Things just get away from you
Blessed with a lovely bouncy, rubbery SpongeBob SquarePants-y style, and beloved by fellow cartoonists like Seth and Chris Ware, cartoonist and animator Walt Holcombe tells wildly imaginative stories of love gained and (often) lost. Things Just Get Away From You collects all of Holcombe's late-1990s comics work, with a bonus new story, "Hails at Sea," thrown in for good measure. Featuring: a Persian king on a quest for love accompanied by his talking camel; an unlikely friendship between a cynical bug and a lonely snail; a musical-writing whaling captain with some dangerous relationship baggage; a deadly mountain dogfight between ex-lovers over a champion show cat; and a barrel-wearing hobo.
Walt Holcombe, 1997 Russ Manning Most Promising Newcomer Award Winner
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"Walt Holcombe seems woefully underrated to me. Especially because he's such a rare combination: a sensitive mind, a wide-ranging imagination, and a virtuoso of pure cartooning. What is wrong with a world where everyone doesn't know this man's name?!!" – Seth
"Holcombe is largely to blame for enticing me to the medium. His work is a cartoon Trojan horse that lures the reader with bouncing whimsical brush lines and then unleashes the most lonely and brutal sentiment. Musical, poetic, and ornamental; a blend of Victorian novels and Dr. Seuss." – Craig Thompson
"Walt Holcombe is a true original: his jazzy drawings and mellifluous prose (to say nothing of his partiality for pathetic nebbishes, marine adventure, and "the exotic") concoct a personal, perfectly-timed viand redolent of 1920s humorists, Cliff Sterrett, and, more than anything, of Walt himself. I should also add that a big-hearted compassion backs his work like a stretched canvas behind paint." – Chris Ware
"Holcombe's tales see-saw between grim fatalism and playful absurdity, often within the same panel... Holcombe's universe is too unique and, in the end, too charming, not to visit." – Harrisburg Patriot-News
"Holcombe's art is simply jaw-dropping, echoing classic comic strips of the 20th century. His art is so beautiful it almost hurts to look at.... my highest recommendation... staggering..." – Sequart
Ranked #3, "10 Best Comics of 5767," Heeb
"[Holcombe's] brushwork and storytelling are inspirational." – Aaron Renier