Customer Reviews

Penny Arcade Volume 5: The Case Of The Mummy's Gold (v. 5)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

Despite the free availability of all these comics online, there is something still quite fantastic about getting to hold them in your hand. Jerry provides a comment or quip or backstory on each one, plus there are bonus bits of artwork, a few introductory statements from people who know Jerry and Mike, and, best of all, you can read through another year of strips during those horrifying times of no Internet access! If you are a fan of the series, big or small, you should definitely get all the books they have. It's absolutely worth it.

My husband really enjoys this gift I got for him. He mostly wanted it for the commentary. Jerry is a word genius.

The Penny Arcade team are back again with their next long-awaited volume of the online comic: The Case of the Mummy's Gold. Volume 5 features a Hardy Boys classic looking cover as Gabe and Tycho stand wary by a door in geeky-looking outfits that bare a resemblance to classic Star Trek uniforms, as a pair of mummy's arms stretch from the open doorway.

Volume 5 features some familiar characters, including our infamous fruit crushing friend, as well as some new concepts like their take on the Oriental Last Rites comic. With the advent of popular Mass Multi-Player Online (MMO) games like World of Warcraft and the Star Wars MMO, Penny Arcade embarked on a new chapter of online comics with lascivious praise on some games like the former mentioned above, and scornful berating and insult on games like the latter. Penny Arcade also became aware of their growing popularity and the fact that many people read the blogs and the comic and took the advice they offered. With this power they began ridiculing and mocking different companies in the games industry much to the amusement of the fans. It's what really launched the comic into superstardom as it began fighting back for the fans.

Whether you're picking Penny Arcade up for the first time, or simply addictively adding the next volume to your collection (like me), The Case of the Mummy's Gold will be a welcome recruit, with lots of extra sketches from the different conventions they attended, including the actual paper tablecloth doodles they made to pass the time. And if that's not enough, there's always the entertaining comments they've made on each comic about whether they liked it, or thought the concept totally failed, or simply have no recollection of what they did or were attempting to do.

Find more reviews, as well as a selection of my writing, and a link to the book review podcast BookBanter at www.alexctelander.com.

"The Case of the Mummy's Gold" is the fifth randomly-named Penny Arcade book; the strips covered are from 2004. The extras - random sketches from Comicon 2005 - aren't really that interesting this time.

Krahulik and Holkins do wander further afield in terms of writing - golf, square dancing, a Cthulu Christmas sequence, and a number of other things depart from the gaming and geek humor that still make up most of the strip. The humor there is less trapped in topical events and knowledge of gaming/geek culture; even when the jokes are extremely topical, though, the commentary can keep it in context. Holkins' commentary itself is rarely overexplanatory, often adding humor of his own.

There's less change in the art; it's never bad, and the character designs continue to evolve, but apart from where they step outside of the normal strip format (Twisp & Catsby, Cardboard Tube Samurai, and the Cthulu Christmas sequence) there aren't the leaps or experiments of previous volumes.

Krahulik and Holkins can still tell a joke, of course. "Case of the Mummy's Gold" is an extremely funny book.

****1/2

If you are looking at this book most likely you are all ready a fan of Penny Arcade. If you are a fan and wondering why you would buy a book containing strips freely available in the Penny Arcade archives, I will tell you that Tycho has, as with the first four volumes, gone back and written new commentary for all the strips in the book. As Penny Arcade fans know, a great part of the Penny Arcade experience is enjoying the strips again through Tycho's commentary on the thought process behind the strip and/or the events that led to it. There is a section in the back which includes sketches made on various convention table tops from across the years which is fun bonus material as well.

Tycho and Gabe are at it again with there wacky hi jinx in this book. The book is a compilation of there web comics from the year 2004. If you've enjoyed there web comic then this is a must read. Now you can bring Gabe and Tycho with you where there is no internet (assuming such a place exists).

If you read the brilliant webcomic Penny Arcade, then you need to buy this book.

It's as simple as that.

Collecting year 04 of Penny Arcade, Gabe and Tycho are at it again. What are they at you may ask? Hardcore hilarity. A great addition to your ever growing comic book/Web Comic collection.

As with the four volumes before it, Penny Arcade is brought to you in handy paperback format so that you may enjoy the antics of Tycho and Gabe from any location, not just in front of a computer. The addition of notes in hindsight make for some interesting takes on their past opinions, as well as additional insight into some strips' motivations.

I love Penny Arcade. It's one of those little pleasures I look forward to 3 times a week while I'm at work. The 4th collection by Mike and Jerry is a lot of fun. I like the author's notes for each comic especially.