The Moolah Tree

Pluck, an irritable and featherless rooster, and his best pal, the awkward-but-lovable teddy bear known as Fuzz, met long ago in a garbage truck. A tenuous―if decidedly co-dependent―friendship followed, sending them on a series of not-so-heroic adventures. But now, we find them on a ramshackle barge, slowly drifting out to sea. How did they get there? How will they escape?

Phoebe Gloeckner, author of The Diary of a Teenage Girl, picks the best graphic pieces of the year.

Mome (mo~m), n. Archaic, a fool; blockhead. The influence of Fantagraphics’ flagship quarterly anthology of new comic art and storytelling continues to grow. Celebrating its fifth anniversary in 2010, the series has published over 2,000 pages of comics in its half-decade of existence, becoming a staple for those eager to discover what’s new in the world of literary comics. MOME showcases the best new talent of this decade’s ascendant cartoon generation, alongside work from some of North America and Europe’s most respected creators.

Since its inception in 2005, MOME has served as a McSweeney’s for comics. Whether exposing new talent like Eleanor Davis (author of the recent Stinky by Toon Books); featuring short stories by contemporary graphic novelists like Dash Shaw (The Bottomless Belly Button); bringing the work of international superstars like David B. (Epileptic) to American audiences; or introducing the work of legends like Gilbert Shelton (The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers) to a new generation of readers, MOME is the most acclaimed, accessible, frequent, and reasonably priced anthology on the market despite its high production values and mostly color format.

Contributors of short stories to MOME include: Lilli Carré, Laura Park, Olivier Schrauwen, Tom Kaczynski, Dash Shaw, Ray Fenwick, Émile Bravo, Andrice Arp, Al Columbia, Eleanor Davis, Nathan Neal, Conor O’Keefe, Jon Vermilyea, Jonathan Bennett, Robert Goodin, Sara Edward-Corbett, Derek Van Gieson, and many more.

The influence of Fantagraphics’ flagship anthology of new comic art and storytelling continues to grow with annual award nominations, a widely-acknowledged banner 2008 that foundMOME on many year-end critics’ lists, increasing academic and library interest, several gallery exhibitions mounted nationwide, and an increasingly potent well of top-notch, known and unknown talent making every issue a surprising, dense and delightful read. With this season, the quarterly journal of comics will have brought over 2,000 pages of new comics to the world since its inception in 2005. Upcoming contributors of short stories to MOME include: Lilli Carré, Laura Park, Olivier Schrauwen, Tom Kaczynski, Dash Shaw, Ray Fenwick, Émile Bravo, Andrice Arp, Al Columbia, Eleanor Davis, Nathan Neal, Conor O’Keefe, Jon Vermilyea, Jonathan Bennett, Robert Goodin, Sara Edward-Corbett, Derek Van Gieson, and many more