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When the first FLIGHT anthology appeared in 2007, some people thought it was the beginning of a new school of comics — a group of artists as influenced by animation (particularly Miyazaki) as comics. While many of them have yet to make a huge mark in comics, a bunch of FLIGHT alumni have gone on to create significant comics — for instance, Vera Brosgal’s ANYA’S GHOST just came out this year; Kazu Kibuishi’s AMULET series continues to gain young readers, and Jake Parker has illustrated his own books in addition to a collaboration with Michael Chabon. The list goes on and on — Sonny Liew, Becky Cloonan, Hope Larson — most of the artists in FLIGHT are young, and they have years of work ahead of them.

FLIGHT #2 is, if anything, even more spectacular than the first book. Check out the contributors and previews below — it’s a stunning anthology of breathtaking art and optimistic stories, and one of the finest comics anthologies of the decade:

1.
Inner
Sanctum
” by Michel
Gagné

2. “Solomon
Fix
” by Doug
TenNapel

3. “Jelly
Fruit
” by Catia
Chien

4. “The
Robot and the Sparrow
” by Jake
Parker

5. “Dead
Soul’s Day Out
” by Sonny
Liew

6. “Monster
Slayers
” by Khang
Le

7. “The
Golden Temple
” by Neil
Babra

8. “Dance
of the Sugar Plums
” by Don
Hertzfeldt

9. “Destiny
Xpress
” by Jen
Wang

10.”The
Orange Grove
” by Kazu
Kibuishi

11.”Weather
Vain
” by Hope
Larson

12.”Heads
Up
” by Becky
Cloonan

13.”Tendergrass
by Matthew Woodson

14.”Last
Things Last
” by Kean
Soo

15.”Cellmates
by Phil Craven

16.”The
Ride
” by Rodolphe
Guenoden

17.”Laika
by Doug Holgate

18.”Ghost
Trolley
” by Rad
Sechrist

19.”Wilford’s
Stroll
” by Justin
Ridge

20.”Impossible
by Herval

21.”Dust
on the Shelves
” by Bannister

22.”This
Time!
” by Clio
Chiang

23.”Blip
Pop
” by Ryan
Sias

24.”Mouse
Trap
” by Johane
Matte

25.”Sirius
and Betelgeuse
” by Jeff
Smith

26.”The
Flying Bride
” by Giuseppe
Ferrario

27.”The
Plank
” by Ben
Hatke

28.”Icarus
by Johane
Matte

29.”A
Test For Cenri
” by Amy
Kim Ganter

30.”La
Sonadora
” by Joana
Carneiro

31.”Sky
Blue
” by Kness

32.”Béisbol
by Richard Pose

33.”Salmoning
by Vera Brosgol

How to get this book?

DA RULEZ: email your name and address to beatgiveaway at gmail dot com with FLIGHT #2 in the subject line. Winners will be selected at random. NO ADDRESS, NO WIN. The contest closes tomorrow at 5 pm EST when the next giveaway begins. Books will be mailed next week.

Giveaway open to US and CANADA residents ONLY. Sorry about that! I looked into international shipping but it is just too complicated and expensive. Maybe when I get a sponsor!

1 COMMENT

  1. My theory (yet to be disproven) is that any comic drawn and written by an animator will be a worthwhile read.

    (The creator usually has skills as a character designer, as well as storyboarding and extremes. If old school, they’ve had to draw thousands of drawings… 24 frames per second.)

    For example:

    Jeff Smith
    Stephanie Gladden
    Osamu Tezuka
    Walt Kelly
    Carl Barks

  2. Add Dash Shaw to that list, Torsten. His work has greatly benefited from his animation projects.

    The Flight books are *awesome*. Easily some of my favorite comics work in 20 years.

  3. I dunno, they always fell juuuust short for me. Fun and disposable instead of timeless game-changers.

  4. None of it felt rushed or poorly made (it was actually quite slick), they just didn’t seem to set especially high goals in terms of content.

    They were originally presented to me as opposite-but-equal to the Ergots. That probably skews my opinion of them.

    Anyway, there’s still a lot of great stuff in those books. But Hertzfeldt’s is the only one I remember.