“The first issue of Joe Walsh’s The Shifting Ground (self-published) offered a similar aesthetically-driven take on autobio, marrying the textural directness of Frank Santoro with the cogitative digressions of Kevin Huizenga.” - Hagai Palevsky
The Shifting Ground - Honorable Mention - RJ Casey
“#5 - THE SHIFTING GROUND VOL. 1 By Joe Walsh (Self-Published) - The year's other standout debut, a dense but highly approachable philosophical treatise on --- well, just about everything, if we're being honest. Walsh really lets loose with inventive page layouts, bold color choices, and brilliant design and perspective work. Nothing short of a tour de force.” - Ryan’s 4 Color Apocalypse
“The Shifting Ground is part autobio and part transcendental philosophy treatise where no page looks quite like the last and the tone and style changes so frequently you, as a reader, can never get your feet firmly planted. I love it.”
“I enjoyed every second I spent with these small snippets that I can only describe as Whitmanesque sequentials — meandering and exploratory and full of heart and brain in equal measure.
“It flat-out EMBARRASSES me to admit that I'd never heard of heard of this guy before he sent me this comic because he really is just. That. Good.”
“literally anyone can pick this thing up and, more likely than not, find themselves absolutely wowed by it.”
“Once THE SHIFTING GROUND gets some more of the notice that it unquestionably deserves, this will be a comic that everyone's talking about.
