On October 7th, New York City fans of Neil Gaiman, Bryan Lee O’Malley, Gabrielle Bell, or just comic stories in general were treated to a discussion between the aforementioned creators and the editors of the recently released Best American Comics 2010 (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) collection, illustrators Matt Madden and Jessica Abel.
Gaiman was the guest editor for this year’s collection, responsible for paring down a field of over 100 greats to a small selection indicative of the quality of the comic medium published in 2009. The book features more popular titles such as O’Malley’s “Scott Pilgrim” series, or Robert Crumb’s graphic interpretation of the book of Genesis (aptly titled “Book of Genesis”) alongside quieter releases like Todd Brower and Steve MacIsaac’s “Ex Communication” and Gabrielle Bell’s “Mixed Up Tales.”
“Things that didn’t get in were fascinating,” said Gaiman. “One artist failed to get in because she was Swedish. I didn’t know she was Swedish! It was a silent comic and the line work looked thoroughly American, but unfortunately, it was Swedish! I still think that we should declare all cartoonists and writers honorary Americans. Nobody would know.”
Read all about the event and the participants here: Gaiman Talks Comics in Union Square
