Blueprint Comics‘ Meet Me in the Pit anthology recently released its fifth issue, inviting artists to share a few short panels inspired by music and their relationship with it. Boasting cover art from the incredible Phoebe Paradise, this collection spans a huge variety of interpretations on the theme – from music as an escape to the unavoidable influence of exes on our playlists, and from Phoebe Bridgers lyrics to horror shorts and time travel.
Edited by Blueprint’s Chris Neill, Meet Me in the Pit #5 features work from Sophia Melika, Johnny Attard, S. Wrigg, Brenda Jie, Audrey Marks, Amelia Merchant, Jin Hien Lau, Rosemary Vasquez-Brown, Wilton Lander, Madi Marston, Remi-Rose Evans, and Chris Gooch (you might remember our review of his fantastic graphic novel In Utero last year).
It’s a fascinating blend of styles and stories, and music lovers will certainly find at least one piece that will resonate with them. This isn’t necessarily about genre or celebrating specific artists – it’s much more about how our music tastes evolve, how we use it as protection against the world, and how, ultimately, it makes us feel.
For me, the standouts were Johnny Attard and Michelle Lander‘s whimsical :”Gramophone”, exploring the magic that occurs when we put on a vinyl record; S. Wrigg’s playful “Anatomy of a Good Song”; Brenda Jie’s examination of music as a tool for focus in “My Noise Bubble”; and Remi-Rose Evans’s nightmarish tale, “Distracted”, set to Pink Floyd‘s “The Great Gig in the Sky”.
That we’ve already hit five issues of Meet Me in the Pit is testament to how expansive this series could get, with so many artists to showcase and so much music to explore. It’s a genuinely lovely idea, marrying two such expressive and personal artforms together, and I can’t wait to see where it goes next.
FOUR AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
You can grab a copy of Meet Me in the Pit #5 via the Blueprint Comics website HERE. Digital editions of issues #1-#4 are also available.
