The Mammoth Book of Cult Comics

by ILYA

Brought together for the first time in a single volume, these cult comics are lost classics of underground and independent British and American comic-strip art.
The comics collected in this anthology are the hidden gems of the comic world—independent artists and writers who greatly influenced the world of comics.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Art, Reference, Anthologies, Short Stories

448 pages, Paperback

First published October 16, 2014

About the author

Ed Hillyer, better known as ILYA, is a British comics writer/artist. His work has appeared in publications from all the major US and UK comics companies, from Fleetway Editions' Crisis, Dark Horse's Manga Mania, Deadline magazine to work for DC Comics' Vertigo imprint.

Reviews

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 3 out of 5]

A big book with 22 comics independently published or in small mags, though some artists are clearly mainstream, like Eddie Campbell. And you know, it feels kinda random about what gets in, given what you know about zines and webcomics from so many people that are still on the margins. Why not seven of these books? And is this better or even as good as other similar collections, like Kramers Ergot? Not in my opinion. But you know let a thousand comics collection bloom, why not? I read through it and was introduced to some people I didn't know, of course, which is the point. The ones I liked a lot include Benton's "Hummingbird," Nicholson's "Jarhead," Welding's "Goathland," Edwards's "Aunt Connie and the Plague of Beards," Wills' "Jessica of the Schoolyard," and Julia Gfrorer's "Too Dark to See."

[Ed Erwin · Rating 2 out of 5]

A mixed bag of underground comics, mostly from the UK. None of them knocked my socks off, but most were at least interesting. This included a substantial section of Through the Habitrails which I'd long been curious about, so I'm glad I got to read that excerpt.

[Evan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it for what it represented, which are comics that were self-published at some time and otherwise never likely to be read by a larger audience. Much of the art was quite amazing, such that I was expecting big things from the stories. Unfortunately, just because one can draw well doesn't mean one can write well. Some stories were confusing or, if they were trying to be humorous, unfunny. I had to skip a few near the end of the compilation because no level of art was going to keep me engaged for multiple pages of uninteresting story, but this was all worth it for the stories that I did like ("Hummingbird", "Goathland", "Les Paintres Maudits", "Dear Robert and Partner").

[Bernardo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Algunos ilustradores tienen técnicas y propuestas interesantes, pero a decir de las historias, son bastante malitas y cotidianas, nada siquiera entretenido, a veces demasiado introspectivas sin llegar a ningún lugar. Esperaba mucho más de esta compilación. Eso sí, el papel y la impresión me gustaron mucho, pero nunca había comentado eso de un libro y eso da una idea de lo soso que resulta el contenido.

[Amanda Peterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Looking for a quick read and this book was definitely one, it is interesting to see some of these truly indie, comics published. Some of them remind me of comics in college newspapers. Stories I liked were Hummingbird, Aunt Connie and the Plague of Beards, Tick Tock Follies, Walking with Melanie Klein, The Sound of Drowning, and Vague Cities.

[Tom G · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are some decent stories in here, but far too much of this stuff is intensely forgettable. Hard to say if this is a product of the editor's taste or the genre itself. If this is what "cult comics" are like, I've probably seen enough.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mixed bag. Some stories were decent, some were a waste of time. Overall, the art work was decent.

[Gary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very diverse and some disturbing material.

[Rick Larsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Obscure and wide reaching, just like me!

[Garrett Zecker · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Mammoth Book of Cult Comics is a compendium of twenty two unnoticed small press and independently published comics of the last thirty or so years. They have appeared in one-off kinko'ed and mailed editions, zines and real press, and college campus drop spots, but what they all have in common is Ilya's label of being 'cult' and having a dedicated audience. While I have not read these particulars before, I do have a penchant for the art of the underground, and this book does a great job collecting many beautiful, subversive pieces in one place.

They didn't all speak to me, but the ones that did wowed me. I was particularly impressed by Benton's 'Hummingbird', Nicholson's incredible look at artwork and alcoholism, 'Jarhead', Welding's 'Goathland', O'Connell's deliciously postmodern 'The Sound Of Drowning', and Wills' hillariously violent and empowering 'Jessica of the Schoolyard'.

I think my main complaint is that there are way too many to fit in this book that would have been just as great. This may become a series, and just looking at online reviews it seems that many people agree that there is too much that is way more underground than can fit in a book like this. Sure, it is mammoth; sure, there are twenty-two; I am sure many of them have gained a cult following - but I wonder if it isn't more of the editor's job to find out a method of organization that doesn't just seem to throw things together in a 'mammoth' way. What if they were organized by genre in separate volumes (mammoth book of cult horror, cult postmodern, cult shoegazing, or whatever), or by year (in this collection there is one from '84, and some from 2013?), or something that shows that this is certainly not a best of the best... But then again, even this sort of editorial work would be very difficult to include everything that is great.

I will say that format-wise, this would be an excellent thing to have online, and try to include everything or as much as possible with support of the authors and artists as well as adverts to pay them for their work. That might be a better format - and the editor even links to a site that often features this sort of thing, albeit in blog format and it hasn't be updated in a couple years. My final wish is that I wish there was more text that went with the works - I found my favorite part was the museum-like readings that accompanied each piece, and I wish they were more in-depth and longer.

Besides my criticism on how to make this better, I did enjoy the book. Depending on the format and editorials of future editions might depend on whether I pick future editions up, however.

[Stewart Tame · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book! I admit I'm a bit saddened to see Jeff Nicholson's superb Through the Habitrails relegated to "cult" status. It deserves a wider readership than that. As with all anthologies, this is a mixed bag. Standout stories for me include Gregory Benton's "Hummingbird", Jonathan Edwards' "Aunt Connie and the Plague of Beards", Julia Gfrörer's "Too Dark to See", and Tomasz Kaczynski's " Vague Cities." Overall, this is an excellent book, well worth reading.

[Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

it was a mix bag of stories some were good and some were dull. althrough some i felt were much to knew to be considered underground cult classics.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amazing collection of obscure works. Ilya should get started on a sequel post-haste!