It Was a Dark and Silly Night…

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It Was a Dark and Silly Night…
By Hervé St-Louis
November 9, 2003 - 10:06

HarperCollins
Writer(s): Lemony Snicket, Neil Gaiman, William Joyce, Kaz, Art Spiegelman, J. Otto Seibold, Vivian Walsh, Gahan Wilson, Barbara McClintock, Richard Sala, Martin Handford, R. Sikoryak, Patrick McDonnell, Tony Millionaire, Carlos Nine, Basil Wolverton, Joost Swarte
Penciller(s): Lemony Snicket, Neil Gaiman, William Joyce, Kaz, Art Spiegelman, J. Otto Seibold, Vivian Walsh, Gahan Wilson, Barbara McClintock, Richard Sala, Martin Handford, R. Sikoryak, Patrick McDonnell, Tony Millionaire, Carlos Nine, Basil Wolverton, Joost Swarte

When publisher Harper Collins sent me this book, I half expected another anthology book by so-called comic book luminaries that people like Fantagraphics' Gary Groth are trying to shame you into getting interested in… A decade ago, that worked on me. Now, I'm proud to be lowbrow. Fortunately, if you are like me, tired of smart comics, this book is for you. The premise is silliness.

This book, published by Little Lit, one of Harper Collins's kids divisions will please both adults and kids. Spiegelman and Mouly asked cartoonists and children's book illustrators to come up with stories based on the book's title, "It was a dark and silly night…" Naturally, none of this stuff takes itself too seriously. The point here is to entertain and be silly, whether the reader is adult or not.

The real thrill of this book is the visual work. There's enough variety to cover several schools of comic book design. Joyce, better know for his work on George Little, has a story that resembles a 1910s comic strip. There's a nice 1950's like piece by Wolverton. My favourite artist is Swarte and his ligne claire design. If you lack a child to share this book with, your inner child will do!