Daly's art is strong here, especially in "Harding," where his character designs seem more confident. He maintains a near-perfect nine-panel grid structure throughout the entire book, and rarely moves his camera beyond a mid-level viewpoint, all the better to maintain the book's low-key, chatty, and very funny tone. (Chris Mautner -
Robot 6 )
Daly's style is quite appealing, and his use of color really brings his panels to life. (Tom Bondurant -
Robot 6 )
Working with more colors than in anything in
Scrublands (2009) and in a comic realist mode reminiscent of, say, the old TV series
The Rockford Files (Daly’s Cape Town looks a lot like shorefront Southern California), Daly couldn’t be any more entertaining. His visual-narrative skills are impeccable, his ear for naturally funny dialogue nothing short of astounding. (Ray Olson -
Booklist )
With
The Red Monkey Double Happiness Book, Daly maintains some of the psychedelic trappings of his earlier stories but puts them within a framework of stoner noir (a la the film
Pineapple Express) buddy story, only with
Big Lebowski-style absurdity. However, the book can't really be reduced to familiar genre markers all that easily, and [a] firm, eccentric sense of place is the biggest reason why it works. (Rob Clough -
High-Low )
Where has Joe Daly been hiding? ... a tasty blend of cleanly detailed art straight out of Hergé, hipster stoner humor and a couple of mysteries that work just as well in Cape Town as they would in the Los Angeles of Robert Towne's
Chinatown or Ross Macdonald's Lew Archer stories. (John Mesjak -
my3books )
The Red Monkey Double Happiness Book features two full-length stories, 'The Leaking Cello Case' and 'John Wesley Harding.' Both stories start off in the every day then morph into oddball mysteries that never go quite where you expect them to. As odd as some of the capers and misadventures get they are always conveyed with a kind of casual, deadpan poker face that manages to make them all the more believable. ... The art is a curious mix of cartoonish realism, and the city of Cape Town is vividly portrayed...
Red Monkey Double Happiness Book is a thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining read for the mystery/crime comic fan looking for something a bit different than the harder noir stuff that seems to dominate these days. (Brian Lindenmuth -
BSCreview )
I really love comics. Reading a collection like Joe Daly's
Red Monkey Double Happiness Book, I'm reminded of just why. ... It's drawn like a combination of
Tintin,
Dilbert, and
King of the Hill. It's hilarious, both in terms of the plot and the one-liners. So, like so many other great comics, it's
sui generis. ... Daly's plots move at a breezy pace, but his art is sharply detailed, and drawn expertly from a variety of perspective points. The palette is vibrant and fun. ...[T]his is some seriously funny s---. (Byron Kerman -
PLAYBACK:stl )
[A]mazing... Both stories are laid-back, funny, and entertaining. Daly is one of my favorite new talents in comics.... one of my top five comics to be released this year so far. (Paul Constant -
The Stranger )
For my money, Daly is hilarious, with an ear for great dialog, a nice feel for the way characters and convertibles glide across the landscape of the comic page, and a zest for uniquely convoluted plots. (Steve Duin -
The Oregonian )
The Red Monkey Double Happiness Book makes for pleasant midday reading, maybe perched somewhere outdoors in the sun with a glass of ginger ale at your side. Read it in a lazy mood, identify with the slacker characters, and speculate on whether you could solve demented mysteries as well as they could. (Answer: probably not.) (Molly Young -
We Love You So )
[
The Red Monkey Double Happiness Book] has a nice laid-back vibe to it, as Dave and Paul wander into and out of adventures. It's kind of fun to just watch them drive around in Dave's sweet red convertible and look at the scenery. The art has a simple, clean look that retains enough detail to make the setting feel like a real place. And, as I said, it's pretty damn funny. I liked this book and recommend it. (Sandy Bilus -
I Love Rob Liefeld )
I want to call as much attention as I can to Joe Daly's sublimely odd and very, very funny
The Red Monkey Double Happiness Book... If you're one of those that complains that comics doesn't allow for new and unique comic sensibilities, you need to read this book. Actually, everyone should. (Tom Spurgeon -
The Comics Reporter )
Druggy noir vividly told... 'The Leaking Cello Case' and 'John Wesley Harding' are both contenders for short graphic fiction of the year… and the sense of distorted place and identity [is] as creative as fiction by Thomas Pynchon. (Chris Estey -
Three Imaginary Girls )
Both stories see Dave and Paul get involved in vaguely shady -- but entirely weird -- dealings. … Daly keeps these as stories about stoners rather than as stoner stories—this isn't the way Dave would tell the story (thankfully); it makes more sense than that. (Andrew Wheeler -
The Antick Musings of G.B.H. Hornswoggler, Gent. )
