Review: Tales Designed to Thrizzle Volume 2 by Michael Kupperman

Comics, Humor

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Tales Designed to Thrizzle Volume 2 is wide ranging, bizarre and very funny. Michael Kupperman again turns a volume over to his comic imagination, riffing in stories ranging from single-page gags to an epic spoof of Quincy, M.E. that sees the 70s television coroner meet St. Peter (who has his own comic book) and get lost in an Inception-esque series of parodies.

The highlight is the recurring pairing of Mark Twain and Albert Einstein, who have a range of oddball schemes and adventures. (“I’ll tell you Al,” one opens, “I never thought we would end up on a game show hosted by Count Dracula.)

Kupperman has Twain adopt a “try anything” tough-guy patter that’s hilarious, whether the great author is serving as a Hollywood detective, blowing up asteroids or taking “sexy reporter” pills smuggled in from Japan.

The different stories adopt varying styles, but most of the volume parrots the rough, vibrant outlines and “waste no time” plotting of early superhero comics. Characters are given to wacko lines and bold pronounements: “Get offa me, you ghostly clown!” or “Gimme some pants, then I gotta investigate you two.”

But you don’t have to be subtle when you’re sharing the adventures of Jungle Princess or revealing that the moon landing actually employed death-row convicts, a la The Dirty Dozen, who later find gold. You just have to funny, and Kupperman is

Comics Review: The Grand Duke

Comics

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The Grand Duke is an adventurous graphic novel combining World War II action in the skies with quite a bit of “we might die tomorrow” coupling on the ground. It’s skillfully done, but I don’t think it quite transcends the pulp storytelling that inspired it.

Writer Yann’s plot does a good job laying clear its “tyrants decide, the people die” theme, especially with the vile Communist boss on the Russian side. But character development on the ground is frequently interrupted to get back into the air (or out of some clothes). Beyond that, the hero is a bit too noble–a Hitler-hating German who removes the swastika from his plane–and the villains too vile.

There are some nice curveballs on the margins of the plot, and all of the art is exquisite. Romain Hugault is just as comfortable drawing historic planes as gratuitous, voluptuous female nudes. His panels are rich and detailed. A lot of care went into the drawing, and the dogfight scenes really draw you into the action in the sky. Check it out, with classic Enemy Ace as a required complement.

A Shakespearian Cockblock

Books, Humor

I’m reading King Richard III, and I had to laugh at this footnote in the intro to the New Cambridge Shakespeare.

“Probably the most famous story about Burbage [one of Shakespeare’s lead actors] also concerns “King Richard III.” On 13 March 1602, John Manningham wrote in his “Diary”: ‘Upon a tyme when Burbridge played Rich. 3 there was a citizen greue soe farr in liking with him, that before shee went from the play shee appointed him to come that night unto hir by the name of Ri: the 3. Shakespeare overhearing their conclusion went before, was intertained, and at his game ere Burbridge came. Then message being brought that Rich the 3.d was at the dore, Shakespeare caused returne to be made that William the Conqueror was before Rich. the 3.’”

Review: J.D. Smith, “Notes of a Tourist on Planet Earth”

Books, FLYMF Alums, Humor

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J.D. Smith has a broad sense of humor. His new humor collection, “Notes of a Tourist on Planet Earth,” has something to draw a laugh out of any reader…and maybe something to bug their eyes out with a welcome bit of surprise as well.

The formats are diverse—poems, lists, short stories, even a bingo grid—but it’s all carefully constructed with a clever Hodgman/McSweeney’s vibe. That’s true whether he’s listing “Scat Masterson” as one of the “Least-Feared Gunfighters in the Old West” or doing a Scorcese/Shakespeare mash-up in “Goodsonnet,” which opens with the immortal line, “Would you compare me to some kind of clown?”

The poems and longer-form humor are subtler, taking time to offer a sly twist on the familiar. I really enjoyed following J.D. through his paces; at the same time, the lists offer more quick-hit humor. (There are also two stories exploring sexual themes that may not be for every reader, although the endings offer satisfying payoffs.)

Full disclosure: I first read J.D. work when he published The Great Tuvalu Liquidation Sale, My Fetishist Things and As a Matter of Fact, I Am the Person You Have to Blow to Get a Table Around Here in FLYMF, a humor magazine I used to edit. Those stories are collected here with plenty of great company. Recommended if you’re looking for a laugh.

Book Review: Wizzywig by Ed Piskor

Books, Comics

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Wizzywig: Potrait of a Serial Hacker is compelling comics fiction from Ed Piskor, who tells the story of a hacker who moves from the early thrill of discovery to serious trouble with the law. Kevin Phenicle is a nerdy, picked-on kid who likes figuring out–and exploiting–systems, whether it’s buying the right punch to make his own bus-transfer passes or whistling the perfect tones for free long-distance calls.

His grandma gets him an early computer for his birthday one year, and he’s soon exploring BBSs and making money pirating games. Eventually he’s breaking into Ma Bell headquarters, inadvertently distributing massive worms and turning to life on the lam and eventually in prison.

Kevin’s an interesting character. He’s mistreated, sure, but he’s a schemer too, unafraid of boundaries he doesn’t respect, which is most of them. He’s not above working on the margins of the law, especially when he’s on the run, but he never seems eager to steal or hurt anyone who hasn’t hurt him first.

Piskor covers a lot of ground here, from teenage hijinks to the desperation of staying one step ahead of the feds and finally a brutal life in prison. He does it skillfully, with a cartoon-realism style. (He started by doing work with Harvey Pekar.) He likes big hair and weird faces and makes good use of single-shot “talking heads” to open chapters and offer commentary on the story.

Ultimately, the book suffers from a lack of subtlety. It’s openly on Kevin’s side, but it would benefit from giving more serious consideration to the people who are alarmed and afraid of what he’s doing. The media coverage is embodied in a cartoonishly monstrous buffoon of a local news anchor, and those scenes are the weakest in the book. You understand the author’s point with the character, but he could make it better with less, not more.

But Wizzywig is an imaginative exploration of a culture that pushed boundaries and broke the law. It also highlights the official overreaction to its existence, leading us to wonder what a just punishment, if any, would be for Kevin’s exploits.