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Everything Together: Collected Stories
Sammy Harkham is one of the most influential cartoonists and comics editors of his generation. After a decade of work and groundbreaking anthologies, "Everything Together" collects his short-story comics, which condense vast amounts of emotion and information into nuanced cartoon narratives. Harkham's classic style is both articulate and expedient. At the center of the book are two vastly different tales: "Poor Sailor," a sea-faring myth of a man gone to find wealth for his love; and "Somersaulting," a kind of fever dream of teenagers in love, wiling away the summer. Alongside these stories are shorter comic strips tackling everything from Napoleon as a tortured artist to touching examinations of Jewish mysticism and life in a shtetl, to satires on contemporary university life. Throughout these tales, Harkham maintains a light touch and emotive wit. The works in this book confirm his place among the best storytellers of his generation.
Sammy Harkham was born in Los Angeles in 1980, moving to Sydney, Australia, at the age of 14. He soon started making his own comics and a zine, "Kramers Ergot," which has evolved into one of the most influential comics anthologies published today. His comic strip "Poor Sailor," originally published in "Kramers Ergot" 4, was subsequently included in "Best American Nonrequired Reading of 2004 "and has been published in French, Korean and Italian. "Kramers Ergot" has been on numerous "best of the year" lists including the "LA Weekly," "Time," "The New York Times," "Dazed and Confused," "The Comics Journal" and "Publishers Weekly." In 2006 Harkham started the ongoing comic series, "Crickets," and edited "The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror," and most recently the eighth volume of "Kramers Ergot." A partner in both the renowned bookstore Family, and the movie theater, Cinefamily, Harkham lives in Los Angeles with his wife and three children.
Sammy Harkham was born in Los Angeles in 1980, moving to Sydney, Australia, at the age of 14. He soon started making his own comics and a zine, "Kramers Ergot," which has evolved into one of the most influential comics anthologies published today. His comic strip "Poor Sailor," originally published in "Kramers Ergot" 4, was subsequently included in "Best American Nonrequired Reading of 2004 "and has been published in French, Korean and Italian. "Kramers Ergot" has been on numerous "best of the year" lists including the "LA Weekly," "Time," "The New York Times," "Dazed and Confused," "The Comics Journal" and "Publishers Weekly." In 2006 Harkham started the ongoing comic series, "Crickets," and edited "The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror," and most recently the eighth volume of "Kramers Ergot." A partner in both the renowned bookstore Family, and the movie theater, Cinefamily, Harkham lives in Los Angeles with his wife and three children.
120 pages, Paperback
First published October 31, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
September 2, 2019
Estos cómics breves de Sammy Harkham me resultan familiares. ¿He leído yo antes algo de este hombre? No que yo sepa. Parece algo que haya leído en algún sueño. Lo que quiero decir es que si leyera tebeos en mis sueños, desde luego me gustaría que fueran como estos. Puede que no tengan mucho que ver entre sí, pero me hacen cosquillas en las mismas zonas del cerebro en que lo hacen los de Chris Ware y Tony Millionaire. ¿Se puede saber por qué he tardado tanto en conocer a este autor?
January 22, 2021
Sammy is just such an underrated cartoonist. He's quietly been making some of the most affecting, funny, unpretentious, natural comics around while also editing what has got to be the best anthology series of all time? Yeah, Sammy is a gem and I absolutely can't wait until we finally get the collected Blood of the Virgin.
February 13, 2023
Sammy Harkham to z jednej strony artysta mocno niedoceniony, z drugiej przedstawiany jako autor jednej z najważniejszych komiksowych antologii początku wieku, czyli "Kramers Ergot" (nawet nie próbujcie sprawdzać dzisiejszych cen tych wydawnictw). "Everything together" to zbiór prac wcześniej rozsianych w różnych miejscach, tu wydanych razem. Z pewnością to za mało, by mieć pełny obraz i wyczuć wagę dokonań, ale wydawnictwo stanowi chyba całkiem niezły wstęp do twórczości Amerykanina. Całość niosą dwie dłuższe opowieści. Uznany "Poor sailor" to realizacja znanego motywu wędrówki, ucieczki z ustabilizowanego świata w nieznane napędzanej romantyczną wizją męskiej przygody; z kolei "Summersaulting" przypomina historie młodzieńczego buntu, przywołujące na myśl prace Forsemana czy Clowesa. Oprócz tego zbiór zawiera mnóstwo miniaturek dotyczących bardzo różnych obszarów tematycznych. Mamy sceny z życia Żydów (autor w pewnym momencie był praktykującym Chasydem), codzienność rysowników komiksowych, parodię środowisk uniwersyteckich i scenki obyczajowe tworzone w bardzo różnych kontekstach.
