Wondermark: Clever Tricks To Stave Off Death (Hardcover)

~ David Malki (Author, Artist)
Key Phrases: Carly Monardo

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Malki's nationally syndicated Wondermark comic strips are a form of resuscitated art in which 19th-century woodcuts and engravings get repurposed into 21st-century humor with snarky dialogue. Popularized most by their appearances in the Onion, whose high- and lowbrow satirical mixture is a perfect fit for Malki's sensibility, this is the second mordant but must-have Wondermark collection from Dark Horse. A typical Malki gag rises out of the World of Tomorrow–esque frisson of his staid premodern images of stiff men (frequently mustached and wearing waistcoats while lounging in drawing rooms) or women (parasols and cherubic expressions being their norm) exchanging dialogue more appropriate for a MySpace chatroom than Dickensian fiction. Malki's humor often has a surrealistic bent reminiscent of Terry Gilliam, given some extra steel by a near-constant obsession with death and disease, with particular attention in a hilarious end-of-book Malady Matrix. A little of Malki goes a long way, but it's a rare page that doesn't merit at least a chuckle. (May)
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From Booklist

In his comic strip Wondermark, Malki ! leaves the drawing to the creators of nineteenth-century commercial and illustrative engravings, which he minimally manipulates à la Monty Python’s Terry Gilliam. Doing so, he frees himself to concoct absurd scenarios and wild-and-crazy dialogue as well as, for this book, extras including framing text, prose extrapolations on themes in the strips, a kicker fore and a smart remark aft of each strip, a “Topical Reference Explanatory Index” containing 28 numbered explanations of cultural minutiae in the strips, specious product and service ads (e.g., “Used Earwax—J. Dyers, 64 Nassau St., N.Y.”), vertically printed half-sentences of prescriptive medical advice on the edge of each left-hand page, an index of last lines, an author’s note, and—praise be!—an exceedingly daft, 14-page story, “Ransom!” There’s even a piece of Herrimanish art by Malki ! himself (so he does know how). His stuff is busybusybusy, and you can’t just rip through it. Nor should you want to. There are a lot of funny indie strips out there, but none are funnier than Wondermark. --Ray Olson

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 96 pages
• Publisher: Dark Horse (May 13, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1595823298
• ISBN-13: 978-1595823298
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 8.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #189,645 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful!, October 30, 2009

By	Kenneth Goldstein - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A wonderfully unique and hilarious comic, with enough extras to make the book worthwhile even if you already read the strips online. Yay!

4.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious, September 9, 2009

By	Joseph P. Madigan - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I ordered this on a lark; the cover picture and title struck me as funny. As it turns out, this book is hilarious! It's nice to have it laying around, as you or anyone else can just flip it open, take a moment to read a comic, and get a good laugh. Even my 80 year old grandma is nuts for this series!

5.0 out of 5 stars Woohoo! More Wondermark (the best comic strip ever, if you didn't know)., June 30, 2009

By	Kelsey May Dangelo (Vermont) - See all my reviews

Collection of the funniest, wittiest, cleverest, most bizarre and profound comics ever. Victorian illustrations with Monty Pythonesque, surrealist, humor. Can't go wrong with this. Grade: A+