Customer Reviews

The Norm : Cube Collection Boxed

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I think that I laugh quite a bit at Dilbert, but I want it perfectly understood that it in no way accurately portrays life in the cube farms we call home. Michael Jantze brings a dose of reality with his character Norm and his wacky, yet realistic sidekicks. More antics from Wonk, Norm's manager, Ford, and Norm's "girl" friend Reine who is definitely my favorite. Norm goes through being fired, rehired, promoted, and quitting in this collection that also includes Jantze's love for the Star Wars phenomenon. Yes, Norm waits in line for Episode 1. If you want cute furry creatures, buy another depressing Garfield collection. If you want well-written slices of life in a Gen-X worker bee's life, get "The Norm".

Finally a strip to which I can relate. Settled families have the 'For Better or Worse', lasagna lovers have their Garfield and talking dog lovers have their Dilbert. Mike manages to keep The Norm consistantly hilarious while keeping it real enough that we can all find little pieces of our lives in it. And Star Wars. Norm is a Star Wars nut like few others. No matter what you thought of Episode 1 (grrr), for me the best memory I have is the anticipation before it came out. I love going back and reading this Norm collection as he goes through the fanatacism that leads him to wait in line and lose his job just to be one of the first to see it. Oh heck, just read The Norm to feel good and laugh out loud. Really loud.

The Norm is a great comic strip that should grow in popularity. It is great and in my mind a true classic before its time. Maybe the economic downturn of dot coms is affecting the growth of this great comic strip and it's dot com generation humor. I have been a Dilbert fan, but have converted over to The Norm.

I started perusing The Norm awhile back, through a link from a Star Wars fan website. It was the "Fandom Menace" phase of Norm's life, where he basically gave up his job (unwittingly), and his girlfriend to sit in line for the greatly hyped Star Wars prequel, The Phantom Menace. A pretty intriguing plotline, to say the least. Needless to say, once I got hooked, I never looked back. I have read the strip every day faithfully since then. Not only is this comic strip witty and funny, it brings a certain element of reality to it that sometimes make me go, "Man, do I know how THAT feels!"

The Norm explores the everyday life of a graphic artist working for a publishing company. The presence of Boy Norm (Norm's inner child), Reine (a long-time friend) and Ford (best friend/co-worker) presents a treasure trove of storylines that will send any reader rolling on the floor with laughter. Most of us can relate to it in some way. The wacky co-worker, the cologne-drenched colleague, the obsessive stalker - these are real characters that are transformed into walking parodies; enabling us, the readers, to laugh at the weirdness of our own lives.

The Cube Collection is just a sample of this extraordinary strip. Get it. Read it. I guarantee you that you'll be begging for more.

I have been a fan of THE NORM for about a two years. Michael Jantze does a great job in keeping THE NORM'S plot-line interesting and updated. The strip includes characters and funny situations that I can really relate to. The Norm's book collections are filled with page-after-page of funny and clever strips. I would recommend this set to anyone who has a friend who needs a good lagh and a refreshing perspective on life's antics.