Czasem jest zabawnie, czasem wręcz drastyczne. Mnóstwo tu niedopowiedzeń, niuansów, sprzecznych emocji. Harkham potrafi być subtelny, potrafi jednak również zaskoczyć czymś
bardziej dosadnym. Momentami operuje wyrafinowanym humorem (Napoleon rozmyślający nad stworzeniem perfekcyjnego dowcipu), by za chwilę zaatakować zinowym żartem rodem z undergroundu lub czarować intertekstualnością ("Człowiek słoń", "Tam, gdzie żyją dzikie stwory"). Jest coś przyciągającego w tych pracach, coś co kazało mi do niech wrócić już kilka razy i co podpowiada, że zbiorcze wydanie "Blood of the Virgin" - zaplanowane przez Pantheon na maj - będzie jednym z najważniejszych komiksowych wydarzeń tego roku
Czasem jest zabawnie, czasem wręcz drastyczne. Mnóstwo tu niedopowiedzeń, niuansów, sprzecznych emocji. Harkham potrafi być subtelny, potrafi jednak również zaskoczyć czymś
bardziej dosadnym. Momentami operuje wyrafinowanym humorem (Napoleon rozmyślający nad stworzeniem perfekcyjnego dowcipu), by za chwilę zaatakować zinowym żartem rodem z undergroundu lub czarować intertekstualnością ("Człowiek słoń", "Tam, gdzie żyją dzikie stwory"). Jest coś przyciągającego w tych pracach, coś co kazało mi do niech wrócić już kilka razy i co podpowiada, że zbiorcze wydanie "Blood of the Virgin" - zaplanowane przez Pantheon na maj - będzie jednym z najważniejszych komiksowych wydarzeń tego roku
April 18, 2017
This is another book I've had for quite awhile, but I'm just now reading it. This is a collection of Harkham's shorter works originally published elsewhere.
July 9, 2013
I'm fascinated by Harkham's storytelling abilities. His style is deceptively simple, yet encompasses a wide range of techniques, mixing low comedy, melodrama, intellectual speculation, well-researched history, and more, sometimes all in the same panel. I've read one or two of these pieces before, but having them all together under one cover gives a sense of the incredible range of which Harkham is capable.
Read
July 17, 2013[A version of this review appeared, in German, in the Swiss comics journal STRAPAZIN.]
A handful of cartoonists have had a bigger influence on the medium not as cartoonists, but as publishers or editors. While Denis Kitchen’s own comics work is confident and varied, his greatest impact has been via Kitchen Sink Press, publishing Underground giants like Robert Crumb, Art Spiegelman, Howard Cruse, and S. Clay Wilson, as well as re-introducing masters such as Will Elder, Harvey Kurtzman, and Will Eisner to new audiences. Spiegelman himself offers a fascinating case: we can debate whether he is more important as the creator of the masterpiece Maus, or for his editorial genius in projects such as Weirdo and RAW, which not only brought “new wave” European comics to America, but arguably set the agenda for both the American and the European small press comics movements of the 1990’s. A half-generation after Spiegelman, Lewis Trondheim represents a similar case study for French comics. And Chris Oliveros, best known as the founder of the highbrow Canadian publisher Drawn and Quarterly, launched The Envelope Manufacturer well over a decade ago; I’m still waiting patiently for the third issue.
