Thanks to barnesandnoble.com for the above cover image.

Edited by Kazu Kibuishi, Flight is a comics anthology that features the work of a wide range of cartoonists.  That includes people working in the animation industry (for major studios like Pixar, DreamsWorks, and others), emerging web cartoonists and webcomics creators, and established comic book and graphic novel creators.  Flight was launched in 2004 at Image Comics (which published the first two volumes) before moving on to Villard Books/Ballantine Books.

Flight is known for featuring young and innovative artists and writers, and Flight: Volume Five offers more of the same… to my delight.  Of the 21 stories contained in this volume, about half of them really struck me as standout comics, although all the stories have some winning element or other in their favor.  The four stories that I found exceptional (amongst a notable group of 10) spoke to the human longing for acceptance from and connection to other humans.

Richard Pose’s “Béisbol 2” puts a sharp eye on hero worship with an emphasis on how the little things can seem like life itself to a young fan.  Sonny Liew’s charming “Malinky Robot” offers a simple depiction of an inferior creation that is as rock steady as superior robots are awesome.  Sarah Mensinga’s fairytale vignette “The Changeling” offers sweet triumphant over religious dogma with beautiful art that recalls Eyvind Earle.

“On the Importance of Space Travel” is a pitch perfect and authentic tale about peer pressure, bullying, and just plain meanness in elementary school.  Written and drawn by Svetlana Chmakova (the promising creator of TOKYOPOP’s Dramacon manga), it’s the best of my four standout stories.  Though it is with great difficulty that I chose it, “On the Importance of Space Travel” exemplifies the creative potential of the Flight anthology series.  Many of these stories reflect the notion of “flights of fancy,” in which the daydreams and wandering imaginations take hold of a creative individual and his artistic tools in order to create these short, colorful fantasies.  Flight, however, is not about frivolous comic book escapism; these stories come from the heart and reflect the spirit of humanity.

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