This international anthology of comics from around the world has much to recommend it both in terms of scope and quality. Cover artist Ron Rege, Jr.'s contribution is the first publication of his latest project, Cartoon Utopia. Here he is producing what are, in effect, sermonistic lectures in spritual psychology (or, perhaps, lecturistic sermons on pyschological spirituality) in comics form; whatever one might decide to call them, they are both uniquely fascinating and uplifting, and, really, are worth the price of admission. The Dylan Horrocks, the first new work by him we've read since we don't know when (what? Atlas #3, was it?), is so good that it makes us mad that this is all we get. Dylan's work has been so sporadic over the last decade that we suspect that there are plenty of folks out there who aren't familiar with his work. If you fit this description, then you should change your status with all due speed, and picking this up might just be the ticket. Then there are the two! – count them – contributions by Finland's greatest export, Amanda Vähämäki, rendered in her trademarked delicate yet precise pencils. The remainder of the contributions are all quite worthy, and will have readers asking themselves why they haven't seen work by these creators before and/or where they can find more: Belkis Ayón from Havana; Edmund Baudoin from Paris; Igor Hofbauer from Zagreb; André Lemos from Lisbon; Aleksander Opacic from Belgrade; Maurizio Ribichini from Rome; and Sam Seen from Bangkok. Recommended!
