My Dream of Life

In the two issues of C Comics, Joe Brainard debuted an unprecedented style of comic art, combining his drawings with poetry provided by his New York City cohorts. In My Dream of Life: Joe Brainard’s Comics with Poets, 1964–1978, we see the full maturation of Brainard’s collaborative creative process.

He draws amnesiac cats with Kenward Elmslie in “Baby’s First Smile”; uses the pages of The East Village Other to warn of the dangers of a certain yellow fruit in “Beware of Bananas”; relates startling facts about Bill Berkson and his friends (Did you know that Bill Berkson was once a bat boy for the Yankees? Did you know that John Ashbery used to work in a cherry canning factory? Did you know that Joe Brainard wanted to be a minister?); and even dares, with the help of Robert Creeley, to ask “Where Are They Now?” of the class of ’47.

Reuniting with longtime collaborators like John Ashbery and Anne Waldman along with new contributors such as Harry Mathews and Lee Harwood, Brainard expands his vision of comics and their limitless possibilities. Edited by comics scholar Bill Kartalopoulos, with a foreword by Ron Padgett and an introduction by Geoffrey O’Brien, My Dream of Life: Joe Brainard’s Comics with Poets, 1964–1978 is a testament not just to Brainard’s creative wizardry and his acrobatic draftsmanship, but the richness and durability of the friendships throughout his life.