The Tipping Point
That unexpected moment in life where everything changes is celebrated in this anthology
One minute you’re happy in the routine of your day-today existence. The next something happens that changes you completely and unexpectedly. The Tipping Point chronicles these moments. It’s an anthology of 13 tales, broad in scope and very varied in style, all elegantly presented by publisher Humanoids.
Hannako’s Fart by Taiyo Matsumoto is a tale that begins with the titular guff and closes on the world turning, having taken in life, death and baseball. It’s a quiet, intimate tale and Matsumoto’s art – focused almost entirely on human faces and expressions – is powerfully emotive.
The book isn’t simply quiet, emotional vignettes, however. Naoki Urasawa’s Solo Mission mashes up its futuristic setting with the mundanity of family life. It feels like an extended Future Shock – complete with a daft, but amusing, sting in the tail. Frederik Peeters’ Laika, meanwhile, sees the titular space dog return to Earth with vengeance in mind, and Bastien Vivès’ monochrome The Child is a deliciously creepy horror story.
Picking favourites is difficult. Paul Pope’s Consort To The Destroyer is an oblique little tale, but his art, which lands somewhere between Hergé and Jack Kirby, is astounding.
Diverse in tone and mood, this is a beautiful book. It’s also very accessible. Someone who’d only ever read American comics would get it just fine. So it’s as much a wonderful entry point to the wider worlds of comics, manga and bandes dessinées as it is a lavish treat for more seasoned readers.