I always enjoy reading these collections, but so far I think this is the weakest I've read. I often come away from these books with a whole list of authors I'd like to explore further, and I didn't feel that way with this one at all. I also didn't like how the kids' comics were separated out from the adults.

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This one is pretty weak ( )

This one is pretty weak ( )

Awesome comp of some awesome comics. I guess "American" comics means comics from U.S & Canada (and one person living in Germany) but not Mexico & South America. Six of the twenty-four featured adult creators identity themselves as living in Brooklyn, New York. Do humanity a favor the skip the Adrian Tomine section. Chris Ware remains the Borg of comics - completely heartless and evil. I've never liked it when pathology becomes confused with art. As the android Ash says of the Alien, "A perfect organism. It's structural perfection is matched only by its hostility. ... I admire its purity."

Joyce Farmer, Jim Woodring, and Chester Brown are all revelatory though I'm forced to note that Paying For It was an emotional let down but I admire its revolutionary spirit.

If great fiction is based on characterization, Jaime Hernandez remains an American master. ( )