I SAW YOU ... REVIEW

[Andrea Speed]

Reviewer: Andrea Speed andy@comixtreme.com
Quick Rating: Great

Stories inspired by real life “missed connections” ads are featured in this anthology.

Writers & Artists: Peter Bagge, Jesse Reklaw, Tom Hart, Sam Henderson, Laura Park, Emily Flake, Keith Knight, Janelle Hessig, Gabrielle Bell, Aaron Renier, Austin English, Corinne Mucha, Jeffrey Brown, Alec Longstreth, Minty Lewis, Joey Sayers, David Malki, Kazimir Strzepek, Ken Dahl, Shannon Wheeler, Shaenon Garrity, Rodd Perry, Abby Denson, Damien Jay, Sarah Glidden, Aaron Mew, Adam Kidder, Alexis Sottile, Arlene O'Leary, Aron Nels Steinke, Ben Claassen III, Brandon Clark, Calvin Wong, Cathy Leamy, Colleen Frakes, Damon Brown a/k/a The Ink Lab, Dan Archer, Daniel Barlow, Dan Henrick, David Bessent, Dan Mazur, Derek Chatwood, Elijah J. Brubaker, Fiona Taylor, Gary Gao, Greg Means, Indigo Kelleigh, Isaac Cates, J.T. Yost, James Smith, Jason Martin, Jason Viola, Joan Reilly, Joe Infurnari, John Isaacson, Jon Adams, Jonathan Baylis, Jonathan Hill, Josh Frees, Joshua Kemble, Lucy Knisley, Julia Wertz, Julie Behn, Kate O'Leary, Kelly Tindall, Kenny Keil, Lisa Hanawalt, Liz Prince, Maria Sequeira, Mari Naomi, Marlene Kryza, Matt Leunig, Matthew Bernier, Matthew Loux, Max Clotfelter, Max Karl Key, Megan Baehr, Mike Wenthe, MK Reed, Nate Doyle, Nate Higley, Neil Swaab, Noelle Barby, Peter S. Conrad, Rachel Dukes, Rama Hughes, Robin Enrico, Sam Merwin, Sara Pecherek, Sarah Morean, Sarah Oleksyk, Shannon O'Leary, Shannon Shaw, Sina Grace, Tessa Brunton, T.J. Kirsch, William Schaff, & Zachary Garrett
Editor: Julia Wertz
Publisher: Three Rivers Press


I love short story collections, which is a dying art form. Unless you're a big name in publishing, one of the rare superstars (hello Stephen King!) who can draw a crowd with just a napkin you doodled on, you can't move a short story collection. Sad but true, and I know this as a person who occasionally reviews short story collections (prose) for the Joe Bob Report. (Another site, another place. I'm not plugging, I'm just saying.) Short story collections are a hard sell at the best of times, but these past couple of years have been absolute murder on them.

What about comic anthologies? Fairing slightly better than their prose counterparts, but not by much, which is a shame, as an anthology series at its best can give you a sampling of all types of stories, viewpoints, perspectives, and settings. This is a good example of an anthology that ranges far and wide, but still comes back to a basic point: people and how they relate (or don't) to one another.

All these cartoonists are working with “missed connections” or “I saw you” or similar ads, from Craigslist and local papers, such as Seattle's The Stranger. These are a few basic sentences, nothing more, but it's funny how much of a story you can construct from a few tantalizing hints. Some of my favorite ones in this collection are funny ones: Ink Lab's “Girl In The Boots”, where a man's off reaction to a compliment ends badly (for him), and the story is fleshed out with bizarre conversational non-sequiturs that could very well be bits of overheard conversations. Adams's and Sayers's use the visual aspect to nice effect in both their stories. Garrity has a cute piece involving perhaps one of the more bizarre neighbors in history, while Cates and Wenthe merge two Craiglist postings for a very short vignette by a love struck but tongue tied man in a coffee shop, and Wheeler discovers that a girl with a shaved head at a tea shop has a fan club. These aren't all sweet and funny – there are heartbreaking ones (Swaab's, Leunig's, Hughes's, Sequeira's, English's, and Barlow's & Baehr's story instantly come to mind), and creepy ones, where stalkerish or other inappropriate behavior add an air of menace to the story (Park's, Lewis's, Shaw's, Flake's, Dahl's, and Gao's come to mind, and I don't think it's a coincidence that women – the stalkeriffic targets in these tales – wrote and drew most of these stories). These stories have comedy, pathos, happy endings, tragic endings, and intriguing slices of character. And none of these stories go beyond four pages in length; many are just a single page or two. Still, there's something for everyone, straight or gay, well adjusted or neurotic, happily single or married or a complete sad sack, you will probably find something you can relate to and enjoy on a whole other level. In fact, could you be in this book, in one way or another?

The art styles are just as wide ranging. You have cartoonish styles such an Enrico's, simple styles such as Mucha's, lush styles such as Key's, indie comic styles like Strzepek's, painted styles like Chatwood's, and even vaguely yaoi comic styles like Duke's. Again, something for everyone, and you might find you like a style you never expected to like.

This is a really good book. I don't know what I can tell you to pick this up, beyond the fact that it's fun and entertaining, and looks at voyeurism and loneliness in the modern age in a way that splits the different between brazen and subtle. Pick it up! You'll be glad you did.


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[B. Schatz]

This was a great little anthology. I picked it up because of Julia Wertz - whose Fart Party comic is friggen' hilarious, and not about fart parties - and was treated to a whole slew of awesome stories from mini-comic creators and bigger indie names. Awesome, awesome read.

...so listen to Andrea, and buy the book, daggit.