War! What Is It Good For?
Sean
Collins isn't enthusiastic about the just-announced "War" theme for
this year's SPX Anthology,
predicting "Not since the Comics Journal's Special Edition on
Patriotism will there
have been a collection of political cartoons as predictable and
inessential as this bad boy." I can certainly understand Sean's
pessimism: When I first heard about last year's "Travel" theme, I
expected to be inundated with grating accounts of alt-cartoonists
backpacking through Europe. However, the actual book turned out
to be much better -- and much more diverse -- than I had hoped.
So while I can see how the "War" theme could go horribly wrong, a part
of me remains optimistic.
Prediction: Yes, many people will submit typical anti-war pieces,
but hopefully the editors will be able to assemble a package that
represents varied viewpoints. In any event, I'm sure the SPX
Anthology will continue to remain one of the best values in comics
(usually ten bucks for close to 300 pages), as well as a great
introduction to creators many comic fans (myself included) would never
have known about otherwise.
