Non Sequitur’s Beastly Things [Paperback]

Wiley Miller (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1999

If a cartoonist successfully captures life's humorous and ironic moments in three short panels, readers applaud. When Wiley does the same in his single-scene format, they roll on the carpet laughing. Seven years ago, Wiley exited the editorial pages of the San Francisco Examiner with the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award in his pocket and began a career as the preeminent solo panel creator working today. Non Sequitur readers were ready for his wild and unpredictable takes on an untamed world. Non Sequitur not only breaks the three-panel mold, it succeeds without regular characters, standard settings, or repeat situations to fall back on. Each piece, in other words, hangs out there as Wiley's snapshot of the worlds of work, leisure, and life's many crossroads. Following the solid success of his last collection, The Non Sequitur Survival Guide for the Nineties, Wiley's newest collection is destined to continue his sardonic tradition. Non Sequitur's Beastly Things, as guided by Rolf the dog, promises to keep readers howling, growling, and scratching for more. They will delight, for instance, in crocodiles luring fishermen with dollar bills, Randy the science lab kid who announces that his homework ate his dog, and the desert dweller who celebrates the change of season by raking needles beneath his cacti.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing; Original edition (October 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0740700162
• ISBN-13: 978-0740700163
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,345,254 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I began my career in art illustrating educational films. But my interest was always in print and cartooning, so in 1977 I moved from film in Southern California to work as a staff artist and editorial cartoonist for the Greensboro Daily News and the Greensboro Record (they were the morning and evening papers at the time and have since merged into one). In 1979 I moved on to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, Ca.), as doing the staff art for one paper instead of two gave me more time to do editorial cartoons. My editorial cartoons then went into syndication with Copley News Service in 1980. Unfortunately, I was laid off in the recession of 1981, which, fortunately, led me to create my first comic strip, "Fenton", which was syndicated by Field Syndicate. It had moderate success, but my love was still with editorial cartooning. When the position came open at the San Francisco Examiner in 1984, I went for it and somehow got it. I enjoyed a good run there until the recession of 1991 hit in the wake of the Gulf War. Learning from my previous experience with recessions and the lack of job security for anyone in art, I decided to make my way out before the ax fell and created Non Sequitur, which went into syndication with the Washington Post Writers Group in 1992. It was met with immediate success, but it's growth with a small syndicate was limited. When I reached that limit, I moved over to Universal Press Syndicate in 2000, where the strip now appears in 800 papers world wide.Now, of course, I taken a new turn in my career, taking a story I did in the Sunday editions in 2005 called "Ordinary Basil" and made it into my first children's book with Blue Sky Press (a Scholastic imprint). The second book in the series, "Attack of the Volcano Monkeys", came out a year later, with a third book now in the works.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Five stars for "Beastly Things", October 13, 1999

By 

Stacy Curtis ([e-mail]) (Chicago, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Non Sequitur’s Beastly Things (Paperback)

This collection of Non Sequitur cartoons is amazing. I expected a smaller collection, but this one was massive. A whopping 256 pages of Non Sequitur comics. The book is very well done and it shows the hard work Wiley obviously put into it.

If you are a "Non Sequitur" fan, do yourself a favor and buy this book. It's very cool.

-Stacy Curtis.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars In a class by himself, January 15, 2004

By 

wiredweird "wiredweird" (Earth, or somewhere nearby) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Non Sequitur’s Beastly Things (Paperback)

Anyone trying to make sense of modern culture is bound to fail. Wiley's job, it seems, it to show why. The cartoons are all just a little off from reality - it's not the difference that's so amusing, but the realities that he lampoons.

I get a taste of Wiley in my daily newspaper. This collection is a feast, a treasure of daily and sunday strips. Now that I see them collected, the recurring themes and characters are even more apparent and enjoyable.

My one complaint about this book is density - or lack of it. Other comic strip collections in this format print at least five or six dailies per page - this usually prints just two or three. Yes, I like being able to see additional detail in each panel. On the whole, I'd prefer more Wiley.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it!, November 22, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Non Sequitur’s Beastly Things (Paperback)

The more life experience you have under your belt the more you will enjoy Wiley's work. Both my husband and I loved this book. It was worth every penny. Just the book to pick up when you want to pick yourself up after a rough day.