Without question, the critical cartoonist/editor figure of the current millennium is Sammy Harkham. The anthology Kramers Ergot, which Harkham created in 2000, has run eight issues (the latest came out in 2011) and is one of the high water marks of art comics of the last twenty years. In fact, the massive and lavish seventh issue may be the very definition of “art comic,” not only for its content and production values but because it literally demands to be taken as a piece of art: it’s too large for most bookshelves, and so beautiful you will want to keep it permanently open on your coffee table. (On the rare occasions when I have seen the book for sale at a bookshop, it has always been displayed on a stand.) Since the anthology’s inception, Harkham has been selective and deliberate about the cartoonists he has chosen to feature, ranging from more “fine art” or conceptual cartoonists (Mat Brinkman, Ben Jones, and Jim Drain); to the new generation of serious storytellers (Anders Nilsen, Gabrielle Bell, and Kevin Huizenga); to established masters (Jaime Hernandez, Gary Panter, and Ben Katchor). To some extent Kramers Ergot revived the idea of the serious comics anthology in the 2000s: it’s almost impossible to imagine Mome or Drawn and Quarterly Showcase without Kramers as precedent.
Given his stature and influence as an editor, it can be easy to overlook Harkham’s own work as a cartoonist. Doing so would be a shame, and Everything Together makes it easy to catch up on Harkham’s work over the last ten years. The dozen-and-a-half strips collected in this book give kaleidoscopic insights into Harkham’s own life as well as his interests and preoccupations as artist and reader. Born in Los Angeles, Harkham spent his teenage and early adult years living in Australia. He has been an observant Hasidic Jew. He claims that making comics is a hobby not his real job. He tends to keep out of the industry spotlight (though it’s worth seeking out his handful of superb interviews on-line). And he currently runs a bookshop. Tracking to some extent with Harkham’s own biography, the strips in Everything Together touch on adolescent ennui; various genres of pop culture; life in Australia; creativity and the artistic process; history generally, and the history of Judaism specifically; and the fringes of the comics community itself.
Harkham is a cartoonist’s cartoonist. His drawings appear simple, but there is great virtuosity in his page layout and where and how he chooses to focus the reader’s eye. He conveys meaning as much by what he doesn’t show and tell as by what he does; and while easy to read, his comics demand attention and thought. As a storyteller, Harkham comes across as intelligent and thoughtful, observant of small details, and also quite funny—but his humor is most often laced with fatalism or melancholy. The style of early American strips such as Little Orphan Annie and Wash Tubbs and Captain Easy comes through in his pictures, and he can convey deep emotion with spare, simple drawings: in one strip there’s a great gag about whether or not “dots for eyes” can appropriately convey empathy. As a reader I am mesmerized by his depictions of landscapes and cityscapes, inanimate objects, and domestic interiors; such facets of his work are rewarded in a second reading, because he pulls you through the story so effortlessly on the first reading that you miss many of these details.
Time will tell whether we will someday look back on Harkham as having been more important as an editor/publisher or as a cartoonist. For now, Harkham has expressed his ongoing commitment both to Kramers Ergot (he claims to be well underway with the next issue) and to his own work (while his recent series Crickets went only three issues and is already out of print, he continues to publish stories in a variety of other people’s anthologies). In the meantime, we can enjoy a decade’s worth of his work in Everything Together. It is a fine collection with (like most books from Picturebox) wonderful production values, and I only wish that the book were larger so I could better read the text and enjoy the drawings.
A handful of cartoonists have had a bigger influence on the medium not as cartoonists, but as publishers or editors. While Denis Kitchen’s own comics work is confident and varied, his greatest impact has been via Kitchen Sink Press, publishing Underground giants like Robert Crumb, Art Spiegelman, Howard Cruse, and S. Clay Wilson, as well as re-introducing masters such as Will Elder, Harvey Kurtzman, and Will Eisner to new audiences. Spiegelman himself offers a fascinating case: we can debate whether he is more important as the creator of the masterpiece Maus, or for his editorial genius in projects such as Weirdo and RAW, which not only brought “new wave” European comics to America, but arguably set the agenda for both the American and the European small press comics movements of the 1990’s. A half-generation after Spiegelman, Lewis Trondheim represents a similar case study for French comics. And Chris Oliveros, best known as the founder of the highbrow Canadian publisher Drawn and Quarterly, launched The Envelope Manufacturer well over a decade ago; I’m still waiting patiently for the third issue.
