Monologues for the Coming Plague

(Fantagraphics, 2006)
™ and © Anders Nilsen Fantagraphics Books, Inc.

Deceptively simple art that is, in fact, deceptively simple and not just amateurish like a lot of independent books, Anders Nilsen’s thin, sketchy lines illustrate what are sometimes one-liners that would fit into the New Yorker, and sometimes deeply emotional meditations on existence. It’s pretty much the typical quality and sweetly sad book you’d expect from Fantagraphics.

In one sequence, a bizarre car crash involving redrawings of two characters that simply stand there feels like it might be live theater in lower Manhattan for an audience of 2 dozen, but becomes horrific to observe without any graphic visuals. In other sections, the Buddha and Son of Jesus sequences are quite different (one changing places and times every panel, the latter extremely static), but no less touching and amusing.

— Brendan McGinley

From the Comics Buyer’s Guide:

A flipbook the thickness of a phone book, this collection of marker sketches appears to have taken as long to create as to read. Nilsen’s line drawings are more akin to doodles than cartoons, since they lack both frames and apparent intention to define characters and context.

However, on a second (perhaps more metaphysical) level, Nilsen lulls the viewer into a false sense of superiority, as he sneaks in sarcastic jabs about everyday banality. In what poses as mindless repetition of a bird speaking to a woman or two men standing side by side (one with his head scribbled out), Nilsen casts doubts on conventional wisdom and one-liners on the meaning of language. The reader is torn in two directions: the first to dismiss the simplistic art by turning to see what’s next, and the second to actually stop to ponder whether a deeper point exists.

Much as is the case with the controversial creators of modern art, Nilsen may provoke admiration among the “comics literati” and yawns from the masses. In this case, both may be right.

— Oliver Chin

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Cover Price: $18.95
1 copy available for $41.00

Anders Nilsen