MOME WINTER 2006
FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS
CARTOONISTS: David B., R. Kikuo Johnson, Jeffrey Brown, Martin Cendreda, and others
ISBN: 13: 978156097697-4
112 pp., Color and B&W, $14.95
The third issue of MOME (Winter 2006) offers what the previous volumes did – a selection of short tales and serials that embrace as many ideas as they do genres. It is simple: if you like alt-comix, small press, and European comics anthologies, you’ll like MOME. It’s also a little like one of those “best of the year” prose short story anthologies, in that the editors (Eric Reynolds and Gary Groth) have chosen some of the most exciting and inventive creators to contribute.
This is, however, mostly new material, or new to an American publication. In fact, it’s no exaggeration to say that some of the contributors are among the best in alternative or non-superhero comic books. R. Kikuo Johnson, recently acclaimed for his debut Night Fisher, delivers his first work since that graphic novel, a series of strips entitled, “Cher Shimura.” The volume also includes both a new Kurt Wolfgang story and Wolfgang interview by Groth.
The opening selection (and cover feature) “The Armed Garden” by David B. (the graphic novel Epileptic) is a quasi-historical, religious epic that resonates so powerfully with Christian ideas and symbolism that it could seriously have a place in a textbook on heretical religious mythology. On one hand, it seems out of place in what is ostensibly a fancy formatted comic book. On the other hand, placing something like this in MOME is a way for Gary and Eric to emphasize to both readers and the media that they are deadly serious about making MOME a “literary anthology.”
Of the many reasons to buy this reasonably priced (cheaply priced when you consider the talent involved) anthology, one good reason is that Jeffrey Brown, the current mack of autobiographical comix, contributes an entertaining autobio-cautionary tale about dealing with filmmakers. Plus, there are four pages by a personal favorite, Martin Cendreda.
