Sam Zabel And The Magic Pen - Hardcover

Dylan Horrocks lives in New Zealand with his wife and two sons. He is the author of the award-winning graphic novel Hicksville and the comic book series Pickle and Atlas, and has also written for DC Comics and Vertigo, including Hunter: the Age of Magic and Batgirl.

“This book is necessary for anyone paralyzed even a bit by the creative/spiritual confusion of the digital age. Horrocks explores the role and responsibility of storytelling, juggling genres, fiddling with the mechanics of the comics form, and reclaiming the sense of magic that once reigned the medium -- a playfulness contagious for the reader. Like his Hicksville, a must have in every library.”
- Craig Thompson (Blankets, Habibi)

“Sam Zabel and the Magic Pen is a coming-of-age story for the fantasies of our past and a joyful bear hug for the storytellers of our future. An effortless, magical read from front to back.”
- Scott McCloud (Understanding Comics, The Sculptor)

“Horrocks’ intelligence and crisp, colorful Tintin-esque art combine in an offbeat, incisive, and entertaining critique of classic comic tropes.”
- Ray Olson, Booklist

“...[A] thoughtful, layered graphic novel... The result is sublime: a breezy-reading rumination on the promise and the problems inherent in graphic novels’ complicated history, and the power the creator holds in shaping the medium’s future.”
- Aaron Ragan-Fore, Eugene Weekly

“Zabel embarks on a journey... [that] transcends the classic cautionary 'be careful what you wish for' tale, reflecting on gender politics in comics and how they intersect with fantasy.”
- Hillary Brown, Paste

“Sam Zabel and the Magic Pen is, like Hicksville, a meta-comic, a story about what it means to construct and share fictions made out of panels, captions, pictures and words; like Hicksville, it presents a secret history of what comics could or should have been. ... Sam Zabel is, mostly, a thoughtful delight, a celebration of Horrocks’s chosen medium, with powerful supporting characters helpfully present to save the day...”
- Stephen Burt, Rain Taxi

“It may sound very cerebral, but the energy and excitement of the storytelling makes Sam’s artistically enlightening experience a thrilling adventure for the reader. ...[T]his graphic novel looks at how erotic imagery produced through the male gaze has evolved over the past century, but it never lets the intellectual elements get in the way of the fun. And this book is a LOT of fun... Sam Zabel And The Magic Pen may contain nudity and (not particularly graphic) sexual content, but it’s a great title for teen readers, offering valuable insights about the process of creation and the artist’s ability to challenge or reinforce social ideals.”
- Oliver Sava, The A.V. Club

“More Calvino than Borges... The story moves vertiginously between fantasy worlds, as Horrocks stages confrontations between comics’ pulpy and frequently sexist past, and the more female-friendly webcomics and manga of present-day practice. ...[T]he book’s real achievement is in the way it manages to be both besotted and furious with cartooning’s speckled history – plus be newly impassioned about the future of comics.”
- Sean Rogers, The Globe and Mail

“Rampant self-doubt and other real-world obstacles so often encountered by creative types temper the vintage sci-fi weirdness in Sam Zabel and the Magic Pen. ...[I]n artful page layouts and a well-built framework for his observations, Horrocks’ deep love for comics is... apparent in Sam Zabel.”
- Dominic Umile, Washington City Paper

“...[W]onderful, and there’s nowhere near enough Dylan Horrocks work in the world.”
- Kurt Busiek (Astro City, The Autumnlands)