Broken Frontier: Anthology

by Kurt Belcher

The Broken Frontier Anthology unites 50 of the most innovative talents in contemporary comics to share new visions of breaking boundaries and exploring the great unknown. From multiple award winners to the brightest up-and-coming voices, these creators have come together from all over the world to bring you 27 amazing stories about time travel, dystopian deserts, the edges of the universe, human mortality, and much much more!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fantasy, Anthologies

312 pages, Hardcover

First published February 17, 2016

Reviews

[Ashleigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love a graphic novel and I love short stories, but I somehow hadn't seen a book that combined the two. What a thoughtful and fun anthology! Variety in this collection was outstanding in every way - art style, story genre, theme, character demographics, etc. While it's always a big gamble to read a selection of different pieces (and of course, I didn't like every one of them), multiple new artists are now on my radar.

My favorite stories were Phantom Limb Ghost Puncher by Greg Pak, Tom Raney, Gina Going, & Simon Bowland, Stranger Than Fiction by Tyler Chin-Tanner, Aysegül Sinav, & Thomas Mauer, Dark, Dark World by Cullen Bunn, Nathan Fox, & Brad Simpson, No Regrets by Jamie Coe, It's About Time by Frederik Hautain, Facundo Percio, Paul Little, & Taylor Esposito, Quin Returns by David Hine & Mark Stafford, and Inside Outside by Karrie Fransman.

I forgot to note content warnings while reading, but I remember a little bit of many things: violence, war, guns, injury, mental health, surgery/illness, death, murder, neglect, and betrayal are all definites.

[J.T. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Broken Frontier does a great job of promoting lesser-known artists. They're based in the U.K., so a lot of these artists were unfamiliar to me. There's an overall high quality to this anthology that is rare to most anthologies, but not at the expense of variety. A very diverse group of cartoonists and styles.

I could have done with a little less of the mainstream superhero style, but that's just my personal preference. And, like I said, there's a lot of variety, so it never got bogged down.

[Geert · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of different styles. There is always something that will speak to you amongst the multitude of stories.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This anthology is the result of a Kickstarter that I supported--a worthy investment. It collects numerous short stories that cover a broad spectrum of science fiction, revealing just how diverse the genre is and should be. As with any anthology, there will be hits and misses, but this time, even with the stories that didn't speak to me as much as the others, I was so impressed by the creativity and honesty that went into their telling and illustration. It seems that it is the mandate of the collection that each story end with a cliffhanger or a big reveal that gives the sense of vastness and wonder--a frontier yet to be explored if we dare.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had the feeling I was the head of a comic publisher presented with a collection of projects to greenlight (or not) for publication. As expected, the stories and art are widely varied, which leads to a freshness that helps moving through the anthology much easier. The traditional "don't like a story? turn a few pages" dictum applies.

3.5 Stars (Rounded down to 3)

[Sophie T · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book for free from the publishing company upon meeting them at my local comic-con. This is the fourth book I've read for the Biblio Games Read-a-thon.

I've been wanting to read more graphic novels. I'm so glad this was one of them. Broken Frontier is a beautiful book filled with gorgeous art and entertaining stories.

Seeing all of the different art styles was my favorite thing about this book, because while some are similar, they are all unique. Some of the stories, don't even have words and are just told through the stunning artwork.

A few of the stories were a little hard to follow, and many I wish were longer. Most of the stories were incredibly enjoyable, and the final one I thought was the best and most thought provoking.

I would definitely recommend Broken Frontier to anyone looking to add a new graphic novel to their collection.

[Alexander Lisovsky · Rating 2 out of 5]

Как и любой сборник, очень неровный. Но здесь я едва наскрёб несколько рассказов, которые можно назвать хорошими, остальное — максимум ок. Общая тематика — фантастика, в самом широком смысле (есть даже немного фэнтези). Самое примечательное — организаторы собирали деньги на кикстартере, т.е. получился натуральный самиздат (с некоторыми умеренно именитыми авторами). Долго лежало на очереди и в итоге, видимо, перележало. Прикладываю в качестве примера один из неплохих (и по сути, и по арту) рассказов.

[Stephanie Alyson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought I had reviewed this when I finished it but obviously I forgot. Not all of the stories in here were great but I'm still very glad to have read this anthology book. Just like I sometimes read collections of short stories instead of novels, so now I'm happy to have enjoyed these shorter peices from a set of creators.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty decent for an anthology. It can be hard to get 20-30 authors to do really great short stories. Some of these are exceptional. None of them are terrible. Definitely works with the overall theme. Definitely worth a read.

[Bookworm In · Rating 1 out of 5]

Save yourself the money. The only one that stands out is The Wave from Robert Sammelin. The rest is average at best and most cases neither compelling from a story telling point of view nor from the artwork. For a showcase of talent I found the outcome poor.

[Chapelle Noah Shelbyh]

Nos y

[Sal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some excellent talent, but most of the stories end way too abruptly, and one or two of the stories are really bad.

[kaitlphere · Rating 3 out of 5]

My favorite stories were Flyer and The Wave. Most of these stories were too random and abstract for me to appreciate.

[Canavan · Rating 2 out of 5]

✭½

[Nathaniel Haack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely a mixed bag. Some really great stories mixed in with some lackluster ones.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was very interesting, but I found some of the stories hard to follow and some cut off too early like maybe they were setting up for a series? But overall it was pretty good and I liked it.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

On of if not the best comic anthology I've read in a long time.

[Scotto Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked this up at ECCC when I was out scouting for cool anthologies and this "weird sci-fi" collection turned out to be right up my alley. I was maybe expecting something more indie (meaning less polished), but the quality is consistently high and the stories are frequently great. Contributors include Marguerite Bennett, David Hine, Joshua Fialkov, Box Brown, Phil Hester, Cullen Bunn, Ryan Kelly, Fred Van Lente, Adam Egypt Mortimer "and more!"

[A. David David Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a biased review, as I am one of the contributors to this anthology -- but, having read it now cover to cover, I am extremely proud to have been part of such a vivacious, creative, and stellar collaborative work. Truly boundary-breaking.