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Underground > Comic Books >

Anarchy for the Masses- The New Edition.

Our Lady of The Two Towers

17:11 / 07.02.03

Reading through now, it's my first experience of 'AftM' so I can't comment on how it's different. It's okay, and nicely presented, but thus far seems rather info-light. I would have liked some essays on themes and stuff, as it is it does look a bit like the authors have just raided The Bomb and other annotations.

The other limitation is probably the fact that it's not DC authorised, so presumerably the creators are all doing this out of the goodness of their heart and free of charge. I've got about as far as issue 13, and the fact that some issues can be dealt with in 2 sides is shocking. It's like an ueasy cross between York Notes and the Sandman annotated companion, it lacks the rigour of the first and the cosy sitting down with the author and talking about every single issue of the second.

And the cover, which Frank probably did quickly is awful. Fanny comes out looking worse than when Weston drew her, Jack looks like some weird old bag lady, Robin and Boy are okay but what's with King Mob? I thought he'd lost his left arm in a bizarre threshing accident until I realised Frank had him twisting his arm behind his back. Why does he insist on drawing people like that?

17:34 / 07.02.03

I would have liked some essays on themes and stuff

I'm glad they didn't have essays. I only have the original book, but in the introduction to that one the authors say not to take their word for anything. Essays would have taken away my favorite part of the series - the guessing and analyzing.

as it is it does look a bit like the authors have just raided The Bomb and other annotations.

I can't speak for the new book, but the notes in the old one were different (and more plentiful) than the Bomb. It's sort of unfair to accuse them of "raiding" anything. If you annotated the book, wouldn't you identify some of the same panels as the Bomb and Anarchy?

Is the new book for sale already? Is there a picture of the cover online?

Mister Six, whom all the girls

18:37 / 07.02.03

I just printed off all the articles and annotations from the Bomb and old school Barbelith and put them in a binder.

But that's me.

How does the book deviate from what was online? I can't see the sense in buying it aside from the fact that it looks cool.

18:42 / 07.02.03

I bought the first edition just for the interview to Grant, shitty fan boy I am. It was okay. The rest of the book I think is just bulk, pretty superfluous.

18:46 / 07.02.03

I just printed off all the articles and annotations from the Bomb and old school Barbelith and put them in a binder.

Ooh, wish I'd thought of that...

20:24 / 07.02.03

I thought this was due in April. How did you get it so early, Izzardlike?

Our Lady of The Two Towers

20:34 / 07.02.03

Well, it was on the shelf in MegaCity in Camden, the copyright is 2003 to Disinfo and it notes an earlier edition was published by Mad Yak press so I think it IS the new edition.

Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen broke my toilet fixtures I'm glad they didn't have essays... Essays would have taken away my favorite part of the series - the guessing and analyzing.

Well, they're happier to treat us to their opinions of each issue at the end of each chapter. In some cases those opinions take up more space than info on the issue. And I meant essays in the sense of an essay on the history of Situationalism or language, not necessarily about the story itself.

22:27 / 07.02.03

I meant essays in the sense of an essay on the history of Situationalism or language

Yeah, I see what you mean...

yawn - thing's buddy

09:29 / 08.02.03

but it is 'their' book, so their opinions on each issue are fair nuff. Some of their observations regarding each issue didn't match my own and a few times I did actually vomit but it was good vomit.

13:36 / 13.02.03

I picked up my copy earlier this week. It's a great read if only for the comments made by GM which does (finally) make sense of some of the Invisibles discussions on here.

I think the design and layout of the book is superb, allowing you to read it in order - or just dip in and out.

This will keep me going for a while, I suspect........

yawn - thing's buddy

14:24 / 13.02.03

hmmm. The design and layout I found to be pretty poor. There's a kind of mean-ness to the presentation. Not sure why. The black and whiteness is neither crisp or punchy, the font doesn't grab me and the new cover by Quitely is simply shocking.

This book is for sale in the CCA bookshop (that's centre for contemporary arts, folks) but of course, they don't stock the Invisibles.

They got upset when I told them of this daft book buying policy.

Our Lady of The Two Towers

16:35 / 13.02.03

I feel a bit more positive after finishing it, the big GM interview is good, even manages to include some stuff I hadn't heard, and the character bios are quite nice. I just wish the annotations which, in many ways, are the most important part of the book and the reason most people would buy the thing weren't in about point 6 and dotted around the outside of the page like an afterthought.

6/10.

16:45 / 13.02.03

Actually I quite liked that idea - utilising space very well IMHO. If the annotations had been reversed, the interviews would have been difficult to read.

Our Lady of The Two Towers

19:25 / 13.02.03

Here's a novel idea, annotations first, artists opinions next, reviews last?

00:02 / 14.02.03

It's on sale here in Amsterdam too. That tiny type is hard to read. I only had time to skim it. It's 28 euros, which is a bit much I think, for omething I don't really need.

19:54 / 05.05.03

Finally just got this thing... Contrary to some of the comments earlier in the thread, I quite like the format. Grouping all the material related to each issue together (annotations, interviews, reviews) keeps the book easy to navigate. The small print doesn't bother me, but then I do have good eyes--people not so blessed may have a valid complaint there. Some of the reviews are a tad snarky, but given the effort that obviously went into this the authors are entitled, IMO. I did notice a few minor factual errors in the character bios, but that's about my only complaint. It would've been cool to have critical essays included, but OTOH and IMO it would be better to have a separate volume of similiar size (edited by these guys or someone else) dedicated exclusively to critical analysis. That way there'd be room for a wide range of essays instead of the editors having to cherry pick one or two. So all in all I'm pretty happy with the present effort. Nice work, guys.

Our Lady of The Two Towers

16:39 / 06.05.03

Yeah, I think if DC had been willing to back up the thing with cash, so they could have got some people to write essays on aspects of the book and the people interviewed could have given more of their time it could have been better, but is fairly good for what it is.

09:53 / 07.05.03

Can anyone tell me what the differences are between the Mad Yak Press edition and the Disinfo version, please ? Apart from the cover, I mean.
Just wondering if it’s worth buying it in the new version… anyone ?
Thanks !

14:06 / 09.05.03

It's pretty good, yah. The cover is surpisingly bad for Quitely, tho, as others have remarked.