UNICORN MOUNTAIN

My article about the upcoming comic/literary anthology Unicorn Mountain appears in this week's City Paper. The full story is included below.

Mountain's Range
Writer: Matthew Newton

An anthology, when compiled just right, is like a good mix tape. For example, if you were to arrange songs from Can, King Crimson and Yes in the perfect order, you’d strike art-rock gold; but cluster Sabbath tracks in a poor arrangement and you’ve prematurely blown your load -- soiling the potential for a stoner-rock mix-tape opus. That said, variety is critical. Without it, the listener -- or in the case of an anthology, the reader -- can become downright bored.

The creators of Unicorn Mountain, a new Pittsburgh-bred comic/literary anthology and music compilation, thrive on variety -- placing science-fiction- and fantasy-based comics alongside personal essays, true-life tales and a 20-song compilation CD.

“I got the idea to do an anthology last summer when a bunch of friends left Pittsburgh for Chicago and other cities to further [their] artistic pursuits,” says Curt Gettman, editor and publisher of Unicorn Mountain. “I wanted for there to be something that would give creative people artistic opportunity here and build a sense of community among local creators.”

Gettman, along with dedicated collaborators Joe Deferrari (graphic designer), Shahrzad Samadzadeh (nonfiction editor) and Tim Brown (compilation organizer), began work on Unicorn Mountain late last year.

“A group of us got together at Arsenal Lanes last fall and hashed out a 12-step plan for world domination,” Gettman (half-jokingly) says. “Joe and Shahrzad joined the editorial and creative team later and helped turn an ambitious ‘project’ into something a bit more real.”

Boasting contributions from more than 70 creators -- writers, illustrators and bands -- the debut volume of Unicorn Mountain is an ambitious project showcasing the work of both emerging and established local talent. Poster artist Mike Budai and writer Alicia Ledden contribute a story best described as “Home Alone meets Brothers Grimm:” Jeff Shreckengost illustrates an epic sword-and-sorcery tale; and Justin Cummings, who self-publishes the taxi zine Junket, offers a story of theft and late-night taxi driving.

The anthology -- which also includes musical contributions from such bands as Harangue, Midnite Snake, Vale and Year, and Conelrad -- is 130 pages long with a print run of 3,000 copies. And while the influence of artists including Jordan Crane and Brian Ralph, and publishers such as Fantagraphics and Drawn and Quarterly, is noticeable, the work in this debut anthology is startlingly fresh and strikingly original. Asked to describe Unicorn Mountain to the uninitiated, Gettman’s response is twofold:

“[Unicorn Mountain is] a mountain fortress towering 15 miles high over the valley of steel!” he exclaims. “Either that or a comic/literary/music anthology for people who like the idea of comics but think most of them are crap.”

Unicorn Mountain launch party. 7-11 p.m. Friday Aug. 5, Live music by Vale and Year, and Giant Squid. ModernFormations Gallery, 4919 Penn Ave., Garfield. Free. 412-362-0274