The Best American Comics 2006

I was happy to see that this first volume was edited by the great Harvey Pekar, and his introductory essay is worth the price of admission alone. The collection itself brings together both familiar and unfamiliar (to me) artists, and has a good mix of men and women, and new and more established writers. Some of the entries are selections from larger works that don't have the impact they could as a smaller selection, but others really worked well in the anthology format, particularly David Heatley's "Portrait of my Dad," and Jesse Reklaw's "Thirteen Cats of my Childhood."

[full review here: http://spacebeer.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-best-american-comics-2006-edited-by.ht... ]

The Best American Comics 2006 is a great combination of 30 well drawn comics, sharp writing, and political awareness.The book manages to have a good balance of color an d black and white comics and well as traditional versus more modern styles. My favorite comic in the collection was "Nakedness and Power" which is a political comic discussing the oppression of Africans as well as the current oppression of Americans in reference to oil prices.The pictures in this comic are compelling as well as the simplicity of the text make this comic a must read. Some comics are based on real life events while others comics are completely fictional;however both types of stories leave the reader feeling different than they did before they read the show more comic strip. I also enjoyed the contrasting relationships between father and child in the stories "Portrait of My Dad" and "Thirty-three". In "Portrait of My Dad," the comic is actually a collection of several comics which all focus of interactions between the author and his father. As I read the strip, I was able to see pieces of myself within the comic in how my father and I relate to each other. The main thing I took away from this comic was that in life, especially when it comes to parent and child relationships, while some children spend their whole lives trying to gain acceptance from their parents, in actuality, some parents are seeking that same type of acceptance from their children as well. "Thirty-three" is a story of an unlikely father and daughter reunion. The comic is again about a father and child however in this case, the child (Phoebe) has come to find her father (Richard). The conversation they share is an awkward one yet both characters try to make the best of the situation they find themselves in. At the end of the strip, Richard makes a choice in regards to Phoebe and he is positive his choice is the right one. I was able to identify myself in this strip in the when you are close to your parent, sometimes you have to have awkward conversations to get to know each other again. The only thing that annoyed me was that the comics that was shown on the cover of the book was not included in the collection. I feel like it would have been better to have just not had a comic on the cover at all or showcased one actually in the collection. Overall, this book is a great read for anyone who hasn't read comics in a while or would like something unlike the type of comic strips you usually find in the newspaper. show less

An ode to the art of writing *and* drawing and the creators who are able to make these two mediums flow into a story. It made me long for a good full length graphic novel– a story I can stick with that will last longer than a page or two. Except for the one about the 13 cats the author had as a child, a page for each describing how they were obtained and what happened to them. Graphics are somehow the perfect way to portray highly disfunctional families. Is it because you can see facial expressions and somehow better imagine the tone of the words?Still, I enjoyed the montage of documentary comic (about soldiers in Iraq), comedy, classic comic, and memoir (Alison Bechdel). I skipped over a couple for storyline although the artwork was show more amazing, and read a couple that were great stories with only decent art. show less

The Best American Comics 2006 is a great combination of 30 well drawn comics, sharp writing, and political awareness.The book manages to have a good balance of color an d black and white comics and well as traditional versus more modern styles. My favorite comic in the collection was "Nakedness and Power" which is a political comic discussing the oppression of Africans as well as the current oppression of Americans in reference to oil prices.The pictures in this comic are compelling as well as the simplicity of the text make this comic a must read. Some comics are based on real life events while others comics are completely fictional;however both types of stories leave the reader feeling different than they did before they read the show more comic strip. I also enjoyed the contrasting relationships between father and child in the stories "Portrait of My Dad" and "Thirty-three". In "Portrait of My Dad," the comic is actually a collection of several comics which all focus of interactions between the author and his father. As I read the strip, I was able to see pieces of myself within the comic in how my father and I relate to each other. The main thing I took away from this comic was that in life, especially when it comes to parent and child relationships, while some children spend their whole lives trying to gain acceptance from their parents, in actuality, some parents are seeking that same type of acceptance from their children as well. "Thirty-three" is a story of an unlikely father and daughter reunion. The comic is again about a father and child however in this case, the child (Phoebe) has come to find her father (Richard). The conversation they share is an awkward one yet both characters try to make the best of the situation they find themselves in. At the end of the strip, Richard makes a choice in regards to Phoebe and he is positive his choice is the right one. I was able to identify myself in this strip in the when you are close to your parent, sometimes you have to have awkward conversations to get to know each other again. The only thing that annoyed me was that the comics that was shown on the cover of the book was not included in the collection. I feel like it would have been better to have just not had a comic on the cover at all or showcased one actually in the collection. Overall, this book is a great read for anyone who hasn't read comics in a while or would like something unlike the type of comic strips you usually find in the newspaper. show less

