Real Stuff [Paperback]

Dennis P. Eichhorn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 10, 2004

Dennis P. Eichhorn has been a bartender, dishwasher, cook, doorman, process server, stable hand, sailor, bouncer, taxicab driver, phone interviewer, hod carrier, publisher, firefighter, and paralegal investigator. He's also been writing comic stories about his life and experiences for the past fifteen years, illustrated by some of the finest cartoonists in the world. Such luminaries as Peter Bagge (Hate), Dave Cooper (Ripple, Overbite), Jim Woodring (The Frank Book), Joe Sacco (Palestine, The Fixer), Chester Brown (Louis Riel), Peter Kuper (The Metamorphosis), and Terry Moore (Strangers in Paradise) are only a few of the contributors to this volume.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The original Real Stuff was a popular anthology series published by Fantagraphics in the 1990s. Eichhorn, its writer, churned out stories of his checkered past and present, fueling readers' interest with a steady diet of sex, drugs, fights and other staples of the hard-living literary life. Eichhorn enlisted the rising stars of the alternative comics scene to draw his tales, making the work a hipster version of American Splendor. This collection of all 43 stories includes the original cover images and other extras. The stories follow Eichhorn from his Idaho boyhood through football stardom, hippie days and stints as a bouncer, reporter, bartender and so on. The stories are funny and well-formed, akin to solid barroom conversation. Part of the fun is watching Eichhorn mutate from one artist to the other. Julie Doucet, Jim Woodring and Chester Brown all put their stamp on Eichhorn, and he seems to allow each artist free reign, in the process helping them produce some of their better work. Mary Fleener's color story filters Eichhorn through cubist patterns, while Dave Cooper's makes his disgust at the unmentionable topic of his entry ooze off the page. In one masterpiece, Ivan Brunetti draws Eichhorn and all the characters in the story in different styles, making it a microcosm of the entire book's stylistic variety. For fans of Charles Bukowski and other flouters of polite society and of alternative comics, Real Stuff will be an offbeat, light pleasure. Eichhorn's stories are humorous and entertaining, though not for the faint of heart.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Swifty Morales Press; Graphic No edition (January 10, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0974587001
• ISBN-13: 978-0974587004
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,553,482 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Real Stuff is Real Good..., March 9, 2004

By 

Robert L. Smentek "Stetson Fedora" (Land of Milk and Honey, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Real Stuff (Paperback)

Underground comic fans rejoice, Dennis Eichorn's "Real Stuff" is back in a great trade paperback. Swifty Morales Press has assembled a "greatest hits" of Eichorn's autobiographical stories from his "Real Stuff" and "Real Smut" comics.

While Harvey Pekar's "American Splendor" focuses on the mundaneness of life, "Real Stuff" portrays the dark side. Sex, drugs, violence...they're all here. To put it mildly, Dennis Eichorn has led one interesting life.

Eichorn's hilarious tales are illustrated by some of the best artists in alternative comix including, Peter Bagge (who illustrates one of the most shockingly hilarious comic stories ever), David Collier, Peter Kuper, Triangle-Slash, and more. Without a doubt, this is one of the best comix collection released in a LONG time. Swifty Morales Press has put together an attractive, high-quality product.

"Real Stuff" is truly great stuff....can't wait for volume 2!!!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Real Stuff is the Real Deal, February 8, 2005

By 

Ace Backwords (www.geocities.com/acebackwords2002) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Real Stuff (Paperback)

If Harvey Pekar originated the genre, Dennis Eichhorn surely mastered it. Dennis is a great storyteller, and he's hooked up with some of the best comicbook artists in the land, so you can't miss with this collection. Just about every story would make a good movie. If you can imagine Charles Bukowski morphed into Hunter s. Thompson and a football player for the Fightin' Missionaries then you have an idea of whats in store for you. This is probably the best anthology of comics published all year. Highly reccomended.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, hair-raising stuff . . . but is it all real?, July 16, 2004

By 

Stefan Jones (Suburbs of Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Real Stuff (Paperback)

This comeeck was recommended by someone who compared it to Pekar's _American Splendor_ series. They're both autobiographical, both about oddballs, both illustrated by a large roster of noted comic artists.

I'm about half-way though, and from what I've seen it's even better than _Splendor_. The stories are widely varied. Some are from Eichhorn's childhood and school daze, others from his time as a fire-fighter in Alaska.

We get to know the brooding, introspective Pekar better through his comics, but Eichhorn's are funnier and more fantastic. Others are horrifyingly violent. Some I can believe happening, others are incredibly way-out. Like the story of Strange Love between a German shepherd puppy and an orphan fawn, or the time Eichhorn makes a quick twenty bucks with a pair of swim flippers while down and out in San Francisco. We're not in Baron Munchausen territory, mind you, but if they're real then Eichhorn is a real weirdness magnet.

The artwork varies, but it's all effective and in some cases really great.

In any case, it's highly recommended. Like a lot of graphic novels you won't want to leave it around where the kids or grandma will get at it.

Stefan