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A review by jonh
Tales Designed to Thrizzle, Volume One by Michael Kupperman
5.0
This is a reread for me, and no matter how many times I blaze through it, Tales Designed to Thrizzle always delights and surprises.
Resembling a pulpy comic book from the 195os--up to and including the ads on the back page--Kupperman sends up pop culture touchstones from every decade, through his own unique brand of absurdist humor.
When I was but a wee lad, I understood "absurd" as "random": not strictly speaking, but most examples of absurdist humor I could grasp amounted to random, unconnected elements entering a narrative to catch the reader (me) off guard. And I built my own sense of humor around that understanding. But as I've gotten older, I've realized that absurdist humor is at its funniest when the absurdity is not just a reference but follows through. To put it another way, that which is seemingly illogical is best served by a strong internal logic.
Kupperman has that absurdist internal logic in spades. He doesn't just reference: he crafts a whole world around seemingly incongruous elements. Parallel dimensions spring up within the pages of Thrizzle, to where Albert Einstein, Mark Twain, a snake or a slice of bacon could solve crimes.
And Thrizzle, I might add, is drawn incredibly well. Kupperman captures the "stiffness" of 1950s comic characters, and that combined with didactic, explicit dialogue makes for a very self-referential, wry contrast with some of the more absurd elements.
In short, Tales Designed to Thrizzle is a whole heap of fun. Some of the stories feel a little long, but there's such a wonderful variety of content in here, and the format encourages you to skip around, that no one piece is ever a drag.
Check it out!
Resembling a pulpy comic book from the 195os--up to and including the ads on the back page--Kupperman sends up pop culture touchstones from every decade, through his own unique brand of absurdist humor.
When I was but a wee lad, I understood "absurd" as "random": not strictly speaking, but most examples of absurdist humor I could grasp amounted to random, unconnected elements entering a narrative to catch the reader (me) off guard. And I built my own sense of humor around that understanding. But as I've gotten older, I've realized that absurdist humor is at its funniest when the absurdity is not just a reference but follows through. To put it another way, that which is seemingly illogical is best served by a strong internal logic.
Kupperman has that absurdist internal logic in spades. He doesn't just reference: he crafts a whole world around seemingly incongruous elements. Parallel dimensions spring up within the pages of Thrizzle, to where Albert Einstein, Mark Twain, a snake or a slice of bacon could solve crimes.
And Thrizzle, I might add, is drawn incredibly well. Kupperman captures the "stiffness" of 1950s comic characters, and that combined with didactic, explicit dialogue makes for a very self-referential, wry contrast with some of the more absurd elements.
In short, Tales Designed to Thrizzle is a whole heap of fun. Some of the stories feel a little long, but there's such a wonderful variety of content in here, and the format encourages you to skip around, that no one piece is ever a drag.
Check it out!