Customer Reviews

The Splendid Magic of Penny Arcade: The 11 1/2 Anniversary Edition

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I'll admit right now that I'm a huge fan of Penny Arcade and pretty much all of their endeavors.

At first, I thought this book was a collection of Mike and Jerry's favorite strips, which disappointed me a little since they are continuing to release their yearly volumes. However, upon reading most of it, I was pleasantly surprised to find it is more a chronicling of how Penny Arcade came to be the monolith it is now, which I find far more fascinating. The writing can be a little self-congratulatory at times, but they also point out on many occasions that simple dumb luck played a huge part of their success. I feel that they are just as bewildered as to how they got where they are as everyone else.

If you enjoy Penny Arcade and are wondering the struggles their entire crew has endured getting where they are, I highly recommend this book. If you're just looking for laughs, you'll find quite a few here, but probably not as many as you'd expect, but that shouldn't be a reason to deter you from making the purchase.

I'm probably one of the rare few geeks on the internet that doesn't regularly follow Penny Arcade. I tried, briefly, in college (didn't we all?), but, even then, I was already behind on my video game references.

Still, regular reader or not, it is impossible to avoid the influence of Jerry and Mike (or Tycho and Gabe).

Over and above a website read by 3.5 million people a day, they've created one of the premiere gaming conventions (PAX) and even inspired a video game. They're always at the front line of geeky causes - from founding a charity (Child's Play) to battling Crazy Jack Thompson. Read 'em or not, the pair are unavoidable.

The Splendid Magic of Penny Arcade recounts their 11.5 year journey from launch to now.

The content is scattershot: amusing anecdotes of legal battles and behind-the-scenes looks at PAX are combined with photos of the office and interminable Q&A's. The highlight is a thirty-page collection of vintage strips, each paired with quick insights from the creative team. Especially as an unfamiliar reader, that's where the book came to life. I suspect that devoted fanatics would happily spend $24 RRP for a hardcover collection of photographs of fan-donated plush toys, but I wanted a bit more meat.

The real splendid magic of Penny Arcade was in the tone of voice. It is impossible to do a retrospective like this without sinking into self-praising prose and back-patting, but Mike and Jerry were as open with their mistakes as they were their successes. And, more charmingly, they largely credit their mistakes to ignorance and their successes to luck. The pair come across as really good guys - enjoying the good fortune of their miraculous livelihoods and trying their best to spread the fun when and where they can.

As a result? The book was so-so - I'm clearly outside of the target audience of hardcore fans, and suggest that newcomers to Penny Arcade start with a traditional collection instead. But the authors? They impressed the hell out of me.

A great book for everyone who loves Penny Aracade, not just for the great comic but for everything that Penny Arcade stands for. Contains several of the authors favourite comic strips as well as the story behind the comic, PAX, Childs Play and more. A must have for any serious fan!

Approximately 11 ½ years ago, two four-eyed nerds decided to start a web-comic about video games. They met in high school, in journalism class: Jerry Holkins had a penchant for putting words together, while Mike Krahulik liked to doodle. They found common ground in their nerdage and enjoyment of video games. After a couple of comic book attempts, they settled on a web-comic involving two guys talking, bitching, ridiculing, and loving video games, video game systems, and the whole world of video gaming. What began as something fun eventually turned into a voice for the fan to fight back again a terrible game or badly created system. Over a decade later, Penny Arcade is now one of the most popular and longest running comics on the Internet.

When asked why they didn't do a 10th anniversary book like everyone else, their excuse was they simply didn't have time, because Jerry and Mike are very busy guys. In addition to churning out a webcomic three times a week - as well as copious blog entries - there is Child's Play: a children's charity that donates video games, video game systems, and toys to hospitals; started in 2003, it has gone on to generate millions of dollars in toy donations for hospitals worldwide. Then there's PAX, the Penny Arcade Expo, which began as an intended small gaming convention in Seattle, and brought in over three thousand people the first year. It has since gone on to become one of the largest conventions in the county, and in 2010 for the first time there will be a PAX East taking place in Boston. And then there is the Penny Arcade podcast, as well as PAX TV, showing you behind the scenes of Penny Arcade.

