New Realities - by Greg Hunter (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Dash Shaw is one of the most restless cartoonists of recent decades, constantly evolving in how he approaches the comics page. In the years since his breakthrough graphic novel Bottomless Belly Button, he has continued to create acclaimed, idiosyncratic comics, varying his uses of line and color as well as shifting from domestic realism to sci-fi farce to historical fiction. But some concerns in Shaw's work remain constant. His characters live within their own personal realities, often failing to connect or even communicate. Comics as different as the dystopian spectacle BodyWorld and the geek-culture comedy Cosplayers become sites of clashes between incompatible mindsets--with Shaw adapting his cartooning to capture new varieties of confusion, alienation, and more. In New Realities, critic Greg Hunter (The Comics Journal) follows the through-line across this adventurous body of work.

Review Quotes

"Comics critic Hunter debuts with a perceptive survey of the idiosyncratic oeuvre of Dash Shaw, a "changeable" cartoonist whose "stylistic leaps have become his most obvious constant." [...] It's a great starting point for anyone wanting to know more about the work of this restless and relentlessly curious artist."--Publishers Weekly

"A 'must read' study for the legions of Dash Shaw fans, New Realities: The Comics of Dash Shaw is an impressive presentation of the graphic novel style artwork of this unique and iconoclastic artist. New Realities: The Comics of Dash Shaw is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, and academic library Comics/Graphic Novels, literary criticism collections, and supplemental curriculum studies lists." --Midwest Book Review