Mome Spring 2010

MOME #18

by Gary Groth, Eric Reynolds (Editor)

The influence of Fantagraphics’ flagship anthology of new comic art and storytelling continues to grow with annual award nominations, a widely-acknowledged banner 2008 that found MOME on many year-end critics’ lists, increasing academic and library interest, several gallery exhibitions mounted nationwide, and an increasingly potent well of top-notch, known and unknown talent making every issue a surprising, dense and delightful read. With this season, the quarterly journal of comics will have brought over 2,000 pages of new comics to the world since its inception in 2005.


Upcoming contributors of short stories to MOME include: Lilli Carré, Laura Park, Olivier Schrauwen, Tom Kaczynski, Dash Shaw, Ray Fenwick, Émile Bravo, Andrice Arp, Al Columbia, Eleanor Davis, Nathan Neal, Conor O’Keefe, Jon Vermilyea, Jonathan Bennett, Robert Goodin, Sara Edward-Corbett, Derek Van Gieson, and many more.


2009 saw the end of three serials for MOME—legendary cartoonist Gilbert Shel¬ton’s serialized graphic novel, “Last Gig in Shngrlig,” Paul Hornschemeier’s “Life with Mr. Dangerous,” and Tim Hensley’s “Wally Gropius”— and the launch of two more.


T. Edward Bak’s biography of German naturalist Georg Wilhelm Steller—who traveled with Vitus Bering on what is generally known as the Second Kamchatka Expedition in 1741—is certain to eventually become one of the most acclaimed graphic novels of the decade. In the hands of Bak, Steller’s narrative story transcends natural history, science and biography and becomes a riveting, beautifully illustrated drama.


Ted Stearn’s cult favorite characters have struck a chord with comic lovers over the years (Matt Groening declares them “why I love comics”) in two previous graphic novels, Fuzz & Pluck and Fuzz & Pluck: Splitsville. Stearn now graces MOME with a new, serialized adventure in which the hapless Fuzz & Pluck discover a literal money tree. The ensuing entanglement of intrigue and desire is a surrealist, picaresque tour de force of comics storytelling with strong thematical ties to America’s housing and financial meltdown, and the dreams that led to it. There’s also a pirate, and we all know that pirates sell.

Genres: Comics, Anthologies, Fiction, Humor

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[StrictlySequential · Rating 3 out of 5]

Took the "weird" angle to enthusiastically.

[Bob Comparda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some weird ones in this issue. Lilli Carré's is my favorite by far followed by Jon Adam and the collaboration of Jones, Santoro and Vermilyea.

Nate Neal - The Neurotic Nexus of Creation ⭐
Lilli Carré - A New Leaf ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Dave Cooper & Gavin McInnes - Pip & Norton Go to Paris ⭐
Ben Jones, Frank Santoro & Jon Vermilyea - Chocolate Gun Cold Heat ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Ivan Brun - Dumped ⭐⭐
Joe Daly - Burrow World ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Ted Stearn - Fuzz & Pluck in "The Moolah Tree," Part 3 ⭐⭐⭐
Nicolas Mahler - A Taxing Experience ⭐⭐
Tim Lane - The Passenger ⭐⭐
Nicolas Mahler - Can I Help You Find Anything? ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Conor O'Keefe - Autumn ⭐⭐
Michael Jada & Derek Van Gieson - Devil Doll, Part 2 ⭐
T. Edward Bak - Wild Man, Chapter 2: A Bavarian Botanist in St. Petersburg, Part 2 ⭐
Renée French - Almost Sound, Part 3 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Nicolas Mahler - Original and Copy ⭐⭐⭐
Jon Adams - The Jerk Machine ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[Al McCarty · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mixed bag: some very good, some very bad, and a lot of indifferent.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always good to see new works by Lille Carré and Renée French, but Nate Neal's "The Neurotic Nexus of Creation" is recycled social commentary complete with "false consciousness" by other means, and T. Edward Bak's "Wild Man" just meanders, neither narratively nor pictorally compelling.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highlights in this volume include Nate Neal's Neurotic Nexus of Creation, Dumped by Ivan Brun, a long overdue Pip and Norton by Cooper, and an installment of Fuzz and Pluck. Was not a huge fan of Nicholos Mahler or Conor O'Keefe (this one just isn't in the right format, the text is unreadable).