The rumors began about a year ago. The French comix collective L'Association was planning to publish an anthology of comic art that would celebrate the end of the 20th century, an era that saw the development of the comic strip as both an artistically viable medium and a powerful form of mass communication. But this one was to be more comprehensive than their usual compilation of underground French cartoonists. The result is the largest single-volume international compendium of both seasoned and neophyte artists published to date.

Comix 2000 is a dictionary of pen-and-ink soul, a gloriously expansive collection that demonstrates the various ways comic artists are reinvigorating the form. Hardbound in plain red cloth, and featuring no intelligible written dialogue (to emphasize comics' inherent universality), the 324 stories, totaling 2000 (!!) pages, hail from artists in 29 countries. According to the introduction (printed in 10 languages), a "general theme of the 20th century" was chosen "because it covers almost everything." The shortest pieces are two pages, and the longest is 27, but the majority of stories are three to 15. The bibliographical index alone is a keeper, complete with biographical data, and information on publications for further research. Let the drooling begin.

As far as Americans go, revolutionary comics savant Chris Ware is represented, as is Seattle's Megan (Girlhero) Kelso, who contributes a small, elegantly paced tale about the differences between vacation slides and the actual vacation. And somehow Weirdo legend Krystine Kryttre was coaxed out of hiding to contribute a deft, lively strip on her early, birth-to-grade-school career. Occasionally the 20th-century notion is addressed overtly, like in Argentina's Elenio Pico's clever stick-figure fashion show spanning the past 100 years: 1916 yields Chaplin's Tramp, while '28 gives birth to Mickey Mouse, and in '39, Batman and Hitler share the stage. R. Sikoryak's perfect two-pager, titled "Sis," spells out both American comics history and classic artistic yearning. In eight panels, while Sisyphus pushes that rock, his body and face morph through the history of American strip art, from early icons like E.C. Segar and Chester Gould to Mort Walker and Jim Davis coming to a late-century close on Scott (Dilbert) Adams, a man who proved better than any matchbook correspondence course that You Too Can Draw.

New Zealanders Dylan Horrocks (whose extraordinarily moving comic novel Hicksville was 1998's breakout alternative hit) and Chris Knox each contribute wonderful strips, the former a layered Holocaust meditation, the latter a witty personal timeline. Knox, the leader of the excellently odd band Tall Dwarfs, seems to draw with the same light-yet-substantive touch he brings to his music. (An American anthology of his work is long overdue.) And of course there are the (somewhat disproportionate number of) French creators, from Lewis Trondheim and his 342-panel/two-page crime epic to David B.'s fantastic alien-noir.

Comix 2000 Edited and published by L'Association, 2000 pp., $75

Some of the artists are being published for the first time within this book's pages. The editors are quick to point out in the introduction that they've omitted "national mainstream styles," like American superheroes, Japanese commercial manga, or the "French-Belgian" school (the most famous exponent of which is Hergé and his character Tintin). And as Comics Journal co-publisher Kim Thompson pointed out on the Journal's Internet bulletin board, the collection features only one veteran of the American '60s comix underground—Skip Williamson, who contributes a smoothly surreal tale about street violence and its application toward those who whistle in public—and lacks older big name European talents like Joost Swarte. It's a mistake, then, to consider this to be a collection of the best-of-the-best. Organized alphabetically rather than geographically or stylistically, Comix 2000 forces wildly diverse stories to sit nib-by-jowl. Comparative newcomer Karel Lauwers's elegantly rendered, trans-temporal town (where a modern housewife asks a caveman if she may borrow some eggs) is placed next to Cuban veteran Lauzan's blocky robots drawn on graph paper. Mezzo and David B.'s work is fastidiously detailed and quite Charles Burns-ish in its surrealism. Flip the page and there sits the work of Sasha Mihajlovich, a 21-year-old Serbian with a primitive but effective ironic story sense. Sexual maturation is a hot topic: 28-year-old Frenchwoman Mika takes a dreamlike view of "My First Period," complete with teddy bears, while newcomer Popay Ayguavives unfolds a tale of first arousal.

There are, of course, rough spots. Argentinian artist Sergio Langer depicts Middle Eastern terrorists in such a culturally stereotypical fashion that the strip "Mickey Boom!" borders on obnoxious. It's the tale of an Islamic boy who wants to go to Disney World, and whose father sends him, after consulting with clerics, clad in dynamite. Some of the selections are downright puzzling—Moulinex's untitled story about some kind of gun battle is cluttered and oddly paced, and the rough ink-work makes the storyline mystifying (Does the Tarzan/Elvis guy represent the U.S.? Is the cab driver a stand-in for France?). But the collection's sheer volume renders individual complaints weirdly disingenuous. The mere fact that the wheat drastically outweighs the chaff makes this monster a small miracle, and a bargain at twice the price.

Although it fails as any kind of comprehensive comic history, Comix 2000 is a terrific snapshot of the here-and-now, and of international alternative cartooning's future, one filled with a dazzling array of styles—from dreamy inkwashes to detailed expressionist narratives—and boundless energy. Comix 2000 is a large-scale demonstration of the medium's flexibility. In an age of geometrically progressive technology and elaborate electronic communication, this collection makes you excited about the infinite possibilities of lines on paper.

Joe Gross is a freelance writer from Dallas who writes about popular culture.

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