NOT MY SMALL DIARY #12
edited by Delaine Derry Green
($6.00 ppd for the set from Delaine Derry Green / 1204 Cresthill Rd. / Birmingham, AL / 35213 USA. Web:
mysmallwebpage.com)
Reviewed by Mark CamposReviewing an anthology of this type is like reviewing a fireworks show. Everything was exciting, although the green saturn ones got blown out of shape by the wind, and the hillside was crowded, but you had a great time, and it was all over too soon.
NMSD #12 captures fireworks in a bottle. This is the "After Midnight" issue — editor Delaine has collected true stories of late night adventures and revelations from 76 creators, a double-volume set with impressive sparkly covers stickered with designs by Dave K.
The theme this time seems to have pulled a number of the contributors out of their comfort zones, and their memories are tinged with strong regrets, intense reflection. There's an astonishingly disorienting dream narrative by Austin English; Matt Holdaway tells of being on the wrong end of a high-speed police chase; there's a psychedelic, melancholy page by Patty Leidy which is unlike anything she's ever done; a slow ramble through the deserted streets of predawn Rome with Carrie McNinch; Tim Winkelman's tale of degradation on Vegas's Strip .. The creators involved once again comprise a snapshot of the world of cartooning ca. right now: Ian Carney, Donna Barr, John Miller, Raina Telgemeier, Simon Mackie, Shawn Granton ..
Though there's a burnt squib or two in there (that Campos piece — what a whinybutt!) the whole is of surpassing quality. And, unlike the fireworks show, you can revisit
NMSD again and again, every time you open the books.
[ Link to this review ]
