short stories/anthologies

[arecomicsevengood]

Any short stories in comics that jump out at you as particularly strong? I'm thinking specifically of pieces in anthologies, that aren't showcases for an artist or two. (i.e., not like pieces that ran in Eightball or Love And Rockets - pieces that impressed as strong in a context outside the artist's control.) I know everyone always says anthologies are a "mixed bag" but I feel like there's more to it than that: The comics reader's desire to understand the comic book as an object, where covers, ephemera, design, all work in concert to flatter the work, even though all that stuff is not technically "comics storytelling." It all adds up to this thing where it feels like it is harder for a cartoonist to make an impression with the comics pages they make.

Funnily enough, even one of the things I would argue is the best comics short story I've ever read - "How Things Work Out," by Alan Moore and Rick Veitch, from issue two of Tomorrow Stories, is not only an anthology from a single author but I believe the cover of that issue was by Veitch and it was the first story appearing in that issue.

Part of me wants to be a jerk and even be like... "I'm only talking about short stories, because serials get too close to being like strips," but then I do want people to be able to talk about stuff that ran in Paper Rodeo or whatever. Serials do seem like a separate thing. But again, I guess that Greyshirt strip is on the fence of what I'm talking about. I guess I want to know how much an impression a short story can make on its own by people saying their favorites.

[luke]

It might not be the kind of anthology you have in mind, but I first came across Max Clotfelter's "The Warlock Story" in one of the Best American Comics books and it remains one of my all time favorites.

[arecomicsevengood]

Absolutely the sort of anthology I'm thinking of!

Also, Mack White's "Cindy The Tattooed Sunday School Teacher" or whatever the title is, in Snake Eyes 3 is such a banger.

[mikesheawright]

the first Carlos Gonzalez i came across was a short story in Happiness 5 anthology by Perfectly Acceptable. i was immediately blown away by like the clarity of voice/tone and how hilarious and weird it is. instantly got online and bought everything of his i could find.

i keep a couple anthologies only because they have connor willumsen stories in them, which are like 10x more interesting to me than anything else in the book.

i discovered that Tsemberlidis guy and the Decadence group through some old Peow anthology, that was a good find. don't remember what the story was tho.

[owaddled]

I feel like the first time I fell in love with Mickey Zacchilli's work was in Thickness. My first exposure to Lale Westvind might have been a story in Screwjob #1 (Lale stands out in every anthology though).

Floyd Tangeman and Ian Sundahl's stories from Jaywalk #1 made me want to read more of each.

Warren Craghead in Tusen Hjärtan Stark #1 really hit home for me that writing letters on a page is drawing.

There are definitely some challenges for a short story in an anthology to stand out. I love that Jaywalk is on newsprint, has a cool cover, and only had 6 eight-page stories. It's easy to pick up on a whim and skim through again which leads me to revisit the stories. Also at 8 pages stories can breathe but not overstay their welcome.

[whitecomics]

I'm thinking specifically of pieces in anthologies, that aren't showcases for an artist or two

It's funny, most of the shorts that sprang to mind for me are at the edge of this distinction either because they include a smaller number of artists (the D&Q Showcase books had some really strong work) or because they have a strong editorial vision that push them closer to the understanding of the comic as a unified object like Brian describes (Kramers, Raw). 

So, specific examples of shorts I like: Harkham's Somersaulting (D&Q Showcase), Huizenga's Jeepers Jacobs (Kramers 5?), Eleanor Davis' MOME work, Fabrice Neaud's Emile (Ego Comme X 10?), Richard Hahn on Saul Steinberg (Windy Corner Magazine 1), Dylan Williams on Alex Toth in (Windy City Magazine 2) (hey, another example with a strong editorial vision!)

I remember liking the Sonatina anthologies, maybe I'll dig those out and see if any specific stories appeal to me now.

[teemcgee]

Mar 8, 2023 18:39:58 GMT whitecomics said:

....Fabrice Neaud's Emile (Ego Comme X 10?) ...

Issue number seven

Neaud's "City of Trees" in Japan As Viewed By 17 Creators is what precipitated me (re)learning French as an adult - so fair to say it made an impression!

[whitecomics]

I came across copies of You Ain't No Dancer Vols. 1-2 at a bookstore the other day and thought of this thread - it's a prototypical anthology in the sense that the content is absolutely a mixed bag. But since it's a few years old (issues published in 2005 and 2006 respectively) it highlights the function of an anthology as a historical document - a lot of early work that probably won't be republished and might shed some insight on a cartoonist's later work, a record of who was making work at a certain time and might/might not be now, etc. 

I had hoped to write about a few specific stories that stood out to me...but there really wasn't anything! It's all pretty forgettable especially if you try to judge the work by itself and not in the context of the cartoonist's wider body of work. If you do take that context into account, a few things become marginally compelling. There are Hope Larson pieces in both issues that stand out - short tone poems with compelling visuals (so, y'know, up my alley) but it's more than I now want to revisit her early books than that I enjoyed those comics in themselves. Vol. 1 has a Derek Ballard strip, I assume pretty early work and very different from his work now though you can see some similarities in the way he draws figures. But, again, only interesting if you bring in some context.

So, anthologies - mostly forgettable! Including/especially the ones I have been in!

[arecomicsevengood]

Magnus Johnstone's work in Coober Skeber kind of achieves the dream of making a very strong impression in a context where people probably go in knowing or interested in the other contributors but then there's not much of a record in print of someone's larger body of work so the one story feels truly powerful and mysterious.

[luke]

In any anthology that has Michael Dougan in it, his story is likely to be the best but “Kentucky Fried Funeral” in Drawn & Quarterly 9 is something else. So many perfectly observed moments/images/gestures that alone would make for a great work stacked upon one another for a hilarious masterpiece: the fruit salad lunches, the phone calls to Seattle, the strange visit from the armpit licker, the coroner forgetting his gloves in the body cavity, etc., etc., etc.