Flight, Volume Three - Softcover

Starred Review. With truly stellar art from masters of the field, this fantasy anthology is a must for comics connoisseurs and a delight to readers who like pretty stories. Fanciful tales of children, monsters, fairy-filled forests and imagined worlds create an enchanted escape. Some of the stories are entirely wordless, while others are told from a child's point of view. Tony Cliff's "Old Oak Trees," recounts how the author's grandmother found a sort of "Wind in the Willows" gang of talking animals who live and love and play cricket in the local woods. Ben Hatke's "The Edge" follows two brothers who find out who really lives at the edge of the world. Kean Soo's almost heartbreakingly winning "Jellaby" is an account of a girl and a monster at a tea party. Multiple Academy Award–nominee Bill Plympton tells the story of "The Cloud," a little puff of vapor who just wants to float into representational shapes, but is squelched by its elders. Editor Kibuishi's contribution is also charmingly drawn but far from lighthearted; it details what happens when boys playing soldiers turn into men. Flight mixes the influences of comics, animation and classic children's illustration into a timeless fantasy. (June)
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The third sumptuously produced Flight anthology showcases some two-dozen talented cartoonists, most of whom usually work in Web comics and animation. Most are young, although as in Flight volumes 1 (2004) and 2 (2005), a few veterans, notably animator Bill Plympton, appear--and prove even younger at heart. Several have illustrated children's books, others design video games, and the preponderance of their stories have young protagonists (often saving their elders through personal bravery) or feature elements that kids like, such as monsters and anthropomorphized "funny animals." The high quality of the contributions is impressively consistent, yet four deserve special mention: animator Michael Gagne's tale of a heroic young fox who defies a fearsome, subterranean beast; Johane Matte's hilariously kinetic depiction of a cat getting his comeuppance after terrorizing various birds; Israel Sanchez's account of a mischievous baby dragon's "Saturday"; and Phil Craven's saga of a youngster who saves a monster from hunters. That those standouts are all wordless or nearly so underlines the emphasis on the visual that is Flight's most notable strength. Gordon Flagg
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