After reading the latest volume of the Flight series (vol. eight) I was skimming through the artist bios when something caught my eye. In many of the bios the authors/artists were bidding farewell to Flight. Apparently, this was the last volume.
Shocked, appalled, heartbroken, I went to the internet to find answers. What I found was very little.
Kazu Kibuishi, the editor of the series from day one, did a brief interview for a blog called The Secret Adventures of WriterGirl in 2010. In the interview Kibuishi states that Flight will probably end with volume eight so that he may focus on Explorer. He also said that he hopes Flight will become a publishing imprint, which will allow him to publish full graphic novels. In another, more recent interview at ComicBookResources.com, Kibuishi reiterates these sentiments but in a slightly more candid way. He talks about how the books were successful (for an anthology) but not very profitable. With a cover price of $27 it is a little steep, but that’s because of the quality of the printing and full color spreads within the book. And honestly, I think it’s worth every penny.
Sadly there isn’t much more information on the Flight series available online, the “official site” is a blog that hasn’t been updated since Oct. 2010. It’s surprising to me how little information was available, it’s almost as if this series was a small flash in the pan instead of the brilliant eight volume series that spanned from 2004-2011.
The last volume contains 18 stories from different artists and all of them are a pleasure to read. Some sad, some hopeful, some cute and funny, (like “Igloohead and Treehead in ‘Accomplishments,'”) they are all beautifully drawn and colored and offer a wonderland for the eyes to enjoy.
If you haven’t yet had the pleasure of this series, I suggest going out and ordering the whole lot of them. They are kid-friendly as well, if you were hoping to get something for that youngster in your life.
Here’s to Kazu, I hope Explorer is half as good as Flight was.
Bent Shelf Book Reviews 