Komacon

Writer: Various
Artist: Various
Publisher: Image
Release Date: August 7, 2013
The anthology Komacon has a notable concept: it pairs six established Western writers (including Rick Veitch, Colleen Doran, and Joe Keatinge) with six young South Korean illustrators. The result is a fairly standard anthology with the typical strengths and weaknesses of the format. The six stories within these 83 pages tend to feel both a little familiar and a little unfinished.
The first entry, Veitch and In-Hyuk Lee’s “Ragno-Jak”, feels more like a prologue to a longer work. This hilariously vulgar talking-animal strip is the most purely enjoyable thing here. Lee’s wonderfully painted art creates an arch-fantasy world that could be found in any issue of Heavy Metal, but Veitch’s defiantly juvenile stoner humor turns the whole thing into a big, gleeful send-up of stock fantasy anthology clichés. When the story ends you’ll want to flip straight to an as-yet-nonexistent “Ragno-Jak” full-length.
“Fire Dog,” a far more serious affair from Doran and Hae Mi Jang, offers a respectful take on a Korean myth. Jang’s detailed black-and-white art is surprisingly accomplished for an artist in her mid twenties; her style combines manga elements with a European art comic sensibility. She names Katsuhiro Otomo and Moebius as her favorite artists, and that intersection is evident in both her figures and layouts. Doran’s script displays a keen sensitivity for the Eastern material. It feels like a fully-formed work, exactly as long as it needs to be, and thus the highlight of the anthology.