A while back, I gave lukewarm praise to the 20o7 edition of this anthology series. Well, I'm just gonna take a few words here and tell you the 2008 book edited by Lynda Barry is much, much better. I checked it out from the library, once again resorting to my cheapskate ways, but I feel this is actually worth the money as a purchase.
There are just more strong pieces this time out, more material that really moves me in some way. Maybe Barry had better stuff to pick from than did previous editor Chris Ware. For one thing, she had a selection by Chris Ware--an amazing series of Thanksgiving covers he did for "The New Yorker." But there's also a series of one-pagers Seth did for "The New York Times," in addition to a host of interesting stories and excerpts from lesser-known (at least to me) creators.
In fact, the opening piece in here, "Burden" by Graham Annable, is a staggering work that grabs you right from the get-go. Its simple appearance and brevity belie its surprising emotional depth. The rest of the book lives up to this great start. Some of my favorites here include "Seven Sacks" by Eleanor Davis, the excerpt from Rick Geary's "The Saga of the Bloody Benders," and the assortment of Derf's "The City" strips, but I enjoyed a lot in this collection. It's an outstanding addition to the "Best American Comics" series.
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