Mariko and Jillian Tamaki.

As it has for the past few years, the show also proved how firmly entwined the art comics and graphic novel publishing business now are. Panels spotlighted graphic novel offerings from publishers as indie as PictureBox (artist C.F. and his book Powr Mastrs) and as big as Pantheon (Chip Kidd's Bat-Manga! and David Heatley's My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down). Alt.comix regulars Fantagraphics, Drawn & Quarterly and Top Shelf were joined by Toon Books; Houghton Mifflin, promoting the next Best American Comics volume; Pantheon; and Disney, a first-time exhibitor who co-sponsored the show. Disney's offering included both Artemis Fowl and Misako Rocks. First Second showcased its upcoming fall line, including the new Eddie Campbell and the Prince of Persia graphic novel.

An underground Japanese comic from the 1970s, Red Colored Elegy tells the breakup story of two young animators. Hayashi uses animation techniques and an experimental style to beautifully lament Ichiro and Sachiko's failed relationship. Traced photographs, blank word balloons and nearly cubist sex scenes are effective in telling a surprisingly narrative story in a minimalist style. Ichiro was trained as a painter and began work in animation for the money, but now he wants to draw manga. Part-time animator Sachiko runs from her arranged marriage and moves in with Ichiro instead. The two lovers drink heavily and risk being ripped off by animation companies in the shadow of politically volatile student protest movements. Feminist ideals and talk of labor unions take a backseat to a personal and painful story of everyday life. Although a brief introduction explains the historical context, more information on such story elements as the avant-garde Garo magazine would have been welcome. Readers unfamiliar with Japan might not understand the cultural pressure Sachiko faces or expenses for a Buddhist funeral that Ichiro cannot afford to pay. Yet the book, presented left-to-right, is completely accessible for an experimental work, and the story is heartbreakingly universal. (May)

One of the seminal oddball comics works of the '80s was Tales from the Beanworld, an ecological mythological comedy told with beans and a wizard named Professor Garbanzo. Long out of print, the series is coming back this year from Dark Horse Comics. Larry Marder retired his creation when he became executive director of Image Comics in 1993. Now Marder is free to return to that wonderfully strange world he created so many years ago.

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