Andros #3
Random anthologies are a sampling of parts of America. OK, maybe they’re not anything that profound, but I’m starting to think that certain parts of the country have clearly defined differences in taste and humor. I’ll be sure to let you know when I write my 50 page thesis on the subject, but for now you’re probably curious about what’s in the actual comic. Most of it is by the editor, Max Clotfelter, and I’m becoming torn on the guy. I reviewed a book of his yesterday that I liked quite a bit, but his stories in here seem mostly aimless and, well, pointless. Not that I’m sure what the point of most comic stories should be, exactly. His first piece is about a wise owl (just once I’d love to see a stupid owl) basically giving a lecture to a giant rat suffering from a hangover. Looks like he spent some time researching this and it’s a great short piece. Then there’s “Under Your Blanket”, a piece that seems to have a point and/or a coherent story at first, then it just doesn’t. Or it just loses me, it’s open to interpretation. There’s a few more, the best being “What’s Happening”, a two-pager about various unimportant moments across history. This was a great idea and could have easily been expanded. Other pieces didn’t stand out as much, although all of his stuff looks great. Like I said yesterday, the man has some artistic talent, there’s no doubt about that. Other contributors to this book are Aaron Mew, who has a neat little silent piece about love beyond the grave; Cathy Hannah, who I think has the strongest pieces in the book (short diatribes about real-life stuff, which are always my favorite; Rich Stevens & Josh Carl Evens, with a creepy Snow White story; F. Enciso with a lovely story about the eternal struggle against roaches, and Andy Rappe with a story about mange. Altogether a pretty strong anthology, although all anthologies have their highs and lows. Still, it’s worth checking out for a couple of bucks, send Max an e-mail to order…
