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The first and most comprehensive source of abstract comics on the web, tracing the history and surveying the contemporary landscape of abstract sequential art.
Andrei Molotiu, Administrator
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Links:
- Abstract Comics Tumblr
- Абстрактный комикс | VK
Blog Archive
The coolest people on earth
On Abstract Comics: The Anthology (Currently SOLD OUT):
The artists assembled by Andrei Molotiu for his anthology ABSTRACT COMICS (Fantagraphics, $39.99) push “cartooning” to its limits... It’s a fascinating book to stare at, and as with other kinds of abstract art, half the fun is observing your own reactions: anyone who’s used to reading more conventional sorts of comics is likely to reflexively impose narrative on these abstractions, to figure out just what each panel has to do with the next.
--Douglas Wolk, New York Times Book Review, Holiday Books edition, December 6, 2009
The collection has a wealth of rewarding material... it is a significant historical document that may jump-start an actual new genre.
--Doug Harvey, LA Weekly
It becomes a treat to take a page of art - or a simple panel - and consider how the shapes, texture, depth, and color interact with one another; to reflect on how, when one takes the time, the enjoyment one ordinarily finds in reading a purely textually-oriented, narrative-driven written story can - with the graphic form - be translated into something completely different.
--Adam Waterreus, Politics and Prose, "Favorite Graphic Literature of the Year."
...this arresting book is like a scoop of primordial narrative, representational mud. Which is to say, it has vitaminic powers.
--Design Observer
For years, comics (at least American ones) have doggedly refused for one reason or another, to consider other schools of art and beyond mere representation. It's only now we see artists attempting to branch out and try to push at the edge's of the medium's definition. As such I found Abstract Comics to be a revealing, thought-provoking and genuinely lovely book that I'll be sure to be rereading in the months to come.
--Chris Mautner, Comic Book Resources
Previews:
20-page preview at Fantagraphics Books
Fanta preview on Flickr
Anthology preview on this very blog
Features and interviews:
Comic Book Resources interview with Anthology editor Andrei Molotiu
Artforum.com interview
Multi-part abstract comics feature at Action Yes online quarterly
Reviews:
First review of Abstract Comics: The Anthology at Comic Book Jesus
Blurb on list of "The Hottest Graphic Novels of Summer 2009" (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Jog's brief review
Douglas Wolk's brief review
Comicsgirl's review
Chris Mautner's review at CBR
Our first Spanish-language review
Review at Graphic Novel Reporter
Review at Comic Book Galaxy/ADD's blog
Review by Sara Cole at PopMatters
Review in Berlin daily newspaper Der Tagesspiegel and Iffy Google translation of same
Further blog post by writer of Der Tagesspiegel review
Review by Pedro Moura, in Portuguese
Douglas Wolk in the NY Times Book Review
Book Soup blog
Craig Fischer and Derik Badman discuss the Anthology at Madinkbeard
Best-of lists:
Eisner Award 2010 nominee for best anthology
Politics and Prose
Doug Harvey in LA Weekly
Design Observer
Reviews of "Silent Pictures" exhibition:
Review at Dart: Design Art Daily
Japanese-language review of "Silent Pictures" and Google translation of same
Buy:
Order Abstract Comics: The Anthology from Amazon.
The artists assembled by Andrei Molotiu for his anthology ABSTRACT COMICS (Fantagraphics, $39.99) push “cartooning” to its limits... It’s a fascinating book to stare at, and as with other kinds of abstract art, half the fun is observing your own reactions: anyone who’s used to reading more conventional sorts of comics is likely to reflexively impose narrative on these abstractions, to figure out just what each panel has to do with the next.
--Douglas Wolk, New York Times Book Review, Holiday Books edition, December 6, 2009
The collection has a wealth of rewarding material... it is a significant historical document that may jump-start an actual new genre.
--Doug Harvey, LA Weekly
It becomes a treat to take a page of art - or a simple panel - and consider how the shapes, texture, depth, and color interact with one another; to reflect on how, when one takes the time, the enjoyment one ordinarily finds in reading a purely textually-oriented, narrative-driven written story can - with the graphic form - be translated into something completely different.
--Adam Waterreus, Politics and Prose, "Favorite Graphic Literature of the Year."
...this arresting book is like a scoop of primordial narrative, representational mud. Which is to say, it has vitaminic powers.
--Design Observer
For years, comics (at least American ones) have doggedly refused for one reason or another, to consider other schools of art and beyond mere representation. It's only now we see artists attempting to branch out and try to push at the edge's of the medium's definition. As such I found Abstract Comics to be a revealing, thought-provoking and genuinely lovely book that I'll be sure to be rereading in the months to come.
--Chris Mautner, Comic Book Resources
Previews:
20-page preview at Fantagraphics Books
Fanta preview on Flickr
Anthology preview on this very blog
Features and interviews:
Comic Book Resources interview with Anthology editor Andrei Molotiu
Artforum.com interview
Multi-part abstract comics feature at Action Yes online quarterly
Reviews:
First review of Abstract Comics: The Anthology at Comic Book Jesus
Blurb on list of "The Hottest Graphic Novels of Summer 2009" (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Jog's brief review
Douglas Wolk's brief review
Comicsgirl's review
Chris Mautner's review at CBR
Our first Spanish-language review
Review at Graphic Novel Reporter
Review at Comic Book Galaxy/ADD's blog
Review by Sara Cole at PopMatters
Review in Berlin daily newspaper Der Tagesspiegel and Iffy Google translation of same
Further blog post by writer of Der Tagesspiegel review
Review by Pedro Moura, in Portuguese
Douglas Wolk in the NY Times Book Review
Book Soup blog
Craig Fischer and Derik Badman discuss the Anthology at Madinkbeard
Best-of lists:
Eisner Award 2010 nominee for best anthology
Politics and Prose
Doug Harvey in LA Weekly
Design Observer
Only The Cinema’s Best Comics of the Decade
Reviews of "Silent Pictures" exhibition:
Review at Dart: Design Art Daily
Japanese-language review of "Silent Pictures" and Google translation of same
Buy:
Order Abstract Comics: The Anthology from Amazon.
Hey, this is great.
ReplyDeleteI am surprised by the "syncopated" (does this word exist ?) structure of "El eternauta", as I thought it would be more regular. The interesting detail is that there are fewer and fewer different colors as the story goes further, which is a quite good summary for what happens to most of the characters...
Note: I don't know whether El Eternauta was published in english, but if you read spanish or french, it's a very good "feuilletonesque" Argentinian Comics from the fifties. There is a shorter version drawn by Breccia, but this one is by Solano Lopez (and Oesterheld wrote the scenario of both).
ReplyDeleteYeah, this is awesome. I don't get the El Eternauta reference - can someone explain this for me. Is what I am seeing here a completed comic by ALEX CHAUVEL? Or does it come from a longer work? Or is it simply referencing another comic? Sorry for being such a dumbass - but I am keen to get more out of this if anyone can be bothered unpacking it for me.
ReplyDeleteThese comics by Alex are a sort of "synthetic summary" of comics by other autors. (He posted other pieces in the same vein a few months ago.) He starts from a comic, and then develops a "color code" according to the characters that do appear in each panel. So, this is really like a "rewriting" of these comics in a purely syntactical form, but it's interesting to see that some patterns already appear with so few information, and that was what I was refering to in my comment.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for clearing that up for me. What an excellent concept for a series of abstract comics. I really love this work Alex. Both aesthetically and conceptually compelling.
ReplyDelete