Word: comix
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Like the video revolution in cinema, the wide availability of photocopy machines completely changed the direction of comics. Anyone could make and distribute "mini-comix" outside of the old-guard publishing system. Without the editorial demands - or benefits - of the top-down system, the Do It Yourself movement created its own aesthetic. The form lent itself to deeply personal, even solipsistic, stories and a punk-rock aversion to "craft" in favor of raw, expressionist artwork. Over time that outsider style has been adopted (co-opted?) by traditional, established publishers. Three recent works, available in regular comicbook shops, typify this style...
...debut book, "Same Difference and Other Stories," appeared last year as a self-published paperback, and with a small print run and zero name-recognition it flew under most radars. Suddenly, though, Kim has swooped into our airspace, receiving nominations for two of the top honors in comix: Eisner Award nominations for Best Short Story and Name Deserving of Wider Recognition, and a Harvey Award nomination for Best New Talent. The hat trick: Top Shelf will be reprinting the original book next month in a spiffy new edition. Here is your chance to catch up on this artist's sharp...
...mimicking others, Kim adds enough smarts and talent to make it all seem fresh. One of the most important ingredients is a frisson of Asian American spice. Born in Korea and raised in the States from the age of eight - Korean Americans call such immigrants "1.5"s - Kim's comix stand virtually alone in their depiction of Asian American lives. Only Adriane Tomine, author of "Optic Nerve" and obviously a major influence on Kim, has attempted to explore the subject...
...short pages. The unnamed teenage narrator has become the reluctant communication bridge between his non-verbal parents. That he is the child of a Korean mother and Caucasian father only adds to the story's complexity without making it strictly about cultural gulfs. On the opposite end of the comix scale is "Oliver Pikk," featuring a walking, talking skewered olive who complains about his sex life. Why doesn't he believe in aliens, for example? Because, "the thought of an entire species of sentient beings having sex while I'm sitting at home alone picking at my scabs is enough...
...people are excited about the future of comix. What do you think...