The Best American Comics 2006 is a great combination of 30 well drawn comics, sharp writing, and political awareness.The book manages to have a good balance of color an d black and white comics and well as traditional versus more modern styles. My favorite comic in the collection was "Nakedness and Power" which is a political comic discussing the oppression of Africans as well as the current oppression of Americans in reference to oil prices.The pictures in this comic are compelling as well as the simplicity of the text make this comic a must read. Some comics are based on real life events while others comics are completely fictional;however both types of stories leave the reader feeling different than they did before they read the show more comic strip. I also enjoyed the contrasting relationships between father and child in the stories "Portrait of My Dad" and "Thirty-three". In "Portrait of My Dad," the comic is actually a collection of several comics which all focus of interactions between the author and his father. As I read the strip, I was able to see pieces of myself within the comic in how my father and I relate to each other. The main thing I took away from this comic was that in life, especially when it comes to parent and child relationships, while some children spend their whole lives trying to gain acceptance from their parents, in actuality, some parents are seeking that same type of acceptance from their children as well. "Thirty-three" is a story of an unlikely father and daughter reunion. The comic is again about a father and child however in this case, the child (Phoebe) has come to find her father (Richard). The conversation they share is an awkward one yet both characters try to make the best of the situation they find themselves in. At the end of the strip, Richard makes a choice in regards to Phoebe and he is positive his choice is the right one. I was able to identify myself in this strip in the when you are close to your parent, sometimes you have to have awkward conversations to get to know each other again. The only thing that annoyed me was that the comics that was shown on the cover of the book was not included in the collection. I feel like it would have been better to have just not had a comic on the cover at all or showcased one actually in the collection. Overall, this book is a great read for anyone who hasn't read comics in a while or would like something unlike the type of comic strips you usually find in the newspaper. show less

Moore and Pekar have chosen a good assortment of comics for this inaugural volume in The Best American Series. Comics chosen represent a range of graphic styles and topics. Notably, manga and Heavy Metal are absent. All of the comics, whether factual reports from the battlefield or fantasies about life after death, have a linear narrative (though Dart's narrative is plural). Crumb, as is often the case, provides the most visual texture and richness (though Reklaw does a creditable job with background detail and Barry fills every space with baroque oddities and scrawls. The sequence generally worked, though I'd have placed Dart's "RabbitHead," with its multiple simultaneous narratives, immediately after Hall's "La Rubia Loca," a long show more story about a woman who has what looks to me like a manic episode on a Green Tortoise bus to Mexico. Interesting introductions and bios round out the collection My one complaint is the format. Some comics are reproduced so small that even with reading glasses and a bright light, I had a hard time reading some text. I'm sure I missed some visual detail as well. show less

I read a lot of books and try to be as inclusive of as many genres as possible, and so this marks my first entry into the world of modern comics, something I've been hearing about for a long time but never looked into before now. My three favorite comics from the book are "La Rubia Loca", "Recollection of Seduction" and "Walkin' the Street" (the last by Robert Crumb, the only artist I recognize). I like this trio because they are about real people, real human emotions told as a compelling memorable narrative.

The Best American Comics 2006 is the inaugural volume in a new Best American series. I'm a regular reader of other Best American titles, such as the Essays, and Science and Nature. Based on reviews on Amazon from readers with a lot show more more comic experience than I, this is not considered a great collection. The 2007 issue is supposedly better and I may try that one next. The book can be a good value - attractive 8x11" hardcover with partial cloth spine and full-color interior - it is going for cheap on the used market, I bought my copy for $4.

--Review by Stephen Balbach, via CoolReading (c) 2008 cc-by-nd show less