Project: Romantic

The way I think about comic anthologies is the way that Freaks and Geeks character Daniel Desario explained being pigeon-holded into the 'dumb' category as a kid: you've got the A group (the smart kids), the B group (the normal kids), and the C group (the dumb kids). As I read anthologies, I subconsciously put each story I read into one of those categories: awesome, okay, and bleh.

The only anthologies I haven't done this with are Project: Superior and Project: Telstar. Either Chris Pitzer is the super-god when it comes to editing and directing an anthology or Adhouse has some special goggles that it uses to filter out the mediocre, boring cartoonists.

That being said, I wasn't sold on the idea of an anthology dedicated to "love and love stuff." Call me a cynic, but the sacchrine sweet nature of pulp romance stories has turned me off of the romance genre in general and, to be honest, it makes my blood run cold. But I figured that some of my favorite cartoonists, including Hope Larson, Kaz Strzepek, Aaron Renier, Liz Prince, and Randall Christopher, wouldn't butcher the subject as I fearfully imagined.

Thankfully I was right.

Kaz's story about randy, love-struck boys wanting some action from sewer girls was well drawn and fun to read. Hope Larson's "When I was a Slut" was beautifully drawn and colored and the story dialogue device of an instant message conversation was a nice departure from the norm. Liz Prince's story of a love lost was touching and genuine - two of her strong suits.

The most exciting story for me to read was Maris Wicks' twist on a "choose your own adventure" story, using simple art and reader interaction to develop the outcome. The clean lines and lack of background action really focused the attention of the reader to the story they can construct. It was a unique twist on something familiar, which should be applauded.


My favorite panel in the book came from Evan Larson. The story is of Cupid going on a vacation and leaving his gear in the hands of an assistant. Pained by the all the hate and sadness in the world, she began to shoot everyone who was in distress. The story was good, but the art was better. His art is exciting to look at and it helps move the action along. And really, who can resist Batman having relations with a roll of toilet paper?


All in all, Project: Romantic is fantastic anthology to close out Adhouse's trilogy, which will most likely be lauded in the future as the best anthology works around.



*apologies to all artists for defacing your beautiful work with the shitty scans