Thursday, September 17, 2009

And another two reviews...

Sara Cole at PopMatters:

...Abstract Comics makes explicit that the line between comics and high art is beginning to disappear.

...Abstract Comics does a superb job of implicitly proving how comics make meaning without any real recourse to narrative. We glean meaning from comics instead via the juxtaposition and rhythm of frames placed alongside of each other. The placement of frames need not communicate a narrative, as the book shows, but instead might give a sense of movement or mood via the choice of colors and shapes displayed across a series of panels. Much like early film experiments by Hans Richter, Abstract Comics collects works by various artists who are indeed trying to work out the question what can be expressed through the specific medium of comics, without recourse to traditional narrative paradigms.

...Abstract Comics is a necessary addition to the comics canon in that it forces us to continue to think what exactly constitutes the comics form.


And Alan David Doane at Comic Book Galaxy:

...the images by Elijah Brubaker, Geoff Grogan and Janusz Jaworski use the panels and pages to create a sense of meaning and movement that invite multiple readings.

...Mike Getsiv's "Shapes," defines space with lines and colours inside irregular panel borders in a manner that appeals to the eye and is not wholly unsimilar to James Kochalka's stylings. Both use the tools at their disposal to suggest passion and emotion, and Getsiv's striking images are worthy of a collection all their own.

I really liked former Galaxy contributor Derik Badman's rambling, dream-like creations, too, suggesting partially obscured views into a world unseen, unknown and unknowable.

2 comments:

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  2. It sort of seems like people are afraid to like this stuff. Like they need more validation to just give in and enjoy it.

    Don't be afraid people! Apolliniare wrote in a sort of response to his critics:

    We are not your enemies
    We want to give you vast and strange domains
    Where mystery in flower spreads out
    With new fires colors


    Actually, I typed that from memory so it may be off a bit but you get the point - We're not trying to supplant anything, just add to it.

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