Book Review: McSweeny's Issue 13

McSweeny's Issue 13 edited by Chris Ware, published by McSweeny's, 2004. Hardcover, 264 pages. (Amazon)



McSweeney's Quarterlies typically fill their pages with short stories, poetry, and other fiction by the likes of T.C. Boyle and Roddy Doyle. Filling in for "Standard, Regular Editor" Dave Eggers, Chris Ware mans his post as "Temporary, Guest Editor", filling the 13th issue of the acclaimed publication with comics - old and new, history, and commentary. With over 40 comics across 256 pages, two pocket books, and a newspaper cover by Ware himself, there is something for almost every taste. What permeates the pages is the mind set of the comic artist, a struggling, reflective, and self-loathing individual, barely eking out a living through the laborious illustration of what are now melancholy tales rather than funny tales. R. Crumb's disclaimer for his contribution, "The Unbearable Tediousness of Being" - situated strategically after the editor's introduction - sums it up pretty well:

Warning: If you are one of those happy-go-lucky louts who thinks Mel Gibson is the ideal man, then don't bother to read this. You won't like it. This is only for those persons of extreme sensitivity for whom every second of life on this planet is an excruciating ordeal.

Making it through the stories of loss, death, suicide, and other pains, is less an ordeal than an awakening; to the fact that comics - once the medium for superheroes and simple laughs - are a suitable (perhaps best?) expression of our despair and uncertainty today.