Without question, the critical cartoonist/editor figure of the current millennium is Sammy Harkham. The anthology Kramers Ergot, which Harkham created in 2000, has run eight issues (the latest came out in 2011) and is one of the high water marks of art comics of the last twenty years. In fact, the massive and lavish seventh issue may be the very definition of “art comic,” not only for its content and production values but because it literally demands to be taken as a piece of art: it’s too large for most bookshelves, and so beautiful you will want to keep it permanently open on your coffee table. (On the rare occasions when I have seen the book for sale at a bookshop, it has always been displayed on a stand.) Since the anthology’s inception, Harkham has been selective and deliberate about the cartoonists he has chosen to feature, ranging from more “fine art” or conceptual cartoonists (Mat Brinkman, Ben Jones, and Jim Drain); to the new generation of serious storytellers (Anders Nilsen, Gabrielle Bell, and Kevin Huizenga); to established masters (Jaime Hernandez, Gary Panter, and Ben Katchor). To some extent Kramers Ergot revived the idea of the serious comics anthology in the 2000s: it’s almost impossible to imagine Mome or Drawn and Quarterly Showcase without Kramers as precedent.
Given his stature and influence as an editor, it can be easy to overlook Harkham’s own work as a cartoonist. Doing so would be a shame, and Everything Together makes it easy to catch up on Harkham’s work over the last ten years. The dozen-and-a-half strips collected in this book give kaleidoscopic insights into Harkham’s own life as well as his interests and preoccupations as artist and reader. Born in Los Angeles, Harkham spent his teenage and early adult years living in Australia. He has been an observant Hasidic Jew. He claims that making comics is a hobby not his real job. He tends to keep out of the industry spotlight (though it’s worth seeking out his handful of superb interviews on-line). And he currently runs a bookshop. Tracking to some extent with Harkham’s own biography, the strips in Everything Together touch on adolescent ennui; various genres of pop culture; life in Australia; creativity and the artistic process; history generally, and the history of Judaism specifically; and the fringes of the comics community itself.
Harkham is a cartoonist’s cartoonist. His drawings appear simple, but there is great virtuosity in his page layout and where and how he chooses to focus the reader’s eye. He conveys meaning as much by what he doesn’t show and tell as by what he does; and while easy to read, his comics demand attention and thought. As a storyteller, Harkham comes across as intelligent and thoughtful, observant of small details, and also quite funny—but his humor is most often laced with fatalism or melancholy. The style of early American strips such as Little Orphan Annie and Wash Tubbs and Captain Easy comes through in his pictures, and he can convey deep emotion with spare, simple drawings: in one strip there’s a great gag about whether or not “dots for eyes” can appropriately convey empathy. As a reader I am mesmerized by his depictions of landscapes and cityscapes, inanimate objects, and domestic interiors; such facets of his work are rewarded in a second reading, because he pulls you through the story so effortlessly on the first reading that you miss many of these details.
Time will tell whether we will someday look back on Harkham as having been more important as an editor/publisher or as a cartoonist. For now, Harkham has expressed his ongoing commitment both to Kramers Ergot (he claims to be well underway with the next issue) and to his own work (while his recent series Crickets went only three issues and is already out of print, he continues to publish stories in a variety of other people’s anthologies). In the meantime, we can enjoy a decade’s worth of his work in Everything Together. It is a fine collection with (like most books from Picturebox) wonderful production values, and I only wish that the book were larger so I could better read the text and enjoy the drawings.
December 30, 2020
3.5
There is some gold within these pages. But some of the stories did fall a little flat for me. When I have more time, I think it would be worth it to take a slower more focused read of the material. Poor Sailor has to be in my top 10. A beautiful story.
There is some gold within these pages. But some of the stories did fall a little flat for me. When I have more time, I think it would be worth it to take a slower more focused read of the material. Poor Sailor has to be in my top 10. A beautiful story.
April 21, 2021
so it looks like mostly he does little strips in the style of famous cartoonists. okay.
April 23, 2014
The short story "Poor Sailor" is good, and shows that Sammy Harkham can plot and draw. The rest of the book is composed of mildly clever, razor thin anecdotes that make good conversational asides, but probably should have been left on the back of the napkin where they were most likely sketched and drunkenly considered brilliant.
February 18, 2018
Great collection from Harkham. I had read a couple of these before, but seeing everything together (haha) was a real treat. The story "Poor Sailor" really makes it clear how much influence Harkham gets from Chester Brown. Not for everyone, but definitely worth a read for those interested in "literary" comics.
