The Bakers: Do These Toys Belong Somewhere? [Hardcover]

Kyle Baker (Author, Editor, Illustrator)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0974721433 | ISBN-13: 978-0974721439 | Publication Date: September 1, 2006 | Edition: 1st

Comics most adorable family now in their first darling color hardcover. Even though they re drawings, you just wanna pinch their cheeks. This breathtakingly cherubic edition collects the best episodes from Cartoonist Volumes 1-2, and The Bakers, plus 30 pages of brand new cartoons. All printed for the first time in beautiful full color!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Baker, the outrageously talented Eisner- and Harvey Award– winning artist behind such diverse projects as King David, Plastic Man and cult classic Why I Hate Saturn, has turned his attentions to more personal matters with this full-color collection of cartoon vignettes about family life. The family in question, based on Baker's own, consists of three irrepressible children and the harried couple who are their parents. In this world of alternately angelic and screaming kids, no detail of domestic life is too petty for good-natured skewering. Feeding techniques, getting kids dressed, and secret tips for frustrating parents all make an appearance. No surprise that Daddy Baker, who comes complete with dreadlocks and credit card, is frequently depicted with a smile bordering on a grimace. The tumult and confusion of this world is implied rather than spelled out. The brief comics are virtually text-free, with exaggeratedly cartoonish yet expressive artwork doing double duty as both explication and illustration. The physical comedy of the family's silent movie exploits gives the cartoons a soothingly retro feel that echoes the antic humor found in Mad magazine. This combination of Baker's inventive visual gags and chuckling familiarity makes the project endlessly appealing. (Jan.)
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Review

"Baker, the outrageously talented Eisner- and Harvey Award-winning artist behind such diverse projects as KING DAVID, PLASTIC MAN and cult classic WHY I HATE SATURN, has turned his attentions to more personal matters with this full-color collection of cartoon vignettes about family life. The family in question, based on Baker's own, consists of three irrepressible children and the harried couple who are their parents. In this world of alternatively angelic and screaming kids, no detail of domestic life is too petty for good-natured skewering. Feeding techniques, getting kids dressed, and secret tips for frustating parents all make an appearance. No surprise that Daddy Baker, who comes complete with dreadlocks and credit card, is frequently depicted with a smile bordering on a grimace. The tumult and confusion of this world is implied rather than spelled out. The brief comics are virtually text-free, with exaggeratedly cartoonish yet expressive artwork doing double duty as both explication and illustration. The physical comedy of the family's silent movie exploits gives the cartoons a silent retro feel that echoes the antic humor found in MAD magazine. This combination of Baker's inventive visual gags and chuckling familiarity makes the project endlessly appealing." --Publishers Weekly

"Kyle Baker may be too good and too funny for the good of comics. How else to explain the lack of real competition for Baker s humor efforts than that Baker s so good no one wants to compete with him in any way, shape or form? This book is full of short, mostly silent and very funny tales of Baker s life as a father trying to get some rest, convince his kids there aren t monsters under the bed, and most frightening of all, taking the brood to the mall to find a gift for his wife. Grade: A" --Tom McLean, Variety.com

"Now I m not a family man, but man did I love this book. [...] With an animator s sense of timing, Baker exposes the pains of fatherhood, from being booted off the couch to make room for the kids to trying to keep a leash on all his rugrats when he goes shopping. [...] I really enjoyed seeing something a little warmer and grounded in the familiar (but still packed with plenty of paternal suffering). Much goodness!" --Dave Farabee, Aintitcool.com

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 96 pages
• Publisher: Kyle Baker Publishing; 1st edition (September 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0974721433
• ISBN-13: 978-0974721439
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,393,861 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun from a gifted talent., July 9, 2008

By 

The Mystic Eye Of The Hipster (Murfreesboro, TN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bakers: Do These Toys Belong Somewhere? (Hardcover)

Consists of short, humorous comic strips.

Kyle Baker's work on Plastic Man got him attention, but this collection proves that it was the man, & not the comic book character that got the laughs.

A lot of cartoonists can DRAW, but Baker can TELL A STORY...without words, if he wants to.

His sparkling sense of humor makes this collection something I treasure.

If this review helped, please give me a vote.