Sunburn #11:Beyond Words
Karl Thomsen goes international with the latest issue of his Winnipeg based comic anthology. This oversized issue is called Beyond Words and is a tribute to the art of the silent strip by artists from Finland, The Netherlands, Serbia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, U.S.A., and Canada. The international cast of cartoonists offers up a veritable cornucopia of ironic bittersweet revelations, showing what cartoons can do that no other medium can _ make a kind of instant connection between us and cute characters who, nonetheless, are just as likely to be consumed by giant birds as they are to hang themselves because of their fruitless search for a black cat. The silent medium is unique in comics because it is a way of writing with universal images and gestures and takes a lot of skill to pull off well. The introduction is a fascinating essay by David A Berona about the history of these “pictorial narratives” including the woodcut novels from the1920’s. Highlights include Montreal’s own Richard Suicide’s hilarious but bleak “My Life as a Foot.” There are two strips here with the title “Loneliness.” Is this significant? “The Grim Barrowman” written by Barbara Stok and drawn by Reinder Dijkhuis is an excellent piece drawn in clean contrasts about a ghoulish man who follows behind people who are just about to die. When he starts tailing the protagonist…Well you can guess what happens. Perhaps the best piece is Nathan Thrailkill’s “Virtual Vacuum (chapter one)” which is an excellent example of the way symbols and framing can be used to tell an intricate story without words. The highly useful insert, Zinehead, is worth the cost alone. It provides the contact info and small writeups of tons of international comic anthologies, including six from Finland alone. What is with those Fins? This is a must have for anyone interested in Comics. Great work, this silent collection had me laughing out loud. (AB & HN)
comic anthology, $4,56 pages, Karl Thomsen (Ed.), P.O. Box 2061, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3C 3R4