The Perry Bible Fellowship Almanack [Hardcover]

Nicholas Gurewitch (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 25, 2009

This 272-page follow-up to the immensely popular and soon-to-be-out-of-print collection The Trial of Colonel Sweeto and Other Stories collects the entirety of Gurewitch's weekly newspaper print run. Also features bonus "lost" strips, sketches, and an interview by Wondermark's David Malki.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. For more than 20 years, various cartoonists have jostled for the title of spiritual heir to Gary Larson, the famously weird creator of the groundbreaking strip The Far Side. Web cartoonist Gurewitch is a solid contender for the title. His preferred subject matter certainly tracks Larson: murderous mimes, vengeful T. Rexes and adulterous rolls of coins all make appearances. Gurewitch also enjoys subverting a number of hackneyed cartoon tropes, including cuckolded husbands, mischievous voyeurs and confused Grim Reapers. But it is his exquisite sense of timing that sets him apart as a budding comic genius. Gurewitch has mastered the soaker, the joke that stays with the reader for several minutes before finally sinking in, making it all the funnier as a result. As hard as the soaker is to pull off consistently, Gurewitch's timing and supreme confidence in refusing to telegraph punch lines, allows him to hit the mark almost every time. It's particularly instructive to read the appendix Lost Strips to see the still funny but broader strips that did not make the cut. He alternates between a number of art styles—all gorgeous; his selection is always in service to the joke. Subtle, sly and deeply, deeply weird, The Perry Bible Fellowship is one of the best comics out there. (Apr.)
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Dark Horse Comics (March 25, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593079885
• ISBN-13: 978-1593079888
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 0.8 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (53 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #53,936 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

89 of 90 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars What's the difference? March 20, 2009

By Z. Reed

Format:Hardcover

I have both collections. There are a few differences for those wondering if whether to buy this new edition or not. Firstly, regardless of which you buy- the strips are absolutely hilarious. The book is bigger than the original, so the strips are larger and instead of two strips per page, there is one per page. There is an interview at the end with the author and two introductions. Also, there are new strips not in the last collection. I say approximately 90% of the strips are in the first collection. I hope this helps all the people that bought the first book and loved it. If you are new to PBF the strips could be offensive because there are religious jokes, sexual jokes and jokes with a touch of violence. I have a hard time recommending it to a general audience. Maybe that's why it's so funny. It's not your run of the mill comedy that's watered-down for the masses.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The definitive PBF collection March 17, 2009

By B

Format:Hardcover

This is the definitive collection of Perry Bible Fellowship comics by the brilliant Nick Gurewitch. There are a few pages of unpublished strips, but the bulk of the comics have been published on the website -- if you own the other compilation (Colonel Sweeto), you won't get much new material here.

118 of 148 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Nothing new here March 23, 2009

By Michael J. Yohe

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I found this book horribly misleading. I have been a PBF fan for a long time, and had bought the first book as soon as it came out. I loved it. Even though I could freely view all of the comics online, it was great to have a book to go through with friends and have a few laughs. When I saw this new book was coming out and was almost 300 pages long I pre-ordered it instantly. 300 pages? There had to be tons of new comics in them since the old book was so thin and had all of them in it. I was wrong.

The only reason the book is 200+ pages long is because each comic gets its own page! The pages are 2/3 blank space and 1/3 comic strip. It's such a ripoff. I really though we were going to get some new material, since he hasn't been updating the site in a while. You do get some new stuff, but they are in the form of two sketch pages in the back, and maybe 3 different versions of other comics. IF YOU ALREADY HAVE THE FIRST BOOK DO NOT PURCHASE THIS BOOK.

For those who never picked up "The Trial of Colonel Sweeto..." go ahead and buy this. You won't be disappointed. Every comic is hysterical, the book is very attractive and would serve as an amazing coffee table book to flip through every so often.

Again, if you already own the first book don't buy this unless you just want to support the author. Even then, I'd say buy two of his t-shirts instead.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars High-Quality March 20, 2009

By CP-Mike

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

If you're looking at this book, then you probably already know what the contents will be. No surprises here. I don't have the previous compilation, so it's nice to have a hard copy of these hilarious comics.

I will comment on the quality of the book itself...it's very nice. The pages are thick, bright, and luxurious. The cover is hard and durable, with the graphics printed directly on the surface and no dust jacket. It even has an attached red satin ribbon to act as a bookmark. This book will look great as a (sick and twisted) coffee table book. It's almost a shame to put it in a shelf as the cover is such eyecandy, and just as bright and colorful as the pages. I really wasn't expecting this level of quality, and I couldn't be happier.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth Waiting For March 30, 2009

By Brenden Weinroth

Format:Hardcover

I had been wanting to purchase the Colonel Sweeto book for a long time, but have been holding off, as I had seen this collection available for pre-order for some months. Now that it is finally out and in my hands, I am glad to have waited. It is actually much higher quality than I had expected, the paper is thick, the hardcover seems sturdy, and there is a small ribbon embedded to use as a bookmark. Of course, the strips are hilarious, and at this pricepoint it seems a steal. Seriously one of the funniest comic strips ever created. It seems some of the other reviewers were expecting loads of new material and were disappointed, but I am not sure where they got these expectations from as the creator has not made any new strips in quite some time. Strongly recommend picking this up, unless you own the previous book, in which case it is hard to say. This book is surely of higher quality than the first one, so it may be worth it to some. Great deal overall!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An absolute must-have for twisted comic fans! October 4, 2011

By Matthew Dunn

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

To be totally honest, this was a complete impulse buy. The day I found PBF is the day I laughed more than I ever had on the internet, still to this day. That said, this is a gorgeous, full-color, hard-cover book that should last a long time. All of the classics strips are there plus a few extra gems. I love that each strip gets it's own page. If you are unfamiliar with PBF, think of it as a multi-paneled Far Side with a more adult/dark twist. Fantastic.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Still Laughing January 20, 2011

By C. Huskey

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I sort of bought this book out of a nagging sense of obligation. I love the PBF comics with my heart and soul (or lack thereof?) and the book promised something physical that I could come to for my fix as well as an opportunity to directly support the sale of such beautiful comedy. I was quite surprised by the make of the book; it's weighty and features an embossed cover of all things, in addition to an old-style ribbon bookmark. The prints of the comics themselves are large and impressive; even though I've spent countless hours pressing the "random" button on the PBF website, I saw aspects of these comics on paper that I've never seen before.

There are a lot of comics in this collection that were pulled from or never featured on the website. This fact alone makes this the definitive PBF collection, and it will remain so unless the site emerges from its extended inactivity. I will say that I found the unpublished (or flat-out rejected) comics to be hilarious, even if they were awful jokes, because they give quite a bit of insight into the creative process behind formulating such diabolical cartoons. There's also a great Q&A in the back. Highly recommended for fans.