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Monologues for the Coming Plague
An original graphic novel from one of the most exciting young voices in comics.
Paperback, 260 pages
Published
August 17th 2006
by Fantagraphics
(first published July 12th 2006)
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Just terrible. Non-sequitur lines about semiotics and relationships from stick figures for 150 pages, like LOLcats with a big side of grad school pretense. I don't know if I'm more disgusted with Nilsen - who's normally capable of some great minimalist art and moody storytelling - for presenting this as a legitimate work/release, or with Fantagraphics for asking people to pay $20 for it.
Or maybe I'm just disgusted with five-star reviewers who want nothing more than to intellectualize it and fee...more
Or maybe I'm just disgusted with five-star reviewers who want nothing more than to intellectualize it and fee...more
Anders Nilsen, Monologues for the Coming Plague (Fantagraphics Books, 2006)
I was fond enough of Dogs and Water (viz. 14Mar2009 review) to go looking for more of Anders Nilsen's work, and the title of this one intrigued me from the first time I saw it; one of the libraries in my system, all of which seem notoriously slow at getting things in, finally grabbed a copy last year, so I put it on hold and waited patiently until last week. What I can tell you after reading it: Dogs and Water it is not,...more
I was fond enough of Dogs and Water (viz. 14Mar2009 review) to go looking for more of Anders Nilsen's work, and the title of this one intrigued me from the first time I saw it; one of the libraries in my system, all of which seem notoriously slow at getting things in, finally grabbed a copy last year, so I put it on hold and waited patiently until last week. What I can tell you after reading it: Dogs and Water it is not,...more
Sep 19, 2007
Gina
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Misty Dawn (don't worry, I'll be sending a copy to España)
Shelves:
those-silly-picture-books
Personally, I’m a fan of displaced humor or absurdist works, such as Space Ghost Coast to Coast. I read some Brecht just a couple weeks ago, and yes, I really wanted to take a road trip to New York City to see the huge Dadaist exhibit last fall. Believe me, people like this still exist and we’re all for seeing the abstract instability of reality crumble under a worthy writer’s pen (labtop). We’re waiting for French Surrealism to rise again!
Sigh, I’m such a loser.
One of the reasons this comic c...more
Sigh, I’m such a loser.
One of the reasons this comic c...more
i should probably read this again sometime in the future. i finished it in much less than an hour, which i liked, but, as a result, i feel like i must have missed something. by themselves, i think the individual sections would be/feel a lot stronger. i don't hate it, but don't need it (the mediocrity principle was enlightening, i suppose).
Maybe I'd like this less if I paid $18 for it rather than borrowing it from the library, but anyway, I liked it. About what a person can expect from absurdist, stream-of-consciousness comics. If you go into it expecting a grand story, I guess it might be disappointing, yeah. But so what? There are some seriously funny moments.
Simple, almost stick-figure drawings accompany these modern vignettes. Sketches include a pigeon's conversation with a woman throwing bread, and a man's dialogue with his dog. The statements are stream-of-consciousness-y. While I can appreciate the art form, I wasn't overly impressed with the statements or the artistic technique.
This was sort of a weird jumble...generally I like nonsense comics, but this had no real...story? About halfway through it gets better, and I had some laughs, more like "WTF?!" laughs but laughs nonetheless.
Very quick read, at least. It was okay. A disappointment compared to Big Questions, which is like, THE BEST THING EVER.
Very quick read, at least. It was okay. A disappointment compared to Big Questions, which is like, THE BEST THING EVER.
Anders Nilsen is such an excellent artist, with lovely line control and use of space, that I sort of prepared myself to hate this based on the minimal, repetitive and intentionally sloppy drawings. But, it was pretty wonderful. Every page is a joke and/or koan, and they build as the book develops.
I loved the non-sequitars. This book didn't make a whole lot of sense the first time I read it, but then it took me an hour, so I might have the time to give it a second read-through. For only taking an hour to read, I would recommend it to anyone.
