Kramer’s Ergot 5 edited by Sammy Harkham (Gingko Press, 2004). Available from Buenaventura Press.
The mixing of “art” and “comics” is often maligned. People don’t want to mix the precious objects of art with the narrative mass production of comics. Even in art school I was also more a fan of the cheap/mass-produced than the precious/unique, and its hard to argue with the number of people reading comics versus those viewing/consuming fine art. The art world is based on a market that traffics in large amounts of money, the comics market is decidedly smaller in price if not size. I really have no idea where this is going, but volumes like Kramer’s Ergot always seems to bring up these art vs. comics talk. I think this has more to do with the emphasis on design in these books than anything else (the sketchbook page publication too, I guess). The compilation is full-color and looks better than just about any other book you might pick up (though in some cases while forsaking usability–the title is almost impossible to read off the cover or the spine).
If you read much in the way of alt/mini comics at least some of the contributors will be known to you: Jordan Crane, Marc Bell, Kevin Huizenga, Gary Panter, Gabrielle Bell (sadly the only woman present), Ron Rege, Chris Ware, Anders Nilsen, etc. and that list of names may give you an indication to the range of styles from the cartoony to the realistic, the iconic to the abstract, the strong narrative to the almost non-narrative, the real to the surreal, the autobiographical to the complete and utter nonsensical.
I have to say that I am not a fan of the really irrational childlike crazy comics style that is represented by a number of the artists here. Both in terms of art and story many of these pieces were boring wild gibberish to me. On the other hand if you are into that style this is probably top notch stuff by Marc Bell, Southern Salazar, Paper Rad, C.F., and Leif Goldberg (a few of them are associated with the Fort Thunder group, which is decidedly not to my taste). I still don’t understand the vast praising of Gary Panter that goes on and the “30 Sketchbook Drawings 1 per Year for 30 Years” found here seems a product of that worship (sketchbook pages!?) and for this reader a waste of 30 pages.
But enough of that… a few really interesting pieces are included, easily lead by my current object of interest Kevin Huizenga. The 24 page “Jeepers Jacobs” with his character Glenn Ganges is not only a damn interesting story involving a theology professor and the concept of hell but also the first color story I’ve seen from Huizenga. While significantly more straightforward a narrative than the stories in Or Else 1 and 2, the story does offer more from his non-fictional side. It includes a good bit of theological discussion on the nature of hell and eternal torment but not in a way that it isn’t integrated with the narrative of the characters.
I was quite impressed with Sammy Harkham’s “Poor Sailor” story in Kramer’s Ergot 4. In this volume he offers a two page story called “Alexander the Greatest”. While the story is minimal, it is interesting for the lack of any panels or borders as such. The panels blend into each other.
Tom Gauld has a number of funny one page comics about famous writers, showing them working and procrastinating. Dorothy Parker gets drunk, Emily Dickinson ignores visitors at her door, Tolstoy hates his hat, Dylan Thomas tries not to drink, etc.
David Heatley’s dense autobiographical “My Sexual History” consists of 14 pages of 48 panels each telling the story of his sex life in almost childish illustrations that contrast the subject matter nicely at first glance but on second thought agree thematically with the childish view of sex that is often evident in the story.
Chris Ware’s piece is another slick, formally rich story about another depressed, lonely person. At this point Ware’s comics are feeling very one track to me. The neverending bleakness is just not that interesting to read regardless of the art’s formal qualities.
Gabrielle Bell’s slightly fantastic story features a girl who moves to NYC with her boyfriend and slowly becomes so isolated that she turns herself into a chair just to feel useful. It is mostly illustrated narration which I usually don’t like but works in this case,
Anders Nilsen has a minimal story featuring a fellow with a scribble for a head in a background that consists only of the shadow on the ground. He is the son of Jesus and Mary Magdalene and talks about heaven and why he left. I’m not sure what to make of it. It seems like an amusing idea that was never fleshed out.
I knew and enjoyed Jordan Crane’s work from the few issues of his defunct anthology Non I’ve read. In this case his story “The Hand of Gold” is beautifully illustrated in monochrome turquoise, orange, or yellow, but the story is an uninteresting cowboy ghost story.
Those are the ones I think most worth mentioning. Is it worth the steep price tag? Probably not if you’re tastes are like mine. Others opinions may vary greatly. I guess I have a certain sense of literariness that I need from a work and most of these don’t fit that sense.