Best Unknown Local Cartoonist

Maybe it's because he's originally from Ontario, Canada, but Graham Annable draws cartoons that lack the cynical, biting tone of many other Bay Area comics. Annable's collections, Grickle and Further Grickle(published by Alternative Comics), don't feature ennui-ridden art-school rejects like Adrian Tomine's or misanthropic freaks like Dan Clowes'. There certainly aren't any big-butted lascivious lasses, as in R. Crumb's tomes. Instead, Annable showcases simple folk undergoing simple tasks, like trying to get rid of a cough, weaseling a ride to a party, or attempting to keep a dog from eating a neighbor's wombat. But Annable's elastic facial expressions, superb comic timing, and wonderfully patient pacing -- probably learned from his other career as a video game animator at LucasArts -- make the regular Joes seem far more human than those of his peers. Of course, he's not above a little fart humor as well, as when a grandfather attempts to pass off his flatulence as gassy cloud children trapped in his belly. Hee haw.