Every "period" in modern comics history has had its anthology that tapped into the zeitgeist and foreshadowed a new "generation" of cartoonists (Zap in the '60s; Arcade in the '70s; RAW and Weirdo in the '80s, etc.). For the new millennium, there is Mome. Designed by acclaimed designer and cartoonist Jordan Crane, this quarterly book spotlights a regular cast of a dozen of today's most exciting cartoonists. Though virtually every cutting-edge literary journal these days has flirted with comics, Mome is the first all-comics literary anthology designed to sit alongside publications like Granta, The Baffler, McSweeney's, et al., and is designed to appeal as much to fans of contemporary literary fiction as longtime comics fans. Like R. Crumb's legendary Zap anthology, Mome features the same collective of artists every issue, allowing the artists and audience to grow together and build an ongoing identity that is highly unusual for the world of contemporary comics. The first volume of Mome features the following: John Pham's (Epoxy) "221 Sycamore Street," Paul Hornschemeier (Mother Come Home and Forlorn Funnies) contributes a serialized graphic novella titled "Life with Mr. Dangerous," Anders Nilsen's (Big Questions) "The Beast" is a full-color, 12-page absurdist monologue by a single character on the push-and-pull of art and politics, Jeffrey Brown (Clumsy, McSweeney's) contributes a brutal character study about a young man who turns up missing, David Heatley (McSweeney's) contributes the first of a series of stories revolving around a cast of characters in a town called "Overpeck" (also the name of the strip), Andrice Arp adapts a Japanese fairy tale called "Jewels of the Sea," plus Kurt Wolfgang, Gabrielle Bell, Jonathan Bennett, Martin Cendreda, and autobiography from the Harvey Award-nominated "Best New Talent" Sophie Crumb (Belly Button Comix). And to cap it all off, an in-depth interview with Paul Hornschemeier conducted by Gary Groth. Whew!
"The best anthology of the year only promises to get better as the book-sized series continues to nurture some of the medium's most interesting young talent...Where most anthologies have, at best, a 50/50 hit/miss ratio, Mome manages to be all-hit, don't miss." – Time
"The affordable collections... [will] handsomely complement McSweeney's on your coffee table." – Seattle Weekly
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