MOME Summer 2005 (MOME, #1) by Eric Reynolds

MOME Summer 2005 (MOME, #1) Reviews

• 
  Sooraya Evans

  Contains some of the laziest work I've ever seen in an anthology.
  For instance, 'The Beast' had irrelevant scenery photos just for the sake of filling up the backdrop. Might as well left it blank.
  I personally loved the artstyle of 'Life With Mr Dangerous'. But just the art.
  Like what many other fellow reviewers have said, 'Jewel of The Sea' was the only one that really stood out.
• 
  Garrett

  I'm new to graphic novels/comics, and I have a soft spot for promotional publications whose main objectives are to increase artist visibility. In other words, I didn't expect much more than to hopefully find some gems scattered among less talented but earnest work, which would then lead me to some new authors.
  
  It didn't happen.
  
  The quality here is "aspirational" - aspiring to be professional. While most of the stories are well drawn, several are poorly paced. Based on the quality of the storytelling, I had assumed this was an anthology of student work. But it's not. When this was published in 2005, these were previously published professionals.
  
  Most of the stories are self-immersive navel-gazing. Slice-of-life can be interesting, but only when it mirrors something in humanity. These stories, to be frank, are boring. Talking about your ennui is boring. Talking about your pedestrian love life is boring. I don't understand why some of these artists think their day-to-day lives are so interesting: if you have a boring life, illustrating it doesn't make it interesting. But, to be fair, this was 2005, when people were still live-blogging about going to the gym on Facebook.
  
  This was a goodwill buy. They'll get it back.
• 
  Andrew

  Every issue of MOME is now on Comixology Unlimited.
  
  Best comic in Issue 1: "The Beast" by Anders Nilsen
  
  Worst comic in Issue 1: "Part Time" by Jeffrey Brown
  
  Comic that made me feel uncomfortable: "Overpeck" by David Heatley
  
  (Very good) comic that I'd read before: "I Feel Nothing" by Gabrielle Bell
• 
  Jesús

  I know of no other anthology series that begins so strongly. This first collection of MOME is filled with short comics by incredibly talented cartoonists producing fantastic work. Not only is there not a bad one in the bunch; each comic is a complete knockout. It *begins* with a Gabrielle Bell comic, and only grows from there!
• 
  Drew Canole

  A collection of stories, most of them I didn't enjoy. I really liked the final story based on a Japanese folk-tale adapted by Andrice Arp (I'm hunting for more of her work).
  
  Most of the stories are those typical 'i have nothing to write about, so how about a slice-of-life autobiography?'. It comes off as lazy to me. Jonathan Bennet's story was nice, but I had already read it somewhere else, probably another book of short stories.
• 
  Kirk

  Mostly autobiographical or semi-autobiographical stories with a bit of fiction peppered in for good measure.
  
  Artistic styles vary quite a bit, but it still has a coherent feel to it, except the last story which is an eastern fairy tale and seems out of place.
  
  Some high watermarks in here (first story is nice) but some low points too (part time) and Overpeck was just fucking weird (in a good way). A lot of the other entries are almost non-stories. Like one about a guy wanting to rummage through trash to find records 🤷🏻‍♀️
  
  Overall I feel like it broadened my horizons about what comics can be, so that was good.
• 
  Rick Jones

  As a collection of graphic stories, I found MOME lacking. Many of the stories were weak, the graphics not strong, and the philosophy uninteresting. Even when the subject was a hard one, I found a lack of clarity that let me dissatisfied. However a couple stories rose to the very top, and deserve to be seen: Jewel of the Sea especially, was gorgeous.
• 
  J.Istsfor Manity

  Reading this series out of order. First read volume 10, and then found the rest via Hoopla and my public library. Some great oblique takes on life here, and some very good graphics too, especially Gabrielle Bell’s “I Feel Nothing,” Paul Hornschemeier’s “Life with Mr. Dangerous Pt. 1,” and Jonathan Bennett’s “Dance with The Ventures.” / Ebook, 01/13/21.
• 
  Bryce Holt

  I didn't even know that there were short story collections of graphic novels. There were only two stories in this whole thing that I enjoyed (Paul Hornschemeier's {who is pretty good at all times} "Life with Mr. Dangerous, part 1" and the opening sequence by Gabrielle Bell titled "I Feel Nothing"), but considering there's another 10-15 stories in here, that's not a real endorsement. Anders Nilsen, who produced the horrid "Monologues For Calculating the Density of Black Holes" somehow managed to get work again and had a piece published in here...it is just a miserable as one might expect. Thanks to this book, I will never read another piece by Jeffery Brown either. Ultimately, it comes down to taste, and while my palate is questionable at times, I still can see what you can and can't shine. This one you can't.
• 
  Jim

  This is a series of short comics/graphic pieces. Through Mome, I have encountered many wonderful comic artists, that has propelled me to exploring more of their work. Some of the people I've found in Mome include Gabrielle Bell, Vanessa Davis and Lewis Trondheim to name a few off the top of my head.
  
  I started reading this series through the library, but now I'm purchasing them so I can have them in my collection.
  
  The stories tend to be more avant-garde and are definitely independent and exploratory. It's these qualities which drew me to Mome and keeps me coming back.
• 
  Tom

  Like all the Mome's: would vastly improve without the inclusion of Robert Crumb's daughter in every bloody edition. Sucking the life out of what would otherwise be a great anthology. I stopped buying these after the second edition and started checking them out of the library.
  
  Eventually the other stuff will be compiled elsewhere. It's a matter of time.
• 
  Layla

  This is an excellent compilation. It was recommeded to me by Sophie Crumb, daughter of Robert and Aline Kominski-Crumb. Sophie is also a comic book artist. Her work appears in nearly every issue of MOME. She was nice enough to correspond with me via myspace.
• 
  Bria

  I see that sad was in that year.
• 
  C Pure

  
  
  I really enjoyed this series. This is the second time I've read it and now that I'm older I understand some of the themes better. Much more enjoyable the second time around.
• 
  Erik Laiho

  I loved the two Sophie Crumb comics and especially The Jewels of The Sea by Andrice Arp.