Customer Reviews

1000 Steps To World Domination

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1000 Steps is funny and it also makes you want to get up off you hiney and do something with your life! The art is beautiful and each page delivers something a little different. The pages work together to chronicle Osborne's climb out of a dead-end job into a life of purpose. Buy it and go chase your own dream!

I had the chance to meet Rob in Phoenix years ago. We were talking about this book for a column I was writing at the time and it prompted my curiosity. Rob has a very dry and wicked sense of humor and the whole concept of him creating a manifesto on conquering the world was just too much for me to pass up.

I expected the book to be funny, and it is. A cartoonist deciding one day to take over the world is not exactly taken seriously and Osborne runs with the absurdity. His inner doubts are represented by a monkey. His wife can't look at the concept seriously, and even he himself has doubts. After all, this is a man who decides that battle armor for world domination involves a football helmet and a pencil. Run that through your head for a second.

Perhaps what's even more hysterical is the anecdotes in between. My favorite involves the alien conducting his first anal probe. Or maybe the devil groaning when Rob turns off the tv set. Or maybe when Rob chokes out his monkey. In any case, I was laughing.

Rob you see, is one gifted story teller. His art in a panel can tell a whole story by itself. If you doubt me, read the alien piece by itself when you first come across it. This book could have played out not just with superman or batman on a monthly basis, but with Charles Schulz, Jim Davis or Johnny Hart. Almost every page in there is an installment by itself. Put together it transforms into a fine story from start to finish.

Rob is so talented that I found myself understanding Rob's feelings all too well. I too was Rob. I too have been in a dead end job going nowhere I wanted to. I have been the alien doing the anal probes. I have been caught on the road going nowhere. And perhaps most importantly, I too have my own dreams and goals to pursue. I didn't expect that reading it. How many of us take jobs we cannot stand, do things we know in our hearts are wrong for us, and try our damnedest to bottle away our desires? While I think the humor is important, it's the message that makes this book stand out so well.

This book is about a man that wants to pursue his dreams. This is a book about a man that wants to make changes in his life, and this book is about walking away from the boxes and cages and cubicles that surround us. Rob Osborne has created an excellent piece of graphic literature. It's funny yes, but I think even more importantly, it's motivational, and very personal.

If you want to find Graphic Novels that don't fit the standard mold of a what a comic is, this is THE perfect book for you. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Osborne's dry sense of humor and brilliant pacing create one of the funniest graphic novels of the year. This book is highly recommended.