Props to the words in the Beasts

The Seattle Times had an all praise-y write-up of Beasts 2 today! It really is an art book, as we always remind folks, but it was nice to see the text singled out for such love:

The visuals range from striking graphic design to standard comic-book gothic, goofy or gross-out. More unexpected are the finely written informational entries which blend fantasy, pseudoscience and macabre wit to savory effect.

Readers will recognize some of these creatures from classical myth and legend. In "Beasts! Book Two" (Fantagraphics, 207 pp., $34.99) they'll find mermaids, shapeshifting selkies and those monstrous hazards to Mediterranean mariners, Scylla and Charybdis. But they'll also come across a host of less familiar creatures, described by writers Heidi Broadhead, Paul Hughes and Rob Lightner with pithy panache.

It's quite a coincidence, but Rob noted that Savory Effect is also the name of our rap crew.

Comments

[Mike Baehr]

Some much-deserved props for an oft-overlooked aspect of the books.

[Paul]

Thanks, Mike! I felt kind of bad that the art didn't get much attention in the review—but it's certainly gotten a lot of praise elsewhere! And it was nice to get the recognition, but Jacob can also take some credit for that. He's been really adamant about making sure the quality of the writing was high from the very start.

[mildred township]

and Pithy Panache is the name of your burlesque troupe.

congratz, beast masters!