FLIGHT: Volume One

Most of the stories in this gorgeous color anthology are about flying, but the title also refers to its contributors starting to take wing. The 21 young American cartoonists in the book—some of them still in college—met through their Internet comics; a few of them have never been published in print before. As Scott McCloud notes in his afterword, though, they're the future of comics. Many of them have assimilated manga and fine-art influences into their work; several use dazzling computer color techniques that have more to do with animation than traditional print comics. The sense of visual imagination at work owes almost nothing to traditional branches of comics art; there aren't many domestic or plebeian scenes. Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away ), with his sense of wonder and formidable skill, is a touch point for many, but not in an overbearing way. Most of the contributors are clearly en route to solid comics careers, although a handful are still working out how to make their narratives as confident as their images. Highlights include Clio Chiang's "The Bowl," an ingenious, wordless variation on the classic three-wishes story that draws its visual language from cel animation; Jen Wang's "Paper & String," a lovely short story constructed out of collaged kite paper; Khang Le's "Outside My Window," a bittersweet childhood fantasy rendered in sketchy watercolors; and Derek Kirk Kim's "The Maiden and the River Spirit," a wry commentary on an Aesop fable. (Aug.)