Anthologies are a bit of an odd animal for me, especially comic book anthologies because the difference in visual style from story to story is glaring. In anthologies with just short stories for example, until you read each work, aesthetically, it feels as if it all blends together.
Although I’ve already spoken about Island, I recently discovered an older work of anthology with Popgun. Now the reason I struggle with this particular work despite absolutely adoring the first issue of Island, is the sheer length of it. The anthology is packed with short and long comics for a total of 450 pages.
When an anthology reaches a length of this magnitude…do you work around a central theme? I don’t think that works, simply because it can become dull over the great length, especially with the sporadic aesthetic and prose an anthology can offer. The Island was, for the most part, short, featuring no more than 4-5 stories. However, here, there are well over 40.
But the loss of a theme can leave a reader directionless, but perhaps that is the point of an anthology like Popgun – to bombard you with work from a large pool of artists and writers – most of whom were not famous yet.
As a reader, it is easy to forget about the opportunities available to the writers who are featured in works such as this. By having so many pages of content, the platform grows larger for aspiring comic book creators and it is a chance for them to be featured in a book edited by famed comic book creators and published under Image. Popgun is a mix tape of up-and-coming creators and should be considered as a bag of random goodies rather than a cohesive work. In other words, it’s not only a platform for new creators to get published, but it’s also a means of readers discovering new creators.
The Island magazine has the right idea, but maintain a smaller dosage of stories in order to maintain some sort of cohesion. However, although it may be a bit overwhelming, the need for expansive works like Popgun may need to return.
Leave a Reply
Be the First to Comment!