The first half of this book I was like what the crap is going on. Then all of a sudden the humor clicked and i think it's genius. i'm afraid to show it to anyone else though in case they have my first reaction and think i'm crazy for falling in love with it.
Anders Nilsen has just the right amount of stupidity and profundity. He's a little lacking in this one, but I still liked it. I like the shaky-lined, lumpy drawings of men speaking monologues.
Simply amazing low-fi comics. I love the idea of a sketchpad being a visual diary of thoughts, vignettes, etc. Each page functions as its own panel, and the penwork here is deceptively simple--don't mistake it for no skill. This is a master pretending to have a simple voice. HIGHLY recommended.
It had its few moments-- they were very, very rare. Not sure if this was too 'sophisticated' for me, but the majority of book is not funny. It's a quick read, though.
Still new to the graphic novels...this one had great parts, but I'm struggling to put together the pieces. I still don't understand semiotics.
The simple manner in which Anders Nilsen presents his comics, using panel-less, scribbled line drawings free of background detail and freehand, sometimes scratched-out text, belies the subtle humor, complex philosophies and pure wickedness behind them.
Some of the most hilarious moments occur in the sardonic exchanges between a pigeon and a woman feeding it, during one of which, the pigeon quips, “None for me, thanks. I’m on a hunger strike.” In another motif, two people having a surreal discuss...more
Some of the most hilarious moments occur in the sardonic exchanges between a pigeon and a woman feeding it, during one of which, the pigeon quips, “None for me, thanks. I’m on a hunger strike.” In another motif, two people having a surreal discuss...more
my hand-written journal has better doodles, observations, complaints, etc. than this book.
Really funny...and I like the quaint, yet still effective, artistic style. A fun read!
Meh. I prefer it when his drawings are more complete, and he's working in a longer form.
Meh. Reads like the musings of an incredibly bored angsty 20-something.
It's kind of had to describe. Absurdist. Yeah, that's the word.
Dec 26, 2008
Anne
added it
I love Anders Nilsen's ability to draw a wavering line.
i don't care if it makes me pretentious, i loved this
This is best enjoyed in multiple sittings.
Unexpected funniness.
This is one of the best books I have ever read. Simple, funny, weird, perfect.
This is meant to be more funny than philosophical. The blurb should probably make that more clear. For philosophical, see Dogs and Water.
This is the kind of fun (scribbled-over faces) you'd find in a lot of notebooks. No, there's no vulgarity or nudity. It's very much my kind of humor but more of library read than a purchase for anyone, I would guess. Do you usually buy joke books? That should decide you.
This is the kind of fun (scribbled-over faces) you'd find in a lot of notebooks. No, there's no vulgarity or nudity. It's very much my kind of humor but more of library read than a purchase for anyone, I would guess. Do you usually buy joke books? That should decide you.
Genius.
I enjoyed it as a library read. It's highly amusing but the art and the pacing make it an incredibly fast read for the price. I love Nilsen's work but this isn't one for my bookshelf.
Unless I am obsessed with an artist, I should avoid their sketchbooks. Despite an occasional interesting idea or image, I was rather bored.
What a let down. Obscure and ultimately boring. Feels like a bunch of inside jokes that I'm not sure Nilsen has let anybody else in on.
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Anders Nilsen (born 1973) is a popular artist and graphic novelist who grew up in Minneapolis and lives in Chicago, IL.
He works on an ongoing comic series, Big Questions (Drawn and Quarterly), which has been nominated several times for the Ignatz Award. In addition, his comics have appeared in the anthologies Kramers Ergot[1] and Mome.[2] His graphic novel Dogs and Water won an Ignatz Award in 200...more
More about Anders Nilsen...
He works on an ongoing comic series, Big Questions (Drawn and Quarterly), which has been nominated several times for the Ignatz Award. In addition, his comics have appeared in the anthologies Kramers Ergot[1] and Mome.[2] His graphic novel Dogs and Water won an Ignatz Award in 200...more
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Nov 22, 2010 03:07pm