Maple Key Comics #2 (June/July 2014) is a continuation of many of
the stories from the first issue as well as some stand-alone stories. In the
intro, Joyana McDiarmid, the editor, mentions that this one is the “unofficial
“Friendship” issue”, as the relationships between the characters in the
continuing stories deepen. Character and relationship development is
(hopefully) inevitable in any serialized story, so I do not think that this intentional
theme is even necessary. Furthermore, it is not what stood out to me. The
collection of stories is quite diverse and hard to tie together thematically. I
kept returning to the uniqueness of Maple Key Comics as a model, which more
than anything affected how I perceived the stories.
The idea is quite novel: gather together a group of
cartoonists, many of them young and in
this case Center for Cartoon Studies (CCS) alums, and put together a bimonthly
“anthology” which showcases serialized comics as well as one shot stories. I
put anthology in quotes because it is a collection of works by various artists
and as such is subject to both the strengths and weaknesses of one, but is
different in that it showcases many serialized pieces over independent stories.
In the lens of the anthology, it can be evaluated by the ideal of the whole being
greater than the sum of its parts, meaning that the individual stories must be
strong, but that these individual triumphs combined with a greater vision for
the collection (usually the job of the editor), makes for an entity to be
judged as a successfully unified piece. This is what a great anthology hopes to accomplish, but this structure is also its greatest vulnerability. Why? Two
things: 1) It is difficult for every piece to be equally strong, and 2) even if
they were hypothetically, the reader will not like the work of every artist in
the anthology, due to their individual tastes.
Evaluating Maple Key Comics as an anthology is limiting
however, because of the serialized pieces. Given this, I would recommend for
anyone who wants to read these to start with the first one. This model of
serializing stories in a bimonthly collection somewhat problematic in that it is vital for the reader to start from beginning and not just dive in. This
will disinterest some, especially in the current media landscape, where many
expect art to be free and are less inclined to have to pay for a collection of serialized stories. Study Group
Comics, 2D Cloud, and some others, for instance, somewhat circumvent this in
offering some serialized comics for free, while also charging for print and
digital works. I see this as a minor issue though. One reason is because
cartoonists need to challenge the entitlement many have over consuming comics
for free.
But the second and more important reason is because Maple
Key Comics is giving a space to young, and innovative indie cartoonists with a
commitment to longer form storytelling in a communal,
design-savvy, and cost-effective manner. Getting a graphic novel published as a
young cartoonist (by young I am not necessarily referring to age, but
experience), can be quite difficult, and while self-publishing is an option, it
is expensive and takes much work to promote and distribute. Given this,
cartoonists may serialize it on their own, often in the form of a minicomic, or
even just stick to shorter stories, which are easier to circulate in a more
timely fashion and easier/cheaper to publish and distribute. There is something
to be said for telling short stories and some cartoonists do their best work in
this form, but it often means that many cartoonists, especially younger ones,
may have long-form stories that never gets told. The Maple Key Comics model
tackles this issue thoughtfully, with an overall focus on cartoonists
who have noticeably put thought into world-building. Although not all of the
stories are equally strong or successful in that manner, there is a certain
thoughtfulness and even studied nature in most of these pieces that may speak
to the nature of being a cartooning school alum, or just being a group of
cartoonists who have made a deliberate choice to hone their storytelling
skills, regardless of their varied artistic and writing styles.
It remains to be seen how the serialized stories will progress
and what potentially expanding beyond CCS alums will mean for the “brand”, but
the initial intrigue of many of the storylines, coupled with the smart idea of
including a few short pieces, and a “star artist interview" with a more seasoned
artist, is a recipe for an innovative advancement in the world of indie
comics.
