For their two-year anniversary, online webcomic collective The Chemistry Set is releasing an anthology of their works. This book is due out October 1.

No Formula:
Stories From the Chemistry Set
Buy this book

Personally, I don’t care much for anthologies these days, because they’re not books I’m likely to reread, and so I don’t feel a need to start them in the first place. Several of the stories I sampled here also involved more violence than I’m comfortable with. (It’s a quirk that puts me out of touch with a certain chunk of today’s audience.)

I think with an anthology like this, all you need to know is whose work is included. They’re all outstanding young talents. And since these were originally webcomics, you can sample all you want.

Jim Dougan edited under a certain constraint: the stories had to be self-contained, which leaves out some of their works I’m more familiar with. Read more about his experience in this online interview, which also includes comments from many of the creators.

When I first opened up the PDF file I was sent, I flipped to “Snowblind”, by Chris Arrant and Jessica Hickman, because I vaguely recognized the names and thought the title was intriguing. How surprised I was to realize I’d reviewed it before in Arrant’s minicomic collection of his work.