Achewood
Last year, Chris Onstad won an Ignatz Award for his work on Achewood, a totally genius webcomic that's been running since 2001. It was also listed #1 on Time magazine's Top 10 graphic novels, despite the fact that it is not a graphic novel; although the author has self-published some of the strips in paperback form, there is currently no anthology available. But since it's all online, it doesn't really matter. Does it?
The thing is, with its frequent use of flowcharts and other experimental styles, and its crude, computer-generated graphics, the strip works better as a webcomic than it would in print. Readers can easily share comics with their friends on myspace or whatever. And really Achewood is all about comedy, not innovation, which is what makes it so good - the innovation, an afterthought. In a way, Chris Onstad is a contemporary Charles Schultz; he's just maximizing minimalism in the best medium available to him.
It seems Achewood proves that, in the comics medium, it no long matters if you're in print; it is definitely possible to be recognized and taken seriously without. But I'd still prefer to have the anthology on my shelf. Which is why I'm so excited to hear that Dark Horse is releasing The Great Outdoor Fight at some point in the near future. Probably this will collect the story line the title references, which began on January 25, 2006 and ran through March 30. There's no Amazon page yet, so I don't know anything about a release date at this point. I bet it'll come out this summer though.
Pyrite Radio
I figured it's basically summer, so let's get the party started. Soon my ass will be sweaty and I'll be wishing it was cold again, I'm sure.
1. La Tia Leonor Y sus Sobrinos // Marcha Á La Turca
2. Troggs // Mona
3. The Astronauts // Baja
4. Sonic Youth // Mildred Pierce
5. The Chesterfield Kings // Up And Down
6. Polvo // Tragic Carpet Ride
7. The Manhattan Love Suicides // Indian Summer
8. Badly Drawn Boy // Indian Summer
9. Destroyer // Painter In Your Pocket
10. Vampire Weekend // Walcott
11. Caribou // Hands First
12. Pavement // Unfair
13. The Bates // El Stomp & María Es El Nombre
14. Os Mutantes // A Minha Menina
15. The Seeds // Up In Her Room
16. The Astronauts // Let's Go Trippin'
17. Voxtrot // Dirty Version
No comments:
Post a Comment