McSweeney's 13: The Comics Issue

I really don't understand how this book sat on my shelves so long before I read it. When I first heard about it, I wanted it immediately. But I was in a cheap phase, so I only put it on my paperbackswap wishlist. After a lot of patience, I finally scored a copy, but it languished, unread, until I put it on my to-read shelf this year to rectify the situation.

This really is an incredibly interesting sampler of comics. From the inventor of the form, through some classic newspaper strips, to an impressive variety of modern comics, it's hard to falt this collection for its contents. The only thing that grated for me was the editorial writing, which felt casually misogynist. Descriptions of female characters were exclusively restricted to show more reports on their figures (and not kindly, one woman is described as being the size of an upright Naugahyde couch, even though the actual drawings of said woman seemed not nearly so exaggerated, nor was her size every played derogatively in the printed comics.) There were some female comic writers included, and some "women's stories," but much of the text seemed to reinforce the idea of comics as a boy's club, which disappointed me.

I wouldn't say it was worth passing this book over for, it just could have been better. show less

I would like to congratulate Dave Eggers for letting Chris Ware ruin what could have been one of the most memorable issues of McSweeney’s ever. Ware hates humanity and likes to force the reader to hate it too by making his texts completely inaccessible both emotionally and (sometimes) visually. The essays interspersed between the comics might be insightful, poignant, or (typical of Ware) absurdly humorous but printing them in four point font sort of spoils the entire deal. I get the joke but the joke is over.Those are my grumps. My grumps! my grumps! My gnarly manly grumps! There is some wizened wisdom to Ware’s overall structure of the book. Case in point: closing the volume with contrasting biographic sketches; 1) David show more Heatley’s loving, complex, vulnerable father (the kind of person me on a good day wishes there was more of in the world) and 2) the pitifully self-loathing masochist Soren Kierkegaard - whose true life biography mirrors the shame factory efficiency of one of Ware’s fictional characters. (Is it necessary I indicate a biography as “true life?”) [Was it as necessary to do that in the past as it is now?]It would appear too that most American underground comics creators are as neurotic and self-obsessed as Ware. There are a handful though that have the bravery, talent, and vision to deal with issues bigger than themselves even when working in an autobiographical mode; namely, Joe Sacco (war), Debbie Drechsler (abortion), and Chester Brown (minority rights). show less

One of those super creative efforts from McSweeney's that I really enjoyed digging into. Comics, comic history, hidden comics within the comics-overwrap ... neat. But the font for the essays inside is far too small.

A lovely sample of North American Comic drawings, scripts and stories. I was pleased to find Charles Schulz and George Herriman in here alongside Art Spiegelman, Robert Crumb, Joe Sacco and Chris Ware, and others. Interesting articles between the illustrations, a particularly good one about Rodolphe Töpffer - the creator of the first Comic Strip. Interesting also to compare the 1925 newspaper article on the neurological benefits of comic strips in this book with the 1950s comic burning mentioned in the Alan Moore biography "Magic Words". The print is very small, but quality of production made this a worthwhile volume.

McSweeney's has always featured work by graphic artists and in this issue turns the reins over to Chris Ware and allows him to pay tribute to cartoonists and graphic artists past and present. Surely one of the most beautiful issues of McSweeney's, it must have cost a ton to produce. The book covering folds out to become a huge, Sunday paper comic section with artwork by Ware. Hidden in the folds are two mini-comic books. The hardcover book itself has over 250 lithographic plates and includes a few essays on cartooning history, appreciations and pioneers but mostly offers a sampling of important graphic artists working in the US, circa the early 2000s.

This issue of McSweeney's is a delicious 200+ page hardcover full of comics and writing about the artform. My only disappointment is that much of the art is excerpted from larger works. The upside to that is that I was only familiar with a fraction of those works, so now I have lots of new graphic novels to check out.

I don't toss books aside lightly, but I had no choice with this one. The type in the essays is microscopic, and completely unreadable for me. This was the case with quite a few of the comic strips as well. Overall, a deeply unsatisfying outcome that any competent editor could have avoided..