Frontier #5: Sam Alden

Frontier #5

by Sam Alden

Frontier #5: Sam Alden is the latest issue of Youth in Decline's ongoing monograph series, Frontier, which aims to highlight exciting and challenging new work by a single artist.

This issue includes a new 36-page comic, which deals with family legacies, summer vacation, and sinkholes. 2 colors printed on Risograph.

Sam Alden is one of the most interesting new voices in comics of recent memory, creating kinetic stories that often mix nostalgia and challenging topics with formal/visual experimentation.

36 pages, 2 colors on Risograph.

Genres: Graphic Novels

32 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

How does Frontier #5 compare to Alden's It Never Happened Again: Two Stories?
- only one story
- better art--very cool use of two-color printing
- story feels less complete... probably because it's linked to a project currently in progress, Hollow
A neat sneak peek, but not quite strong enough to stand on its own. An interview near the back offers some interesting perspective on Alden's process.
Can I just exclaim on his use of storytelling devices? The hollow concept, using the color as an identifying feature over the course of a character's change in appearance, the very panel structure revealing both action and its impact--Alden instinctively demonstrates a keen visual intelligence you scarcely seen anywhere else. That is why you should jump on the bandwagon immediately. This is your chance.

[E · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm so glad Sam Alden makes comics. I love how he can make something small and episodic like this and yet it's visually beautiful and has real emotional resonance. It's a short story, just a brief thing, but it does what the best short stories do: it sticks. It feels fresh and true.

Beautiful two-tone printing. I also love the "wizard rap" endpapers. The interview at the back is interesting too, and a nice addition.

[NK · Rating 3 out of 5]

a small part of a larger work, which i have not read but intend to if i can find a copy! i like the style a lot, feels like reading someone's dream diary, with not too much detail except where it's important to convey how something feels. namely (and the reason for the horror shelf): sinkholes, which are a great stand-in for unease. thought the particular choice of flashback was odd, but that might have reasons the longer comic would make apparent, 3.5

[Blue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great Frontier monograph. I wasn't familiar with Sam Alden's other work, so this was a great find for me. A great short story, told delicately and with patience. Like every good short story, a lot is left unsaid, but painfully understood. I'll be checking out Alden's other work for sure.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Smart use of risography.