Customer Reviews

Tales Designed to Thrizzle (Vol. 1)

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

 

 

If you haven't purchased, read, re-read, then committed to memory every brilliant illustration and hilarious line of Michael Kupperman's Snake 'n' Bacon's Cartoon Cabaret, go ahead and do that now.

Go ahead.

I'll wait.

Good. You're a quick reader, and I like your pants. Now you can join me, some guy on Amazon, in rapturous praise for Kupperman. "He'll never top that book," you're saying to yourself. "That's one of the funniest books I've ever read," you're saying to yourself. Well, you're wrong. About the first part I mean. The topping part. You know. A couple of sentences ago. Anyway, he DOES top Snake 'n' Bacon's Cartoon Cabaret, right here in this lavishly made hardcover collection of the first four issues of Tales Designed to Thrizzle, newly colorized by Herr Kupperman himself.

The art is charming, the pitch-perfect absurdity is crisp and nestles nicely into the madcap tradition of the likes of Monty Python and former Simpsons writer and current author John Swartzwelder. The book itself is beautiful, no surprise as Fantagraphics truly puts a lot of love into their books. Touch the book; smell the book; you'll feel (and smell) that love, and if you're like me, you'll find that this is quite possibly the funniest book you've ever smelled.

No. You can not. But you can try by sending $29.95 for a FREE booklet describing how you could come close!

[ ] YES! Send me this FREE book. I have, for some reason, enclosed almost thirty dollars for it.
[ ] No. I am wasting my time and have read this entire review when the only thing that mattered was the stars.

The correct way to read this book is to sit down someplace comfortable where people will not stare at you and read it straight through. The cumulative effects of page after page of dizzying non sequiters, literary jokes and scatalogical humor will cause you to emit short loud "HA!" sounds, followed by snorts, then the long, breathless, uncontrollable wheezing laugh.

Even if you have sufficient self-control to not collapse in helpless convulsions of hilarity, you will find that for the next several days random phrases and imagery will work their way into your brain and you will be forever changed by the experience of having read "Tales Designed to Thrizzle."

If you have not already read the Snake 'N Bacon book that preceded it, then DO SO NOW. If you HAVE already read that, you will meet several familiar characters, and learn more about the history of Sex Blimps.

This volume is beautifully drawn and incredibly inventive, a page-turner, wildly crude and deliciously clever.

And, uh, emphatically not a book to leave around children. Fair warning!

This was my first time reading something by michael kupperman but now I can honestly say I'm a fan and for that I'm pleased. On first glance this book may seem kinda silly, and it is, but it's the kind of silly that borders on total insanity. Some jokes went right over my head, so I plan on reading the book again to see if I've gotten any smarter, or dumber, depending on the joke. This book is made up of four separate issues of the TALES DESIGNED TO THRIZZLE series. Each issue is broken up into three parts: Kids section, Adult section, and an Old people section. But believe me no child, and certainly no elderly people, should read this book. The book is aimed at a very specific type of humor, but its broad enough that anyone can find something that makes them [...] themselves with laughter. Except, again, children and old people.
If you're a fan of comic books, buy it
If you're a fan of comedy, buy it
If you just like plain ol' poop jokes and fake product advertisements, buy it
you wont be disappointed.

*WARNING: Do not read this book on a plane, people WILL become suspicious of the motivations behind you're laughter. Trust me :/

I first encountered Kupperman's work as a teenager, in his "Comics by P. Revess" feature in The Oxford American. (Most, if not all, of these were collected in Snake 'n Bacon's Cartoon Cabaret.) The fact that these comics appeared in a magazine that billed itself at the "magazine of good southern writing" is exactly the sort of non sequitur that elevates his creations from "bad" to "so bad they are brilliant."

Tales Designed to Thrizzle continues in this tradition, bringing back all of his best recurring characters (Snake 'n Bacon, the District Attorney of a Thousand Faces, Mark Twain, Pablo Picasso) as well as his single-frame and non linear story telling techniques.

Most importantly, Kupperman's humor returns in classic form. He punctuates his work with a series of perverted puns, bizarre juxtapositions, and abrupt and unexpected transitions. These elements combine with the aforementioned story telling techniques to blur the line between narratives, forcing the reader into an overwhelming flow of image and text.

The distinctions between: individual issues; child, adult, and old people sections within issues; and even specific strips seem nearly arbitrary. Stories blur into each other as jokes from other stories reappear in a demented new form.

Tales Designed to Thrizzle (in the collected volume) differs from his previous works in that it is colorized. This does not detract from his style in any way. Unlike Jeff Smith's Bone series, Kupperman's art does not push the limits of the black and white format and do not suffer from colorization. Moreover, unlike the colorized reprints of Bone, the colorized version of Tales Designed to Thrizzle actually enhances the experience of the comic by replicating the faux-antique aesthetic of the comics' parody advertisements.

Overall, I would say that this comic is by itself. In terms of humor, the only thing I can relate it to is the abrupt, jagged style of Mitch Hedberg. In terms of construction, the only thing I can relate it to is the "cut-ups" method of William Burroughs and Brion Gysin. If a weird amalgamation of these already weird oeuvres appeals to you, you should definitely check Kupperman out.

Five out of Five for sure.

....you were probably raised in an eastern European sociopath's basement, forced to listen to Penderecki 24 hours a day and prodded with blunt objects. Anyone else will find this book uproariously funny.

Off-beat, mind-bending and very, very funny!

Click through to a "surprise me" preview page and you will instantly know whether or not you want this book. I doubt there's a middle-ground, here.

I have to disagree with the other 45 year old in this review section; I can see why this book may not fly in more conservative areas and you have to have a certain specific sense of humor to appreciate it since much of it is 'toilet humor', but it is toilet humor done at a genius level. People expecting "Larry the cable guy" stuff will be disappointed, and so will Mensa folks expecting Shakespeare (although you may get a clue as to where he buried his gold). However, if the concept of Mickey Rourke taking a break from acting to live behind a file cabinet and design pubic hair stencils to give guys confidence intrigues you, I recommend you order this right now. Actually, people my age (and older) should appreciate the frequent references to insipid superhero concepts and cliché advertising efforts from our youth.

I checked this out from my local library on a whim (one of two such books I got that day), and I must say that "absurdist comedy" doesn't quite cover the sheer volume of nonsense presented in this tome. I was previously completely unaware of Kupperman's work, but after reading this I can understand why he may have amassed himself a loyal following of readers - his stuff is DAMNED funny.

Most of the "bits" in the book go on for only two or three pages (and the majority of those only just a couple of panels) and this is where Kupperman really shines. The only longer bit I found in the book was his take on the 'Choose Your Own Adventure' sort of tale; this had me in stitches, which was unfortunate as I was reading it in a public place.

Sadly, the other longer pieces (specifically "Twain & Einstein" - a bizarre take on 70's buddy cop shows) aren't nearly as funny, which got me to thinking that this collection is much like a collection of SNL sketches; when good, they're usually short and too the point, but if they go on for awhile they tend to drag under their own weight.

Kupperman has an indescribably quirky sense of humor, that, weird as it is, somehow feels dead-on. The beautiful artwork is an added pleasure. Surreal and yet real, and funny as all get out, this volume does not disappoint.