Bob the Angry Flower: Dog Killer (Paperback)

~ Stephen Notley (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Bob is a flower, an angry flower. Joined by Stumpy the branch, the forlorn Love-Bot and a host of targets strip-mined from politics and popular culture, he's out to let everyone know that angry can be zany, if not exactly funny. The setup is surreal comedy gold, promising just enough Bloom County and Zippy the Pinhead to make for a great underground comic. Unfortunately, Bob (who stars in a weekly print and Web comic) has already sold out, and much of the book seems to have been hastily assembled. Occasional strips, such as Bob asking God for a sign of His existence or Bob's near-death experience, show the character's potential, but overall Notley may be more concerned with achieving wackiness than tightly constructed jokes or trenchant observations. A 28-page Pure Action insert feels like little more than filler to round out the book's page count. Notley's art is inconsistent, ranging from clean and tight to rushed and sloppy. Not polished enough for prime time, but not angry enough for the underground, Bob sort of languishes in the middle. This collection will likely appeal to existing fans, without drawing in many new ones. (June)
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From Booklist

Notley's syndicated Bob the Angry Flower exemplifies the new science-fiction comics. Instead of rocketing around the galaxies, it generally stays on terra firma and lets the aliens come to it. It features robots, especially the lugubrious author's alter ego, Lovebot, and, getting brainy for a change, quantum phenomena, as when Bob, instead of just chopping a "spunky crippled kid" up with an ax, whacks him with a "quantum waveform decollapser" that renders the annoying child into innumerable, identical, possible spunky crippled kids. Trenchant references are made to highbrow fantasy (Kafka) and sf (Brave New World), but Notley is obviously most inspired by 1950s "sci-fi" flickers and their progeny of giant reptile/bug/thing attack yarns (though the big critter that most excites him is the already-big-enough bear; see the long, wordless story in the center of the book, "Pure Action"). And he's incensed by the Bush administration. Bob is pretty transparently another Notley alter ego----the main one--yet he also seems an ambulatory bud from The Little Shop of Horrors' Audrey. Energetically drawn, top-drawer madness. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Paperback: 152 pages
• Publisher: Tachyon Publications; annotated edition edition (May 31, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1892391341
• ISBN-13: 978-1892391346
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 6.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,132,368 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best comic strip out there!, June 27, 2006

By	Donald W. Stein (Buffalo, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A local alternative newspaper picked up Bob the Angry Flower a year ago and I got hooked. The concept and character is just amusing before the strip even starts. This book has some of my favorite strips so far including:

Your Oppressors
Battlecruiser Omega
Buy Everything Day
Wholly Communion

This book also includes annotations on each strip from the author.

My only complaint is the book's printing paper could be of higher quality.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Flower Power for a new generation, January 6, 2007

By	Mr. A. Markwart (United States of Whatever) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

Almost no topic is taboo for cartoonist Stephen Notley and his alter-ego (and also possibly his id), Bob the Angry Flower. If you've ever found yourself rooting for a movie villain, you will identify with Bob's schadenfreude style of humor. If you've ever been frightened by a scary movie, you will find a soothing balm in Bob's transformation of horror movie premises into palliative ridicule. Though not all material is appropriate for all ages (Bob really does mercifully, yet gruesomely, kill a terminally ill dog), Bob should be required reading for a new generation of budding teenage anti-establishmentarians.

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Flower, June 28, 2006

By	Dalai Lama (Tibet) - See all my reviews

I completely disagree with the last reviewer, Donald W. Stein. Well, except for his adoration of Bob. My favorite strips were:

Destroy the Apostrophy (a Bob classic)
Kerry Wins!
Cookie Mines
World Without Meat

And the paper quality didn't bother me at all. Nice to have all of Stephen Notley's cartoons from the last couple of years all in one place.

This is a must purchase for any selfrespecting Bob fan! And a good introduction for everybody else.