When most people think of a self-published book, thoughts likely wander to thin pages wrapped in drab covers with equally thin content. But that’s not the case with a new anthology of illustrative talent with a heavy Alberta presence.

The Anthology Project, conceived under the watchful eyes of Joy Ang and Nick Thornborrow, brings together 15 artists from Canada into one high-gloss, hi res beauty of a hardcover.

“There’s other anthologies out there, but to get into them there’s a bit of a barrier there we weren’t sure how to cross, so we just thought ‘Let’s do it ourselves,’” says Thornborrow, who acted as publisher, editor and contributor along with Ang. “We have these friends and they’re all super-talented, so we can showcase our work on our own.”

The result is a varied mix of tales and talents, from sweet stories innocently drawn, to quirky Robert Crumb-esque meditations on the nature of the universe.

“We wanted to have a range of styles but we weren’t dictating to anyone to just stick to a style or anything like that,” says Thornborrow. “We really wanted to let people explore their own thing. Granted, we were familiar with the kind of styles that these people worked in to begin with.”

Self-publishing a book is a tall order, and both Ang and Thornborrow were surprised by the amount of work involved, learning every aspect of getting a book to market. But it also allows the contributors and the newly minted publishers a level of creative freedom not generally offered when someone else is holding the purse strings. “That’s one thing we were a little bit worried about, which is why we didn’t go with a publisher in the first place,” says Ang. “We were also really adamant about giving all of our artists a cut as well.”

Now the duo is crossing its fingers in hopes that the 10,000 copies of the first run sell so they can channel those funds back to the artists. And there are definitely some artists who deserve more than simple kudos. Jeffrey Thompson’s “Multiverse” is a wonderfully drawn panic, as one character contemplates the effects of his decisions — creating an infinite number of alternate realities. Matt Rhodes’s “My Hero” is a great tale of adventure and spurned love that would be ideal for a video game, and Christine Choy’s “Someone Like Me” is a gorgeous, dreamy tale of finding the one you’ve been looking for.

With the ink now dry on the pages and the book ready to launch in Calgary on April 3, the collaborators have lots of promotion and travel to look forward to — New York, Chicago, Toronto.

“Not that the stuff before wasn’t fun, but you’re kind of working away on your computers and consulting people online because everyone’s all over the country,” says Thornborrow. “But now’s our chance to see each other and really celebrate what they’ve accomplished with their own comics. It’s really exciting to see it come together that way.”