Customer Reviews

Kaput and Zosky

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This is a very funny book. However, just so Trondheim fans ordering it won't get disappointed later on - it's worth pointing out that only little more than half of the book is actually done by Trondheim. The first half has Trondheim doing story and art all by himself. The second half mostly features stories adapted from the scripts of the Kaput & Zosky television series. The art for these stories is done by Eric Cartier, who's a fine enough artist, but not quite a genius cartoonist on the level of Trondheim. So think of the first half of the book as the main course, and the second half as the bonus feature, then you won't be disappointed. Kids reading this book probably won't care, they'll like it all.

I was introduced to the world of Lewis Trondheim with the Fantagraphics english translation of The Hoodoodad, after which I was hooked. If your only experience with translated european comic books has been Tintin and Asterix, be prepared for a darker, more adult sort of humour. There's a bit more gore, a bit more innuendo, and a lot more craziness.

Kaput & Zosky are two aliens "dedicated to evil, addicted to shooting their blasters and conquering the universe". This is collection of 12 short stories, each about 4-6 pages long, about their attempts to "liquidate, subjugate" and "blastificate" each planet they come across, with hilarious results. Interspersed amongst these are one-pagers of The Cosmonaut satirising typical human behaviour, which are as enjoyable as the main stories themselves.

The book is slightly wider and shorter than the usual comic book size. Printing is excellent, glossy and the colors leap off the page.

Highly recommended.

Note: A lot of 'blastification' occurs; may not be suitable for younger readers.

As another reviewer pointed out, the first half of this kids' comic collection is solely by Trondheim, while the next bit has the help of his friend, Eric Cartier. The only difference I note is a bit more shading in the latter bits. Do I like that? No, I like the flat, cel-animation look of the earlier part, but Cartier's title panels are actually better for it, the shading is not very noticeable, and may add to the story in some cases.
Or rather stories. A dozen, interspersed with ten one page strips titled "The Cosmonaut". Only 80 pages, you say. Yes, but they're all quality, full color, 10 X 7.5 inch pages in a stiff paperback. The art is simple but engaging, the colors dazzling, the stories quirky and amusing. French kids' comics, if you want to call them that, give kids a lot more credit than do American ones: think Tintin, Lucky Luke, Spirou and Fantasio (the origin of Marsupilami, who appeared in Disney's "Raw Toonage"). If the comic book is saved, it will be thanks to France.

Some of these stories showed up in the French/ Canadian Kaput and Zosky TV cartoons, some of which found their way onto DVD in 2005. Although I saw some of those cartoons, I didn't seem to see the ones in this book. Kids who are sick of, or have outgrown, sentimental picture books will take to these aliens with attitudes. Sad that the book is printed in China, but there it is. As for the French revolution in comics, one hopes more and more will appear in English translations. Viva la France!