September 4, 2024
Poor Sailor was a big comic for me when it came out in 2004, just a sad and lonely (remorseful) story about a whaler that a mopey 19yo could get lost in. I hadn't got back into reading comics even, I think it was republished a few times elsewhere, in literary magazines like McSweeney's that I was pretending/trying to read my first (unsuccessful) years of college.
Revisiting it here, all these years later, I'm still moved by it's formal qualities but the story itself feels a bit empty inside. I kind of get that from all of Harkham's strips in a way, an emotional detachment. Some of the stories are even about that drifting through life specifically. Somersaulting is a thing of beauty, a cascade of glimpses, spotted with crimson watercolor.
I wanted to read this collection (I like the title in Spanish better, btw, Todo y Nada, or Everything and Nothing, better than this matter-of-fact title) before revisiting Blood of the Virgin, a comic that I feel like I had a similar reaction to as this, but one that eventually left a nagging feeling that I should re-read it a year or so later. Sometimes things take a while to sink in.
Revisiting it here, all these years later, I'm still moved by it's formal qualities but the story itself feels a bit empty inside. I kind of get that from all of Harkham's strips in a way, an emotional detachment. Some of the stories are even about that drifting through life specifically. Somersaulting is a thing of beauty, a cascade of glimpses, spotted with crimson watercolor.
I wanted to read this collection (I like the title in Spanish better, btw, Todo y Nada, or Everything and Nothing, better than this matter-of-fact title) before revisiting Blood of the Virgin, a comic that I feel like I had a similar reaction to as this, but one that eventually left a nagging feeling that I should re-read it a year or so later. Sometimes things take a while to sink in.
Read
September 6, 2021I'd stumbled upon some of Harkham's art online a little while ago and was blown away; and have had this on my to-read list for a long time.
Sad to say that I was a little let down. Not all short stories have to be thematically connected, but the differences in tone here gave me whiplash. More often than not, the stories endings ended up going nowhere, or just being generally unsatisfying. Again, not every story has to be satisfying, but when every single story ends in the exact same way, it gets a little frustrating.
There were some exceptions though. POOR SAILOR is just a phenomenal piece of comic storytelling. Embodies everything I love about the medium. Characters and images alone carry so much weight in cartooning, and seeing such a stripped down, beautiful story was stunning. The short film that was adapted from this is also really great.
But yeah. Might check out some more of Harkham's stuff at some point, but not gonna go out of my way or anything.
Sad to say that I was a little let down. Not all short stories have to be thematically connected, but the differences in tone here gave me whiplash. More often than not, the stories endings ended up going nowhere, or just being generally unsatisfying. Again, not every story has to be satisfying, but when every single story ends in the exact same way, it gets a little frustrating.
There were some exceptions though. POOR SAILOR is just a phenomenal piece of comic storytelling. Embodies everything I love about the medium. Characters and images alone carry so much weight in cartooning, and seeing such a stripped down, beautiful story was stunning. The short film that was adapted from this is also really great.
But yeah. Might check out some more of Harkham's stuff at some point, but not gonna go out of my way or anything.
October 23, 2018
The tiny short strips and minutiae collected here remind me of the comics environment as I knew it in my youth: endlessly worried about the world and their place in it.
The more substantial strips suggest a distinct worldview, one that takes this sense of worry and extends it into interpersonal and spiritual realms, expressed through a deceptively expressive sort of image making.
The page layouts are seemingly calm, but the lines out of which they take shape remain agitated from start to end, and the muted colours aren't easily absorbed either.
The more substantial strips suggest a distinct worldview, one that takes this sense of worry and extends it into interpersonal and spiritual realms, expressed through a deceptively expressive sort of image making.
The page layouts are seemingly calm, but the lines out of which they take shape remain agitated from start to end, and the muted colours aren't easily absorbed either.
June 26, 2023
I read EVERYTHING TOGETHER many, many years ago, Probably the year it dropped, and I really loved it. I wasn't aware that BLOOD OF THE VIRGIN, which I keep hearing about, was Harkham. I was already interested because of the subject matter (I'm getting strong Matt Cimber/Herschell Gordon Lewis/etc. vibes form its protagonist, but haven't read it yet, so forgive me if I'm off). I think he's doing a San Diego panel with my very close friend, Chris Wisnia, so I hope to be in the audience for that.
