FROM WONDERLAND W LOVE DANISH COMICS ANTHOLOGY GN

Edited by: Steffen Maarup

In all the excitement over manga from Japan and bandes dessin es from France, it's easy to forget that most other countries have a thriving comics culture all their own. This eye-popping anthology, assembled by Danish publisher/editor/translator Steffen Maarup, introduces adventurous readers to 18 exciting talents, most of whom are taking their first bow on the English-speaking stage.  One centerpiece of the book is Nikoline Werdelin's stunning "Because I Love You So Much," a Doonesbury-style slice-of-life Danish daily strip about a suburban Danish couple who discover their daughter is being molested - is it happening at her daycare center -  horrifyingly, closer to home? Other major revelations include Julie Nord's elegantly drawn "From Wonderland With Love" (which gives the collection its title), a modernistic riff on Alice in Wonderland, and Ib Kjeldsmark's "Sloth," a riotously punk-inflected day-glo duo-toned road trip.  The book also spotlights the snarky and surreal single-panel work and gags by HuskMitNavn, Christoffer Zieler, and Johan F. Krarup; the visually explosive silent comics of M rd n Smet and Peter Kielland; cover artist T. Thorhauge's spectacular philosophical piece "M"; and many other stories in a wide variety of styles from the sinister black and white Lynchian surrealism of Simon Bukhaven's wooden robot story "All I Have in My Hand" to the watercolored animal-fable extravaganza "Tomb of the Rabbit King" by Allan Haverholm, from S ren Mosdal and Jacob rsted's meticulously delineated and colored nightmare yarn "Dog God" to Zven Baslev's slashing, black and white, Panter-esque "Cadarul Zombie." And more!