Every Person on the Planet/Edmund and Rosemary Go to Hell

Every Person on the Planet
Hardcover
Simon and Schuster



Edmund and Rosemary Go to Hell
Hardcover
Simon and Schuster





Bruce Eric Kaplan is a cartoonist for the New Yorker, and it shows in both the art (simple but skillful line work) and the story. The lives of Edmund and Rosemary are upper-middle-class neuroses and anxieties writ large -- fables for a disconnected, discontented audience. The couple suffers through ennui, depression, and stress, while mundane issues become full-blown existential crises.

In Every Person on the Planet, Edmund and Rosemary decide to throw a party and wind up inviting, well, every person on the planet -- and everyone attends. The party becomes something of a microcosm of the world itself, while Edmund and Rosemary try to deal with the personal issues that arise while playing host to an event of that magnitude.

Edmund and Rosemary Go to Hell is, in fact, misleadingly titled, as what actually happens is that Edmund realizes that they are already in Hell -- hence the bad traffic and constant cell phone usage. He and Rosemary deal with this realization in their own ways, from speaking to their Congressman to trying to flee to Heaven.

Both books are short enough that to give any more detail would be to risk spoiling the enjoyment they contain. They're quick reads, both clocking in at a little over 100 pages with roughly one panel per page, and well worth the time it takes to read them. Sadly, as hardcover books they are rather exorbitantly priced compared to my usual fare, so I can't endorse them wholeheartedly, but if you can find them for a reasonable price in a used book store or, as I did, track them down at your public library, both books definitely deserve your attention.

Arsenic Lullaby #16

Arsenic Lullaby #16
Ongoing series
AAA Milwaukee Publishing



If Cyanide & Happiness is just too uplifting for you, Arsenic Lullaby may be the comic for you.

From the editorial comments at the back, it appears that the short comics that make up this issue were originally exclusives to the trade paperbacks that collected earlier issues in the series. They're all black humour -- the blackest of humours -- but unlike many other comics that ply that particular genre, they're also well written and drawn. The art has a decidedly cartoonish feel to it, but you can tell that a good deal of care and effort is put into every panel.

To give you an idea about the contents, the last (and longest) story in the comic starts off as a seemingly pat tale about children finding out a donut company's donut-shaped mascot doesn't really exist. Only you quickly learn that he does exist, and was avoiding the children because he's suffering from terrible depression as the result of being a victim of a Nazi concentration camp. It walks the line between horror, humour, and absurdity, and does so with remarkable skill.

I got my copy for free, with a big sticker pasted to the front saying it was to be handed out to fans of "the Flamming (sic) Carrot, Lenore, Squee, and Johnny the Homicidal Maniac." I love the Carrot, and I can certainly see the similarities, although this is much more disturbing than most of FC's adventures.

Go check out their website if you think this sounds like something you might like.

Nightveil #1 (2003)

Nightveil #1 (2003)
AC Comics
One Shot



A while ago, one of my local comics stores briefly changed their dollar bins to a quarter bin. At the time, the bins was chockablock full of AC Comics like Femforce and its spin-offs, so I grabbed a bunch of them since the price was so cheap and I was intrigued by an independent superhero comic that's managed to maintain such longevity. One of my main purchases was Nightveil, since I enjoy the mystic hero archetype and thought that she had a nice costume design.

This particular issue, which is slightly smaller than your average comic, appears to be a one-shot designed to... um... I'm not sure what the purpose of this comic is. It starts off with Nightveil visiting a cemetery at night, only to be disturbed by Satanists whom she makes quick work of. Then it cuts to another story, which begins with a recap of previous events, shows Nightveil making quick work (again) of one of her enemies, then goes into a flashback/origin story for a page or two. Then, only a matter of pages later, it jumps back in time again to relate a story that's as much about Nightveil's teammate Synn as it is about Nightveil herself. It finally returns to the present(?) day and sets up an extra-dimensional adventure, then ends.

It's ultimately a choppy experience that doesn't really serve as a good introduction or stand on its own, which makes me wonder why it was released as a one-shot in the first place. There are a couple of entertaining moments in the dialogue, and some of the art is pleasing enough to look at, so it's not like I feel I wasted my twenty-five cents. But it does make me worry about what I'll be getting from the other AC offerings I have on deck.