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Product Description
For the first time ever, the pioneering autobiographical comics of master cartoonist Eddie Campbell (From Hell) are collected in a single volume! Brilliantly observed and profoundly expressed, the ALEC stories present a version of Campbell's own life, filtered through the alter ego of "Alec MacGarry." Over many years, we witness Alec's (and Eddie's) progression "from beer to wine" - wild nights at the pub, existential despair, the hunt for love, the quest for art, becoming a "responsible breadwinner," feeling lost at his own movie premiere, and much more! Eddie's outlandish fantasies and metafictional tricks convert life into art, while staying fully grounded in his own absurdity. This Life-Size Omnibus edition of ALEC includes all the stories from The King Canute Crowd, Three-Piece Suit, How to be an Artist, and After the Snooter, as well as the very early, out-of-print ALEC stories and a staggering amount of bonus material.
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5 reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
An Excellent Compendium
25 Jan 2010
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Some of his work is truly wonderful, and some is mediocre at best. Beyond that, I won't discuss the material in detail. You wouldn't be considering buying this book if you weren't already a fan of Campbell's work.
I can say it's great to have so much of his material in one place, and even at the hardcover price it is cheaper than buying all of his books separately.
I can also say that I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the book itself. For example, it is not cloth bound or fancy, but instead has a very simple, no frills binding. It is simple, but solid, and stands out well among the other books on my shelf.
I was also expecting a book this thick to have thin pages, slightly better than newsprint. Instead, the pages are luxuriantly thick, allowing Campbell's simple artwork to really stand out.
If the folks at Top Shelf happen to read this review, please, please put something like this together for Glenn Dakin's comics as well.
I can say it's great to have so much of his material in one place, and even at the hardcover price it is cheaper than buying all of his books separately.
I can also say that I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the book itself. For example, it is not cloth bound or fancy, but instead has a very simple, no frills binding. It is simple, but solid, and stands out well among the other books on my shelf.
I was also expecting a book this thick to have thin pages, slightly better than newsprint. Instead, the pages are luxuriantly thick, allowing Campbell's simple artwork to really stand out.
If the folks at Top Shelf happen to read this review, please, please put something like this together for Glenn Dakin's comics as well.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
A Revelation of Humanity
21 Jun 2010
Format:Paperback
Taking its cue from The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock--"I grow old, I wear the bottom of my trousers rolled"--Alec: "The Years Have Pants" knows we change our pants from time to time, and how we do so details how we make our way through life. It's also the title of the new story that ends this massive compendium collecting Eddie Campbell's (almost complete) catalog of biographical comics works.
Campbell first began drawing his autobiographical comics back in the `70s. To protect the identity of his friends and family, he gave everyone a different name--including himself ("Alec MacGarry"). Alec has stood in for Eddie even since, as Campbell has continued through multiple publishers and multiple venues of his life. All of them (except for The Fate of the Artist, which is still in print from First Second) are found in Alec: "The Years Have Pants".
Today, it's a matter of course to see a comic biography. Comics memoirs are almost a dime a dozen, it seems. But that shouldn't negate the pure joy of experiencing a true master of the form explore the full range of its possibilities, from the mundane to the extraordinary. It's interesting to watch an intelligent, well-thought-out man delve into the ups and downs of his own life with care.
Campbell is a comics veteran, so he peppers his tales with stories of the growth of the industry itself (the mid-`80s burst that sees Alan Moore, Art Spiegelman, and others exploding with greatness coincides with the birth of Alec's first child, a nice parallel that Campbell doesn't miss out on).
The bottom line is this: If you want to see what a master of comics memoir does at the top of his form, Alec: "The Years Have Pants" is the book to read. Its 600 pages are a revelation of humanity.
-- John Hogan
Campbell first began drawing his autobiographical comics back in the `70s. To protect the identity of his friends and family, he gave everyone a different name--including himself ("Alec MacGarry"). Alec has stood in for Eddie even since, as Campbell has continued through multiple publishers and multiple venues of his life. All of them (except for The Fate of the Artist, which is still in print from First Second) are found in Alec: "The Years Have Pants".
Today, it's a matter of course to see a comic biography. Comics memoirs are almost a dime a dozen, it seems. But that shouldn't negate the pure joy of experiencing a true master of the form explore the full range of its possibilities, from the mundane to the extraordinary. It's interesting to watch an intelligent, well-thought-out man delve into the ups and downs of his own life with care.
Campbell is a comics veteran, so he peppers his tales with stories of the growth of the industry itself (the mid-`80s burst that sees Alan Moore, Art Spiegelman, and others exploding with greatness coincides with the birth of Alec's first child, a nice parallel that Campbell doesn't miss out on).
The bottom line is this: If you want to see what a master of comics memoir does at the top of his form, Alec: "The Years Have Pants" is the book to read. Its 600 pages are a revelation of humanity.
-- John Hogan
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Alec: The Years Have Pants (A Work of Staggering Genius)
14 April 2010
Format:Paperback
Campbell's finest piece of work is himself. The Alec project which he has been pursuing for three decades is nothing less than the distillation of a life into a work of art. Not just the amazing events or encounters with the luminaries of his world, Campbell has delineated the true glories of a life in all of its glorious mess, a domestic fugue punctuated by bright notes of celebrities drawn into his composition. Never dazzled by another's brilliance but always admiring, he has composed an appreciation of those who have influenced him, those he admires amongst his contemporaries, and the people he loves just because they're there is his world. This is a work utterly bereft of pretension. It is a work of the most utter honesty, an honesty so keenly felt that you feel elated with the author in his joys and wretched when he is miserable. Lyrical, anarchic, beautiful: this is a book that should be read and savoured and reflected upon. This is a rare and magnificent work that deserves your undivided attention.
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