Mome #5

The satisfying fifth volume of this anthology of literary art comics solidifies the achievements of regular contributors. In two whimsical interludes, Martin Cendreda's lyrical "Music for Midnight" portrays a night out for a veiled mole person, while the angsty solipsism of Jeffrey Brown's "I Feel Like I Don't Even Know You" has a certain tortured charm. A laugh-out-loud highlight is Anders Nilsen's "Art History Notes/Hoax Paper," in which the creative artist's defiant mockery of a dully theoretical approach to art is cleverly and naturalistically on display. Sophie Crumb's "Lucid Night-mare," richly drawn in ballpoint pen, gives us the hectic and exciting beginning to a drug-addled road trip. An interview with Andrice Arp doesn't go deep enough to be truly revealing, but Arp's accompanying pen and ink drawings are offbeat and charming. Her lovely retelling of a Japanese legend, "A Story of the Oki Islands," done in blue paintings, is a pleasure, too. The true highlight of the volume, though, is a new story from Tim Hensley, who did the cover. His three linked contributions, to be continued in the next volume, combine to form a dark-edged and smart poor-little-rich-boy story, all done in bright colors that highlight the absurdist tone of the piece. (Oct.)