Indelible caught my eye at MoCCA because of the hot purple inkwell on the cover. Those CCSers sure turn out a good screenprint! In this case the print was by Kubby Barry, artist of one of my favorite stories in this collection. “The Tortise and the Hare” is a retelling of the fable, set at a woodsy retreat for anthropomorphic hippy homesteaders who have aged considerably since they all became friends. Though the art is rough and childlike, Kubby gives a nuanced picture of friends that have grown apart as well as a portrait of idealism gone sour.
The other editor, C.Frakes, spins a cute and creepy story with selections from “Marya and Death.” It made me want to go to her website and read all of it. I especially liked the movement the inky brushwork (?) afforded the characters.
Other highlights included Annie Murphy’s old-timey, fantastical loss n’ love story (I wanted to eat the faces of the earnest characters), and CCS instructor Rachael Gross’s intriguing pieces that look like beautiful oversized trading cards for the mysterious but practical woman.
The collection also included poems and a short story. The non-comic selections didn’t add much for me and some of the contributions seem dashed off (like Lucy Knisely’s “Girlique;” I’ve seen way better stuff on her website that are just sketches) leading to an overall uneven feeling to the collection. That’s anthologies, I guess—but I was hoping for more from such talented ladies.
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