Misery Loves Comedy [Hardcover]

Ivan Brunetti (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 30, 2007

Nihilism and self-loathing scale unprecedented comic heights in this autobiographical collection.

A psychiatric case study masquerading a fancy-pants graphic novel, Misery Loves Comedy collects Ivan Brunetti's early issues (no pun intended) wait, let's rephrase that. Misery Loves Comedy collects the first three issues of the legendary comic book series Schizo in their entirety, as well as a host of miscellaneous flotsam and jetsam from various anthologies, c. 1992-2005. Readers will find the author's unwitting self-caricature as a paranoid, deluded young man intriguingly repugnant and often chuckle-inducing. Besides Brunetti's trademark nihilism, self-loathing, relentless depression, and inchoate, spittle-soaked misanthropy, these earlier comics offer a dollop of scatology and blasphemy for that extra puerile, lowbrow tang. These are comics for those who enjoy witnessing one man's sanity in its final death rattle, swinging its tail from anhedonia to schadenfreude and back again. Also: lots and lots of filthy jokes.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. An introduction written by the author's therapist describes the process of creating these comics as excruciatingly painful and painfully frightening. This puts Brunetti's minimal output—three issues of his cult favorite comic Schizo in 12 years—into psychological perspective. Brunetti's work does its malevolent work with an eye to the author's psychological underpinnings. Brunetti constantly offers up the worst possible image of himself alongside his portraits of a despised society. His festival of self-loathing, sexual depravity and brutal cynicism, is, however, amazingly clever and incisive. Whether from the point of view of a miserable comics artist and workaday hack, a nihilistic Jesus Christ or a raging feminazi, these rants are fascinatingly convincing, readable and smart. Not all readers will be able to tolerate the scatologically violent sensibility that is so brilliantly manifested in these pages, but for those with a taste for the most jaded views of our society and its inhabitants, Brunetti has long been a hero. Sharply self-aware, Brunetti informs his readers, I have a gift.... I can articulate what most people won't even face.... and it is this concise and energetic articulation that makes his work so great.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Lately, Brunetti has distinguished himself as a comics-art authority by curating museum exhibitions and compiling An Anthology of Graphic Fiction (2006). Since the early 1990s, he has also produced his own comics, rife with monumental misanthropy and misogyny, not just in ostensibly autobiographical pieces indicatively entitled "Work Equals Degradation," "Life Is Shit," and "1,784 Things That Make Me Want to Vomit" (fortunately, the list sputters out at 50) but also in repulsive-yet-funny gag cartoons depicting perverted sex, scatology, and extreme violence. Distinguishing Brunetti from such other rudely transgressive alt-cartoonists as Johnny Ryan (Angry Youth Comix) are his artistic chops. As the collection documents, Brunetti's growth in mastery of the comics medium now allows him to give each strip the most effective, particular visual treatment. Like fellow comics creator and wretch Joe Matt, Brunetti, who draws himself as a dwarfish, huge-nosed schlemiel, is harder on himself than on anyone else, somewhat mitigating his relentless negativity. If the less-inspired pieces here are little more than text-heavy screeds, the best spin cynicism into pure comic-strip gold. Flagg, Gordon

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 172 pages
• Publisher: Fantagraphics Books (May 30, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560977922
• ISBN-13: 978-1560977926
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 6.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #858,793 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A powerful, demented work, December 15, 2007

By 

Stephen Ebrey (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Misery Loves Comedy (Hardcover)

Misery Loves Comedy is a book so infused with self-loathing that it must be consumed in small doses: someone who read it in one sitting would probably blow their brains out.

There's nothing original about autobiographical comics from cynical people: Robert Crumb, Harvey Pekar, and Joe Matt made their careers out of exposing their flaws. But Brunetti pulls out all of the stops: his art is wild and grotesque rather than realistic, and his hatred extends to all of humanity.

And his art is really fantastic. It is dark, disgusting, and hilarious at the same time. The only time the book sags is in the second issue of Schizo, which includes a bunch of text only segments that aren't worth reading. By the third issue he goes back to comics and even deals with some new subject matter. While Brunetti is not for everyone, he is so passionate about his dark convictions that a lot of people will enjoy his comics who don't typically like this stuff.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The feelgood read of the summer!!!, June 8, 2007

By 

Jonathan Green "defrocked cultural anthropolo... (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Misery Loves Comedy (Hardcover)

File under "erotica/hate literature" claims the cover and the rest of the book takes it from there. Brunetti wallows in his pathologies and the reader can't help but feel better about their own self.

Beats therapy!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Disturbingly brilliant!, May 26, 2007

By 

Keith N. (Baltimore, MD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Misery Loves Comedy (Hardcover)

I have been a fan of Ivan Brunetti for many years and this compilation of his work is long overdue. He is not everyone's cup of tea and you definitely need a sick sense of humor to fully enjoy this book. I wish the publishers had included his other books, "Hee" and "Haw" to this collection. My only complaint is that Mr. Brunetti does not work at a fast enough pace to put out more material. I love his stuff!