September 17, 2024
Es lo primero que leo de Sammy Harkham y la verdad es que no ha estado nada mal. Cómic con historias variadas, algunas de ellas breves brevísimas. Su dibujo varia bastante entre historias y su capacidad narrativa me ha sorprendido a veces con tan poco. A veces absurdo, a veces profundo, a veces insulso. Très bien.
November 9, 2017
A collection of visually striking and sometimes funny comics that are ultimately too restrained to have much lasting impact.
September 4, 2022
I liked the sailor story.
February 5, 2024
Goes well with silence.
August 28, 2014
Harkham's short bits are placed at the beginning and end of the book and the longer works are placed in the middle. This is a nice setup. But there are two problems with the short works: first, and maybe this is just a problem for readers with poor eyesight, but the drawings and type are so small that it's a strain to read. Second, the short stories seem to be written for the author and not the audience. Leaving the audience unclear as to the point. Maybe you have to be in his circle of close friends to understand what he's getting at. This doesn't bother me too much, as every strip doesn't need to have some silly punchline with a character falling backward in the final panel in response to something ridiculous the other character just said. You would know what I mean if you have read enough humorous strips.
Anyway, the longer parts and one page illustrations were the major draw for me. Harkham uses some simple linework, but also shows that he can use detail if he wants to. He also proves that you can write a good story without relying too much on words.
Anyway, the longer parts and one page illustrations were the major draw for me. Harkham uses some simple linework, but also shows that he can use detail if he wants to. He also proves that you can write a good story without relying too much on words.
February 13, 2016
Je l'ai trouvé un peu bizarre. Des histoires dedans sont fatiguant à lire, comme "Laisse Tomber/Give Up" qui a une thème des gens laisse tomber, mais c'est pas lisse, c'est presque au hazard et c'est platte. Je l'ai laisse tomber, ha. Aussi, j'ai trouvé l'histoire juif un peu platte et sans direction, si quand même ça avoir des petits blagues. De l'autre côté, "Poor Sailor", peut être parce-que c'est un adaptation de Maupassant, était un petit tragédie très bon, et un leçon important pour la vie, sur 'à voyager contre à rester en place avec un copin/une copine.' Aussi, j'ai vraiment apprécié "Mari et Femme", qui était bizarre, bien sûr, mais très drôle, avec des regardes du couple - des petits expressions faciale - incroyablement parfait.
April 25, 2013
A fantastic collection that jumps between darkly funny and darkly, well, dark. Harkham loves to stack his panels in his shorter works, making pages that look like old Gasoline Alley strips, while his longer pieces are much sparser, establishing mood and feeling quite effectively. Poor Sailor is probably the highlight of the collection, though it's all strong.
December 15, 2015
Harkham collection story are witty, there fun to read and a real good short comic to read.
My favourite stories is Elisha and Poor Sailor. There the short story that stood out the most to me.
What I also like about this book is the illustration style of it simply yet powerful stories.
My favourite stories is Elisha and Poor Sailor. There the short story that stood out the most to me.
What I also like about this book is the illustration style of it simply yet powerful stories.
November 6, 2012
Nice to see Harkham's work finally collected into a single volume. The book is stellar. "Poor Sailor" and "Somersaulting" are lyrical, considered and well-paced.
June 14, 2013
Surprisingly hit or miss. But the hits are really really good and make up for the lesser material.
October 30, 2013
There were certain stories in this collection that gave me the feels. I look forward to watching this artist grow.
Read
February 5, 2014It was really enjoyable to see all the collected works at once.
Big fan of Harkham and it was nice to revist Poor Sailor.
Big fan of Harkham and it was nice to revist Poor Sailor.
March 3, 2015
A surprisingly good read. This book collects (almost every single one of) Sammy Harkham's stories and explores the human experience with a simplicity of drawing and a complexity of emotions.
Did not finish
July 15, 2017I only read one of the stories in this, and to be honest, I didn't really get the point of it. So, definitely not for me.
Read
November 22, 2018Interesting to read something I imagine a lot of people rip off, style-wise. Good at beginnings and middles but lousy with "is that it?"endings.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews