Anders Nilsen

From the revered graphic artist and writer Anders Nilsen, Tongues collects together in one volume for the first time Nilsen's cult comics and their retelling of the myth of Prometheus'Mindbendingly good. It’s up there with Maus, Fun Home, Persepolis, Jimmy Corrigan'MARK HADDON, author of THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIMEIn the remotest reaches of Central Asia where rival groups war over oil, a minor god is chained to a mountainside. Unfolding in a series of conversations with his unlikely friend the eagle, who visits every day to carry out a gruesome sentence of torture, Tongues I follows the titan’s pursuit of revenge on the god that imprisoned him.Entwined with their story are those of Astrid, a teenage East African orphan on an errand of murder, and a man with a teddy bear strapped to his back wandering aimlessly in the wilderness.Tongues I is a postmodern, apocalyptic reimagining of Prometheus' story, here a fallible god failing in his duty as the creator and protector of humanity.A visual meditation on our deep evolutionary past and our complicated prospects for the future, Tongues I is both a propulsive story of adventure and an examination of human nature in our present moment.'A genuinely mind-blowing achievement. [...] A dazzlingly innovative feat which surprises and delights on every page, across the epic whole and in every strange detail.' MAX PORTER, author of LANNY'One utterly gorgeous comic'VULTURE

From the three-time Igantz award-winning artist and author of Big Questions comes a fascinating graphic novel retelling of the Greek myth of Prometheus "An extraordinary reinvention of some of our oldest stories. Nilsen brings these old gods to an electrifying new life, and gives us a new sense of humanity as well."--Alexander Chee, author of How to Write an Autobiographical Novel "Mind-bendingly good. It's up there with Maus, Fun Home, Persepolis, Jimmy Corrigan." --Mark Haddon, author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Set in a version of modern Central Asia, Tongues is a retelling of the Greek myth of Prometheus. It follows the captive god's friendship with the eagle who carries out his daily sentence of torture and chronicles his pursuit of revenge on the god that has imprisoned him. Prometheus's story is entwined with that of an East African orphan on an errand of murder, and a young man with a teddy bear strapped to his back, wandering aimlessly into catastrophe (a character readers may recognize from Nilsen's Dogs and Water). The story is set against the backdrop of tensions between rival groups in an oil-rich wilderness. Tongues is both an adventure story and a meditation on human nature in our present fraught, historical moment.

The End is a concept album in different styles, a meditation on paying attention, an abstracted autobiography and a metaphysical travelogue, reflecting the progress of his struggle to reconcile the great upheaval of a death, and to find a new life on the other side. The book blends Nilsen's disparate styles, from iconic simplicity to collaged art to finely rendered pieces. This new edition of The End is substantially expanded and revised -- it is almost twice as long as the original edition -- incorporating new work from the past 15 years that adds greater perspective to an already intimate window into the way we grieve, a process that can span decades. The new material includes added content from the original sketchbooks, over a dozen pages of new comics, a new afterword by the author, additional notes, and over 20 pages of Cheryl Weaver's work.

A keen observer of the natural world and the mystical treasures contained within, Anders Nilsen uses lush, inky lines to craft an enchanting, meditative journey. A Walk in Eden is part colouring book, part fantastical view of primeval creation, with an exquisite mix of sprawling landscapes and close-up examinations of plants, fungi, and minerals think giant crystal formations emerging out of pools surrounded by lush vegetation and flowers the size of small trees. Though this is a world void of humans, here and there are small reminders of our presence. Informed by the designs of Ernst Haeckel and other early scientific and botanical illustration, Nilsen's world is intricate, playful, and inspired, waiting for you to make it your own. With 80+ full-page drawings, Nilsen invites you to join in the fun and bring the adult- and kid-friendly colouring book A Walk in Eden to life.

A wise and funny collection of modern-day parables about the ties between humans and their gods Imagine you are Poseidon at the dawn of the twenty-first century. The oceans are dying and sailors have long since stopped paying tribute. They just don't need you anymore. What do you do? Perhaps, seeking answers, you go exploring. Maybe you end up in Wisconsin and discover the pleasures of the iced latte. And then, perhaps, everything goes wrong. Anders Nilsen, the author of Big Questions and Don't Go Where I Can't Follow, explores questions like these in his newest work, a darkly funny meditation on religion and faith with a modern twist. Rage of Poseidon brings all the philosophical depth of Nilsen's earlier work to bear on contemporary society, asking how a twenty-first-century child might respond to being sacrificed on a mountaintop, and probing the role gods like Venus and Bacchus might have in the world of today. Nilsen works in a unique style for these short stories, distilling individual moments in black silhouette on a spare white background. Above all, though, he immerses us seamlessly in a world where gods and humans are more alike than not, forcing us to recognize the humor in our (and their) desperation. Rage of Poseidon is devastating, insightful, and beautifully hewn; it's a wry triumph in an all-new style from a masterful artist.

A STORY OF LOVE AND LOSS INSCRIBED IN PHOTOGRAPHS, POSTCARDS, LETTERS, AND BEDSIDE SKETCHESIn this collection of letters, drawings, and photos, Anders Nilsen chronicles a six-year relationship and the illness that brought it to an end. Don't Go Where I Can't Follow is an eloquent appreciation of the time the author shared with his fianc e, Cheryl Weaver. The story is told using artifacts of the couple's life together, including early love notes, simple and poetic postcards, tales of their travels in written and comics form, journal entries, and drawings done in the hospital in her final days. It concludes with a beautifully rendered account of Weaver's memorial that Glen David Gold, writing in the Los Angeles Times, called "16 panels of beauty and grace." Don't Go Where I Can't Follow is a deeply personal romance, and a universal reminder of our mortality and the significance of the relationships we build. Originally published as a limited edition in 2006, this collection includes a new afterword written by Nilsen.

A New York Times Notable Book of 2011, included on Amazon.com, Publishers Weekly, and NPR'S Best Comics lists A haunting postmodern fable, Big Questions is the magnum opus of Anders Nilsen, one of the brightest and most talented young cartoonists working today. This beautiful minimalist story, collected here for the first time, is the culmination of ten years and more than six hundred pages of work that details the metaphysical quandaries of the occupants of an endless plain, existing somewhere between a dream and a Russian steppe. A downed plane is thought to be a bird and the unexploded bomb that came from it is mistaken for a giant egg by the group of birds whose lives the story follows. The indifferent, stranded pilot is of great interest to the birds--some doggedly seek his approval, while others do quite the opposite, leading to tensions in the group. Nilsen seamlessly moves from humor to heartbreak. His distinctive, detailed line work is paired with plentiful white space and large, often frameless panels, conveying an ineffable sense of vulnerability and openness. Big Questions has roots in classic fables--the birds and snakes have more to say than their human counterparts, and there are hints of the hero's journey, but here the easy moral that closes most fables is left open and ambiguous. Rather than lending its world meaning, Nilsen's parable lets the questions wander where they will.

SISYFOS on palkitun yhdysvaltalaisen sarjakuvantekijän Anders Nilsenin (s. 1973) suomalaisille lukijoille kokoama teos. Se pohjautuu kreikkalaisen mytologian samannimiseen kuninkaaseen, joka jumaliin kohdistuneen ylimielisyytensä vuoksi sai ikuisen rangaistuksen. Hänen on vieritettävä suuri kivenjärkäle mäen päälle, ainoastaan huomatakseen sen palautuvan mäen juurelle. Nilsen ottaa Sisyfoksen hahmon omakseen ja käyttää tätä välikappaleena omalle filosofiselle pohdiskelulleen ihmiselämästä.