More Blue Sky Films animators try out their hands at art without the aid of a computer mouse in OUT OF PICTURE: ART FROM THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN — VOLUME 2. If you have Villard’s oversized volume of the first one, you’re going to want this one, too. ‘Tis gorgeous, even in the few times where storytelling leaves a bit to be desired.

It begins with Jason Sadler’s “Sub Plotter,” which has the look and feel of a classic UPA cartoon, turning the board game Battleship into a screwball comedy. Next is Benoit le Pennec’s “The Youth of Jimmy,” which most resembles a “real” comic book of all the 14 pieces here, although everything about the Hollywood-set story is artificial (on purpose, mind you).

Kyle MacNaughton’s “Part 1″ is a mood piece, with neither dialogue nor discernible narrative, but looks like storyboards from a DUNE sequel, with polar bears. Jake Parker invites his own fairy tale with the playful and self-described “The Antler Boy.”

Using no words, Andrea Blasich’s cast of elephants say a lot about race in the “colorful” parable “Are You the Right Color?” Also free of prose, Lizette Vega’s “Crawdaddyo” is a circular tale of hungry crocs — resembling those of Disney’s THE RESCUERS — seeking a clawed meal, no matter animal or human form. Another image-only charmer is “Plane Food,” in which Willie Real captures fantasy in flight.

Editor Daisuke Tsutsumi’s own “A Dream of Kyosuke” looks a little too computery, but sports a terrific action sequence in the middle that’ll appeal to the 9-year-old boy in all of us. Vincent Nguyen’s “The Carnivore” is hampered by a too-brown color palette and an utterly ugly typeface; you’d think a big studio animator would have more fonts at his disposal than Helvetica lookalikes.

Best of all is David Gordon’s “The Rapture,” with a startling 9/11 image on page 128 that took my breath away when I turned to it. He has a knack for tackling politics without getting heady; using “funny” animals has something to do with it, but that technique never degrades the seriousness of his subject. (Note that Gordon also had the standout story in this book’s predecessor. When it rains, it pours.)

Others are too sketchy, too obtuse to be total successes, other than displaying their individual creators’ drawing styles. Again, a hearty “development gallery” supplements the main course — about 40 pages this go-round. Whether or not there’s a VOLUME THREE on the horizon, this and its big brother complement each other quite nicely, standing proud on your shelf, spine out. —Rod Lott

Buy it at Amazon.

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS SERIES:
• OUT OF PICTURE: ART FROM THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN — VOLUME 1