucinogenic. Altogether, I found “School Spirits” a punkish, fun, and thought-provoking comic read, carried along by a great manic energy, that would reward extended analysis.
July 27, 2014
Pretty dang cool, typical almost throwback 90's comic of an adolescent girl wandering around a day at school, but drawn in a crazy style reminiscent to me of Gary Panter. I knock off a star because it feels way padded and repetitive, but for the first half I was enthralled.
October 23, 2013
One of the best comics I've read in a very long time. I love Anya Davidson's style. The story is like Ghost World, but way better.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews