The Best American Comics 2019

by Bill Kartalopoulos

Overview

 Jillian Tamaki, co-author of This One Summer, picks the best graphic pieces of the year.

“The pieces I chose were those that stuck with me, represented something important about comics in this moment, and exemplified excellence of the craft. Surveying the final collection, I’m moved by the variety of individual approaches. There are so many ways to make us care about little marks on a page.”—Jillian Tamaki, from the introduction

The Best American Comics 2019 showcases the work of established and up-and-coming artists, collecting work found in the pages of graphic novels, comic books, periodicals, zines, online, in galleries, and more, highlighting the kaleidoscopic diversity of the comics form today. 

Featuring Vera Brosgol, Eleanor Davis, Nick Drnaso, Margot Ferrick, Ben Passmore, John Porcellino, Joe Sacco, Lauren Weinstein, Lale Westvind, and others.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780358067283
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	10/01/2019
Series:	Best American Series
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	1,139,219
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

BILL KARTALOPOULOS is the publisher/editor of Rebus Books and the programming coordinator for SPX: The Small Press Expo. He was a cofounder and the programming director for the Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival. He is a member of the Executive Committee for the International Comic Arts Forum (ICAF), a contributing editor for Print magazine, and has worked as an assistant to Art Spiegelman for several years. He lives and works in Brooklyn.

Table of Contents

BILL KARTALOPOULOS Foreword
JILLIAN TAMAKI Introduction
LALE WESTVIND  Grip, Vol. 1 (Excerpt)
E. A. BETHEA Bit Rot
FANNY BRITT AND ISABELLE ARSENAULTmLouis Undercover (Excerpt)
JOE SACCO  Bitumen or Bust
ANATOLA HOWARD  Self-Love-Cycle
LESLIE STEIN Vanguard
MARGOT FERRICK Dognurse (Excerpt)
LAUREN WEINSTEIN Being an Artist and a Mother
BEN PASSMORE Martin Luther King Jr. Was More Radical Than You Think
JOHN PORCELLINO Selections From King-Cat #78
ERIK NEBEL Why Don’t We Come Together (Excerpt)
SOPHIA FOSTER-DIMINO Small Mistakes Make Big Problems
XIA GORDON Kindling (Excerpt)
VERA BROSGOL Welcome to O.R.R.A. FROM Be Prepared (Excerpt)
JED McGOWAN Uninhabitable
NISHANT SALDANHA Snow Day for Mr. Good Guy
NICK DRNASO Sabrina (Excerpt)
REMY BOYDELL AND MICHELLE PEREZ  Sex Positive FROM The Pervert (Excerpt)
ANGIE WANG  In Search of Water-Boiled Fish
CONNOR WILLUMSEN Anti-Gone (Excerpt)
NOEL FREIBERT Old Ground (Excerpt)
JERRY MORIARTY whatsa paintoonist? (Excerpt)
TOMMI PARRISH Perfect Discipline FROM Perfect Discipline and Unbending Loyalty (Excerpt)
LAURA LANNES By Monday I’ll Be Floating in the Hudson with the Other Garbage(Excerpt)
ELEANOR DAVIS Hurt or Fuck
 

Editorial Reviews

"Series editor Kartalopoulos taps Tamaki (They Say Blue, 2018, etc.) to help curate the 2019 edition of this annual collection of exceptional graphic storytelling...Eleanor Davis' incisive 'Hurt or Fuck' contemplates art and human need on an allegorical, visceral level in what could almost be a two-actor stage play. Erik Nebel's 'Why Don't We Come Together' ingeniously explores the possibilities of a rigid format—repeating but shifting shapes and colors, figures and patterns play across a set of equal-sized panels stacked into a grid, clicking through simple, whimsical stories like a filmstrip of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis...It's called 'best' for a reason."—Kirkus   —

From the Publisher

10/01/2019

In her introduction, guest series editor Tamaki (Boundless) admits to letting her taste and intuition guide her in assembling this anthology instead of "thinking about boxes to tick or some vague canonical discourse." The resulting volume features an eclectic mix of stories and excerpts drawn from sources ranging from self-published zines to internationally renowned graphic novels, largely unified by often intensely personal engagement with the issues and anxieties that permeate modern American life. In an excerpt from Grip. Vol. 1, Lale Westvind pays tribute to hardworking women in a wildly kinetic, wordless story. E.A. Bethea's (All Killer No Filler) illustrated stream of consciousness essay "Bit Rot" is a jagged exploration of legacy and authenticity in a digital world. Joe Sacco meditates on global warming during a road trip to Alberta in Bitumen or Bust! And John Porcellino's King-Cat #78 finds the cartoonist seeking comfort in pets, plant life, and Zen. An eerie selection from Nick Drnaso's Man Booker Prize long-listed Sabrina proves a highlight, as does Ben Passmore's Martin Luther King Jr. Was More Radical Than You Think and Hurt or Fuck, an examination of artistic inspiration by Eleanor Davis. VERDICT A terrific collection that perfectly captures the zeitgeist.

Library Journal

2019-08-19
Series editor Kartalopoulos taps Tamaki (They Say Blue, 2018, etc.) to help curate the 2019 edition of this annual collection of exceptional graphic storytelling.

In her introduction, Tamaki observes, "It's not a bad time to make comics, if one absolutely must and is able to do so, and one's work is marketable enough." The wry caveat nods to an eternal struggle: The labor-intensive craft of comic creation often means small financial return for creators. Perhaps stating this struggle up front cleared the collection to plunge directly into art itself; though Lauren Weinstein's "Being an Artist and a Mother" entwines art and money in her struggle to retain her productive-artist self once she gives birth to her first child ("unless you can pay [for child care]…you don't have access to your hands"), the story is mostly about Weinstein's connection to a past artist whose painting captivated her as a new mother. Eleanor Davis' incisive "Hurt or Fuck" contemplates art and human need on an allegorical, visceral level in what could almost be a two-actor stage play. Erik Nebel's "Why Don't We Come Together" ingeniously explores the possibilities of a rigid format—repeating but shifting shapes and colors, figures and patterns play across a set of equal-sized panels stacked into a grid, clicking through simple, whimsical stories like a filmstrip of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. Jed McGowan's "Uninhabitable" explores the forces of change as well, old and new colliding in a science-fiction tale of terraforming, hive minds, action, reaction, and creation. The collection also includes an excerpt from the first graphic novel longlisted for the Booker Prize, Sabrina by Nick Drnaso, and new work by master of graphic journalism Joe Sacco on the topic of climate and economy.

It's called "best" for a reason.

Kirkus Reviews