Confessions of a Cereal Eater (2) - Softcover

Maisch, Rob; Hampton, Scott

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1561633526 ISBN 13: 9781561633524

Publisher: Nbm Pub Co, 2003

Synopsis

Here¹s Plympton¹s next feature-length animated movie in preparation: a goofy take-off on Œ50's teen horror movies replete with bouffant hairdos and dead teens returning as avenging skeleton zombies! The local soda jerk manager relates the tale of Cheri and Spud, the most unlikely couple you can imagine. One is the queen of the prom, the other a nerd who screws up on her so bad he has to become her slave. With more lunatic reversals than you can shake a Œplymptoon¹ at, it turns out Cheri gets closer to Spud and loses her football hero boyfriend but with rather tragic consequences. Don¹t miss this graphic novel premiere of Plympton¹s next feature!

About this title

From Publishers Weekly:

Maisch's second volume of autobiographical stories is puerile and dull. The author clearly prides himself on the pranks he has pulled over the course of his life, but they neither amuse nor ring true. The stories are reasonably funny and well-observed when they concern Maisch's misspent youth, but obnoxious when they portray the protagonist in later years, since he doesn't seem to have progressed in wit or inventiveness. For example, "A Quiet Evening at Home" recollects how recent divorced Maisch spent a night in with his girlfriend, dumped a bucket of snow on her in the shower and made her do a striptease on his cabin's porch for the benefit of his neighbors. It's no surprise the next story begins immediately after she's left him. The perpetual frat-boy tone might have worked if Maisch had some distance or insight on these events, perhaps by presenting a narrative in which he learns from his experiences. Unfortunately, each story is simply another increasingly unfunny episode in his life. The volume's saving grace is the art, much of it by new talents from the Savannah College of Art and Design. Paul Hudson's polish and cheeky sense of fun almost salvages "A Quiet Evening at Home." Nick Rummel's angular style and heavy lines fit in perfectly with a story about a group of college guys looking for (and, of course, finding) trouble in the local nightlife. And Robyn Chapman's soft pencils and almost pointillist backgrounds give an air of sensitivity to a clumsily written tale of young romance.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist:

Like his more renowned autobiographical-comics compatriot, American Splendor creator Harvey Pekar, Maisch writes the scripts about his heartland experiences and has a team of artists bring them to life (Hampton oversees the artwork). Following the first by seven years, Maisch's second collection includes accounts of a concert, circa 1970, by Bob Segar, then "Michigan's best kept secret"; a "war between the dorms" at Michigan State University; and yarns of his later life as a publicist for a shopping mall. A bittersweet reminiscence of his first high-school romance contrasts movingly with disillusioned stories about adult relationships. Veteran comics artists illustrated its predecessor, but this book showcases younger talents, who make up in exuberance and panache what they lack in slickness. Nothing much extraordinary or exciting seems to happen to Maisch, so many stories relate extended practical jokes and other high jinks, and in general his stories lack the personality and pensiveness of Pekar's work. Yet, these entertaining tales have genuine poignancy, such that others besides graphic-novel mavens should enjoy them. Gordon Flagg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About this edition

• Publisher: Nbm Pub Co
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 1561633526
• ISBN 13: 9781561633524
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 96