The Splendid Magic of Penny Arcade is a great compendium of all things Penny Arcade, as you learn about and hear the stories from Jerry and Mike about how they first became friends, how Penny Arcade started, and the many blunders and pitfalls they've made along the way. You also get to hear from the people who work with and for them, who do their everyday jobs so Jerry and Mike get to play video games and make comics for a living. The Splendid Magic of Penny Arcade is a required book for any fan, to go right next to the collected Penny Arcade comic books.

Originally written on March 25th 2010 ©Alex C. Telander.

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I love Penny Arcade, I have all the other books and like the fanboy I am, I will probably buy any book they produce. But this book is at the bottom of the list. Its not really a look at whats current, its not really a look at what is coming, Its more of a scattered account of what has been. I will say the book has its pluses, it's nice to get a feel for what the writers are / were thinking, it's also nice to get a history of where the characters come from. I would recommend the book for hard core readers but if you are just getting into Penny Arcade buy a few of the other book first.

I really enjoyed this book. It's great to see Jerry & Mike's favorite strips and to hear the history behind the duo.

If you aren't a longtime reader, a lot of it will be absolutely lost on you, though. That doesn't make it a bad book, but it's not for PA newbies.

Definitely worth a purchase, especially at the great Amazon discount. :D

PS - I love the alternate subtitle when you remove the dust jacket!

If you're a fan of Penny Arcade, particularly if you missed out on any of the previous books, this is the one to grab as soon as possible. Stories about how it all began, great looks at the minds of the guys, and some of the best strips, collected in print form for easy and convenient access.

I'm a long time PA fan, with all the prior books, many shirts, posters and their games, but I still learned stuff about "Gabe and Tycho" and the history of PA. I really enjoyed reading this - and it is much more of a read and less of a collection of comics than their other books.

One cool thing that I got out of it is that Mike talking about learning to draw from "Commander Mark" Kistler made me Google him to see if I could find any of the videos for my kids, and I found that he is teaching summer art camps close to me. So yeah, watch out Mike. My son will be the next Art Angel... ;-)

If you are PA fan, you probably already ordered and devoured this book. If you are not then I'm afraid I cannot comprehend your warped mind, so this review is probably of no value to you.

Also, I like the Splendid title better than the "real" title underneath. Excelsior!

The Splendid Magic of Penny Arcade

It is so very sad that I went to university with guys like Mike and Jerry. They didn't have the same names, but nonetheless, D and D, and early video games.
To the book now. Most people celebrate 10, 5, 1, 20 or other normal anniversaries, but the 11 ½ anniversary is odd. It matches the strip. Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins take us from the early days of PC, to the wildly successful PAX. The journey is marvelous, there are interviews with the creators, art gathered from the many years of strips, part continuities, pictures from PAX, brilliant page fillers, and the occasional bit of non PA material.
I laughed. My son laughed. His friends laughed. Then they opened the book, and laughed harder. I must say, it is hard to select my favorite section. On Sorcelation is probably my favorite, almost as good as the interpretation pages. Gotta love the Stephen Silver page. I wonder where the Jack Davis page is though?

A partial listing of topics covered include:
A history
Continuing Evolution of Gabe and Tycho
Cardboard Tube Samurai
Characters of Penny Arcade
Making Jpegs
Twisp and Catsby
In the House of Penny Arcade
On Sorcelation
Child's Play
Armagedoon
PAX
Breaking the Law
Paint the Line
Q and A
Lyrics
Idle Hands
Interpretations
We Like These Comics
This comes highly recommended folks. Take a walk over to their web page at www.penny-arcade.com.
Tim Lasiuta

This was a Christmas gift for our son, he had forgotten that he asked me to put it in my wish list months ago. So he was pleasantly surprised.