Customer Reviews

What Would Satan Do?: Cartoons About Right, Wrong and Very, Very Wrong

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A very funny group of cartoons harpooning modern morality. I got it on a whim and then bought copies for each of my brothers.

I just purchased this book today and found it to be VERY HILARIOUS!! The book is a bunch of funny cartoons..very funny cartoons. I showed it around the office and already everyone I showed wants their own copy. If you love to laugh I recommend this one. 2 thumbs up!

Wow. This is a book your friends will WANT you to recommend. Byrnes humoristic insites into the daily struggles of moral dilema is dynamically refreshing and a BLAST to read. My wife laughed so much that she fell off the couch!

Hilarious is one way to describe the cartoons in here.Especially the few "Adam and Eve" ones..but youd have to buy this book to understand what I mean by that.Heh.The only reason I give it 4 stars is because I admit I didnt quite get atleast 5-7 or the cartoons.But thats only due to my ignorance in the subject that is joked about.

Pat Byrnes's cleverly caustic "What Would Satan Do?" is a collection of the artist's outrageous cartoons on the delights of deviltry. In his amusing introduction, Byrnes points out that the temptation to transgress is all around us; after all, society's moral compass went permanently haywire a long time ago. Therefore, the author decided to profit from the wages of sin by ridiculing such human shortcomings as greed, selfishness, incompetence, sadism, rationalization, one-upsmanship, hypocrisy, insensitivity, and other obnoxious traits that we see all around us every day--but never in ourselves.

The cartoons, some in black and white and others in color, are deliciously satirical and skillfully drawn. Nasty nuns, putrid parents, curmudgeonly CEOs, creepy criminals, and scenes from hell (literally)--they're all here for your reading pleasure. Byrnes also takes aim at reality show hosts, newscasters, computer geeks, slimy lawyers, and other easy-to-lampoon targets. "What Would Satan Do?" is timely and biting social commentary that makes us laugh at the expense of those self-centered and nasty individuals who delight in making everyone else's lives miserable. Although a few of the cartoons fall flat and others may be too naughty and tasteless for some, the book's blend of artistry (I love the facial expressions) and merry mockery make it a good purchase for misanthropes with a sense of humor.

Cartoons of the NEW YORKER variety are a long way from comic books or most newspaper comic strips when it comes to social commentary. Byrnes is a well-known practitioner of the slightly cynical cartoonist's art, often giving the reader pause: "Wait -- What did he just say?" Like the businessman asking on the phone, "What's our policy on honesty?" Or the magnate remarking to a younger manager, "When I lost my sense of humor, I lost my sense of compassion, which is how I got where I am today." And sometimes his commentary is sharper, such as with the parents in front of a family camp-tent addressing their youngest child: "I'm sorry, Tommy, you've been voted out."

Don't get me wrong. There are plenty of really funny cartoons here. But, given the subjects we could choose from (normal business operations, radical religions, absurd politics, etc.), I expected more absurdity. Twenty of the included cartoons are from the "New Yorker." I have often read an entire issue of "New Yorker" cartoons without "getting" them, although I appreciated the artistic skill involved. Once, I interviewed a cartoonist who had sold a single cartoon to the "New Yorker." He could not explain why the editor had bought the cartoon or why he could never sell another one. Now, Pat Byrnes' cartoons are much funnier than the average. His art, though it looks dashed off, is certainly not. A great deal of thought and effort has gone into these well-crafted pieces. Here's hoping that Byrnes will publish a companion volume of even darker humor. Perhaps, the devil will make him do it. By the way, his introduction is just as humorous as his drawings.

Thankyou very much for these comics. LOL happen with each of them.