The first volume of the Drawn & Quarterly Showcase gets the series off to a mixed start with some wonderful pieces by Kevin Huizenga and a rather mundane piece by Nicolas Robel.

I have seen other work by Huizenga before, but did not enjoy it as much as the inventive pieces herein, especially "The Curse", which presents an entertaining and well thought-out look at the troubling world of starlings (of which I have some experience myself...)

Robel's dream-like piece "87 blvd des Capucines" is rather dull, although it incorporates some interesting experiments with the visual depiction of motion.

Overall, this is an intriguing introduction to a new series from Drawn & Quarterly, and certainly promises something more interesting down the road with a needed focus on alternative comics artists, as well as the space to let them present longer works than similar titles like Mome (from Fantagraphics Books) have provided to date. ( )