Popgun Vol. 1 – review
A 2008 Harvey Awards winner for Best Anthology, Popgun is packed with stories ranging from cute to sick to ow-ow-my-eyes. You know that sweet, beautifully illustrated anthology Flight?
Popgun is like Flight if someone kicked it in the balls. It’s a ramped up, unforgiving, onslaught of talent and storytelling. Featuring 52 stories it’s a lot to take in. I recommended going through slowly. Give yourself time to process – oh, and don’t be afraid to skip ones you don’t like. Trust me, there’s plenty for all.
Like most anthologies, not all the stories are great. Some like Cheeseburger-head try too hard. Others turn “experimental” into “unreadable”. For the most part though, the stories and the artwork are strong. One of my favorites was written by Aqua Leung author Mark Andrew Smith called New Brighton Archaeological Society. I also really enjoyed They Shoot Ponies, don’t They?
Described as a “graphic mixed tape”, there’s no running theme, nothing to tie these artists down. In some ways, this is a hindrance. It forces the reader to switch from noir to superhero with the turn of a page. Still this anthology, which is up to volume 3, is worth taking a look at. Plus in later volumes you get a story from an Oklahoma author!
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