Book 46: Comics Prose
Book 46: Comics Prose
Editor: Nat Gertler
Genre: Short Story Anthology
Number of pages: 180
Pages Read This Year: 14049
My rating of the book, F- [worst] to A [best]: B
Short description/summary of the book: from Amazon
Comics writers have fertile imaginations and great story-telling skill. Here they step out from behind the artists to show off their prose writing abilities. Included in this volume are: "Louise," a tale from Max Allan Collins about his comic book detective, Ms. Tree, "Toto, I Have a Feeling We're Not in Kansas Anymore," a humorous science fiction tale about some odd mayhem taking place at an amusement park that hadn't been there the day before, "The Black '59," a rock'n'roll horror story about a guitar that holds the soul of a musician, a crime story by Kurt Busiek, "Life in Fur," which is about as sensitive, caring, and sweet as a werewolf story should be, and five more.
My Thoughts: Now here's a fun little read -- About Comics' Nat Gertler rounded up some of the top comic book writers in the country and put together an anthology of prose short stories by them. There's no real theme or thread to this book, except that all of the authors involved are better known for writing comic books than novels or stories. In some cases you've got accomplished novelists like Peter David and Max Allan Collins, and sometimes you have writers like Kurt Busiek, who have rarely ventured outside of the four-color world. Collins brings his comic book character Ms. Tree into his story, while others deal with superheroes, werewolves, demons, romance and comedy.
As with any anthology, some stories are better than others. Busiek's "A Personal Touch" is a great story about a man who goes looking in the wrong places, and Paul Dini's "It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Feldman" is just plain funny. The eleven stories bounce all over in tone, subject matter and entertainment value. Still, it's a very interesting collection, and worth reading for a comic book fan.
In the Queue: The Autobiography of Santa Claus with Jeff Guinn, The Great Santa Search with Jeff Guinn, Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore
Editor: Nat Gertler
Genre: Short Story Anthology
Number of pages: 180
Pages Read This Year: 14049
My rating of the book, F- [worst] to A [best]: B
Short description/summary of the book: from Amazon
Comics writers have fertile imaginations and great story-telling skill. Here they step out from behind the artists to show off their prose writing abilities. Included in this volume are: "Louise," a tale from Max Allan Collins about his comic book detective, Ms. Tree, "Toto, I Have a Feeling We're Not in Kansas Anymore," a humorous science fiction tale about some odd mayhem taking place at an amusement park that hadn't been there the day before, "The Black '59," a rock'n'roll horror story about a guitar that holds the soul of a musician, a crime story by Kurt Busiek, "Life in Fur," which is about as sensitive, caring, and sweet as a werewolf story should be, and five more.
My Thoughts: Now here's a fun little read -- About Comics' Nat Gertler rounded up some of the top comic book writers in the country and put together an anthology of prose short stories by them. There's no real theme or thread to this book, except that all of the authors involved are better known for writing comic books than novels or stories. In some cases you've got accomplished novelists like Peter David and Max Allan Collins, and sometimes you have writers like Kurt Busiek, who have rarely ventured outside of the four-color world. Collins brings his comic book character Ms. Tree into his story, while others deal with superheroes, werewolves, demons, romance and comedy.
As with any anthology, some stories are better than others. Busiek's "A Personal Touch" is a great story about a man who goes looking in the wrong places, and Paul Dini's "It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Feldman" is just plain funny. The eleven stories bounce all over in tone, subject matter and entertainment value. Still, it's a very interesting collection, and worth reading for a comic book fan.
In the Queue: The Autobiography of Santa Claus with Jeff Guinn, The Great Santa Search with Jeff Guinn, Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore