Trivial
Four Square Books
56 pages, 7″ x 7″, $5 US
Trivial is a fun little read. This anthology collects the talents of Alexis Frederick-Frost, Alex Kim, A. L. Arnold and Sean Ford. All four cartoonists present sharp work and together provide a cut-above collection.
Considering this is a showcase of work, a table of contents would have been nice but that’s only a trifle, or trivial complaint. And that’s the theme to this book, all things trivial. Of the four contributors, I think Frederick-Frost gets most into the spirit of things. He illustrates some choice quotes from a journal kept during a Shackelton expedition to the South Pole. While on an adventure of a lifetime, the men find themselves arguing over the finer points of jelly rolls. Inky bold line work prevails here. Frederick-Frost recently won a Xeric Grant for his graphic novel, La Primavera.
Then there’s Alex Kim’s piece which depicts a nightmare about hands. He also recently won a Xeric Grant for his graphic novel, Wall City. I think that, once the story takes off, Kim demonstrates his ability to create some very inventive and energetic work. The scenes with the main character being dragged along by his own monster hands are very well done.
A. L. Arnold provides us with a delightful little tale about a reluctant superhero. He has a very elegant and spare style which comes through best here in his depiction of background items like buildings and barges and not so much with the superhero but that’s okay considering the understated nature of the story.
And we close out with a couple of comic strip style stories by Sean Ford. His timing is very good and he has an assured style with a gentle and thoughtful vibe. It will be great to see more of his work as well as the rest of the contributors to this impressive anthology.
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