Originally published in Japan in 1982, this collection of playful, one- (mostly) and two-page, black & white, pantomime comics is a special treat for the comics æsthete!  There’s a feeling in these strips that brings to mind the great pantomime strips of Sergio Aragonés and Antonio Prohías (Spy vs. Spy) that appeared in the Mad magazine of the 1960s & ‘70s – with a bit of Don Martin thrown in for good measure.  But while Tateishi’s strips certainly embody a strong sense of humor – and are a lot of fun to read – he is much more of a formalist than they, with his primary interest being in literally playing with line and illusion and also to address, in his own inimitable fashion, Buddhist concepts relating to the illusory nature of reality.

This edition of Cheat Sheets is co-published by 50 Watts Books of Philadelphia, PA and Nieves Books of Zurich, Switzerland. It is a no frills squarebound edition that runs 100 pages, cleanly printed on 7 1/2" x 10” flat white stock with flat white card stock covers – and it’s cover to cover comics!  You can read more about the history of this book and its creator – as well as have the opportunity to check out a generous sampling of the strips – at the 50 Watts Books page devoted to it, HERE.

Read once for fun.  Read again to ponder the illusory nature of reality. Then read (at least) one more time to study how Tateishi does it.

Now these are abstract comics:  non-representational and/or abstract symbols arranged in sequence on a single page, with formal considerations of size, density, orientation, direction – and flow – being the central concern and primary focus.  Originally drawn by the Swiss artist, Warja Lavater between 1976 and 1999, the sixty pictograms that make up this collection were first published in 2008 by Nieves Books of Zurich, Switzerland.  That collection has now been reissued as a co-publication of Nieves and 50 Watts Books of Philadelphia.   

This is a no frills square bound edition that runs 124 pages, cleanly printed on 7 1/2" x 10” flat white stock with flat white card stock covers.  Each pictogram is printed on the right of the spread, with the left (which is the backing page of the previous pictogram) left blank to provide a clear field with which to confront and absorb each image – which you’ll want to do repeatedly, as each is very open to interpretation. Here’s a book that will get any rusty synapses in the visual cortex back in action!