Krazy!: The Delirious World of Anime + Comics + Video Games + Art.

Tami Oliphant is a Ph.D. candidate in Library and Information Studies at the University of Western Ontario.

The broad appeal of visual culture in the form of anime, comics, graphic novels, manga, video games, cartoons, and visual art has not only greatly increased among the general public in recent years, but these media have also significantly influenced contemporary art. However, despite their pervasive influence, an examination of the underlying commonalities of these art forms has been overlooked—until now. The members of the Vancouver Art Gallery recognized the importance of these art productions and consequently held an ambitious exhibition (with artwork spanning more than a century) that explored the intersections and similarities among these various art forms. The monograph Krazy! is the companion piece to the art exhibit; however, this vibrant and insightful volume stands on its own.

Six co-curators and co-authors made Krazy! a reality: Art Spiegelman, author of the Pulitzer Prize–winning Maus; Sims creator Will Wright; Canadian comic artist Seth, creator of the Palookaville series; Tim Johnson, animator and director of the films Antz and Over the Hedge; media theorist Toshiya Ueno; and art critic Kiyoshi Kusumi. The group was tasked with choosing seven or eight artists whose work was significant to the field they were curating for the art exhibit. Will Wright, for example chose Pac-Man, Super Mario World, Sid Meier’s Civilization, QUAKE, The Sims, the Grand Theft Auto games, The Legend of Zelda, and Spore as representative computer and video games. In the monograph Krazy!, examples of eye-popping illustrations from each artist is included along with well-written, insightful, scholarly prose providing a rationale for why this particular artist was included in the book and exhibit. The curators’ subject expertise and commentary on their selections alone makes Krazy! a worthwhile purchase.

Krazy! was conceived as a survey of visual culture, and it offers much to both the amateur and the expert. As expected, stunning illustrations pop off the page. The book feels like a gallery exhibit as the reader is gently absorbed into the world conveyed by each segment or art form. The accompanying prose is as equally assured as the illustrations. Krazy! is a must-have for all libraries.