Fly away

 

My buddy Ren is the first person who introduced me to Flight with Volume One - it seems like it must have been a million years ago but it was realistically more like five years. Flight isn't really supposed to be a themed compilation but it always ends up being mostly about, well, flight. It's full of wonderful interpretations of what flight means to many of the artists and is always made up of really spectacular art. Now that it's over I feel like I need to go out and get all of the volumes because every volume I've seen has been well worth the money.

“Encore” by Kostas Kiriakakis - this piece is done in an absolutely gorgeous painted style and has a touching, tear-jerking, uplifting story. A perfect way to start out the volume.

“Kenneth Shuri & the Wrong Kill” by JP Ahonen - a really adorable story about a ninja who got the wrong end of the stick and should probably consider a new career.

“Riddle” by Kyla Vanderklugt - The real riddle is to ask who the real monster is. This story is very, very cute and made me want to hug pretty much everyone in it.

“The Clockmaker's Daughter” by Corey Godbey - Oh, man, this is a really cool story about how people perpetuate their own problems. It's beautifully illustrated and sweet and sad and wonderful.

“Echoes” by Jason Caffoe - A letter home to Mom is illustrated and tells you much more about the narrator's life than his words do. There's a wistfulness here that is haunting.

“The Hollow Men” by Nicholas Kole - DUUUUUUUUDE. This is AMAZING. It's a fantastic snippet of the mythologies of this foreign world, brimming with magic and horror and acceptance and love.

“The Gift” by Kazu Kibuishi - The art in this one is fairly simple and the story is kind of extremely creepy and I'm sort of freaked out by it and may have nightmares.

“The Black Fountain” by Tony Cliff - This is a delightfully creepy little fairytale about jealousy and redemption.

“The Collector” by Leland Myrick - I love the simple lineart and color here, and this is another story that makes me want to hug everyone (except the totally spoopy ghost). A simple story about morality and family.

“New Year's Day” by Sonny Liew - A nice little robot has to make his way home through a big and terrifying city after his owner accidentally leaves him at a New Year's Party.

“Buttons and Jim in What's Stopping the Gravy Train?” by Katie and Steven Shanahan - I'm not familiar with Buttons and Jim but the characters seem well established and interesting. The little universe that they end up exploring is adorable and also really funny in places.

“Jellaby: Who Needs Friends?” by Kean Soo -Very simple and effective art compliment the almost-too-cute (but still touching) story about friendship.

“Igloo Head and Tree Head in Accomplishments” by Scott Campbell - This was a bizarre and surprisingly long watercolor comic made up of strange characters in a strange land. The story is clear and occasionally very funny but the distracting art was just a bit confusing.

“Rematch!” by Dermot Walshe - a beautifully illustrated story about a rematch between the tortoise and the hare.

“Checkers” by Jake Parker - Awwwwwwww. Awwwwwwww. AAAAaaaaawwwwwwww. So damn cute! A little girl just wants to play checkers and finally finds someone to share a game with.

“Migration” by Der-shing Helmer - I'm a little surprised by how sad this story was; it's about the migration of the dinosaurs before the comet and the theme of home and homeland is touchingly explored here.

“Winged” by Grimaldi and Bannister - The real reason that we don't have hoverboards or flying Delorians is looked at here; it's because people are idiots and the world is unpredictable.

“Periwinkle in Try, Try Again” by Matthew S. Armstrong - I'm a sucker for penguins trying to fly and this short comic touches on all the sweet, silly, funny points that it needs to in order to be a perfect closer for this collection.

Cheers,
     - Alli

Kibushi, Kazu ed. Flight. Volume Eight. Villard. New York: New York. 2011.