The Complete Bojeffries Saga

Bojeffries Saga #1

by Alan Moore, Steve Parkhouse (Illustrator)

THE COMPLETE BOJEFFRIES SAGA collects the appearances of England's most disturbing family from various comics and magazines of the '80s and '90s. Created by Alan Moore and Steve Parkhouse, the Bojeffries clan may remind you of the familiar Addams Family, but with a more darkly humorous side: Uncle Raoul, the werewolf with a taste for poodles; Uncle Festus, the foul-mouthed vampire; Ginda, a brutish woman (?) who just wants a boyfriend; Grandpa Podlasp, a cthuloid monstrosity living in the greenhouse; Reth, a somewhat quirky though comparatively normal young man; and on top of it all, Jobremus, head of the family, a mad scientist of sorts whose "curiosity dampener" prevents the neighbors from asking too many questions.

This collection includes all of the Bojeffries tales published up to 1992, plus a nice musical piece and some cut-outs. The stories showcase Moore's particularly bizarre sense of humor while simultaneously providing new twists on the familiar monster standards.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Humor, Fantasy, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction, Comic Book

80 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1994

About the author

Alan Moore is an English writer most famous for his influential work in comics, including the acclaimed graphic novels Watchmen, V for Vendetta and From Hell. He has also written a novel, Voice of the Fire, and performs "workings" (one-off performance art/spoken word pieces) with The Moon and Serpent Grand Egyptian Theatre of Marvels, some of which have been released on CD.

As a comics writer, Moore is notable for being one of the first writers to apply literary and formalist sensibilities to the mainstream of the medium. As well as including challenging subject matter and adult themes, he brings a wide range of influences to his work, from the literary–authors such as William S. Burroughs, Thomas Pynchon, Robert Anton Wilson and Iain Sinclair; New Wave science fiction writers such as Michael Moorcock; horror writers such as Clive Barker; to the cinematic–filmmakers such as Nicolas Roeg. Influences within comics include Will Eisner, Harvey Kurtzman, Jack Kirby and Bryan Talbot.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 1 out of 5]

Basically a British version of the Addams Family. I've been slogging through this in bits and pieces for weeks. It was just such a drag I'd find myself putting it down for something else after trudging through each little vignette. Then I finally came to the realization if this were anyone other than Alan Moore I would have put this permanently aside weeks ago. It's beyond boring.

[Sud666 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This may come as a surprise to many Americans but the British are truly funny people. Alan Moore, known for his amazing story lines, channels his inner P.G. Wodehouse. I will admit that people will either love or hate this comic. It is much the same with anyone who watches a Monty Python sketch. Some love it (I do) and some don't. This comic is British humor. If that's not your thing, then this comic will hold no appeal for you. As far as the rest of you? Let's check this out:

"Sometimes we meet in
twos and threes
to get things off our
chest.
Drink "Strongbow" when
the minutes seem to
creep.
Or rent a video called
'Black Emanuelle Goes West' Discuss our sex-lives,
giggle,burp and weep."

If that threw you off..then you are getting an idea what this comic is about. Remember the tv show the Munsters? Well this is Alan Moore doing the Munsters. In England. After sipping some mushroom tea.

Jobremus Bojeffries is the paterfamilias. He has two children (Ginda and Reth); a vampire uncle (Festus); a werewolf uncle (Raoul); a baby (nameless); and Old Grandpa Podlasp (some kind of Lovecraftian entity). This bunch have various adventures interacting in "normal" England. It is a biting satire of British life done by a master-Alan Moore.

The art is appropriate for this funny story but would be awful in a normal comic. But it fits this wacky collection of stories. The first story "For All the Family" ,where the family must deal with a Rent Collector who realizes they haven't payed rent since Queen Victoria, is one of the best ones. The dry British humor is pervasive and I enjoyed it tremendously. I was also a fan of "Festus: Dawn of the Dead" where Uncle Festus (the vampire) goes out for groceries and ends up getting killed a half dozen times in a variety of funny ways. I felt bad for that poor vampire. A very funny short tale.

So if you rank people like Wodehouse, Douglas Adams, etc as "funny" people, then prepare to change your serious archetype of Alan Moore and add him to that list. Like British humor? You'll like this. If it has come as breaking news that the British and , yes, even the Germans have a sense of humor-then avoid this. It will seem like gibberish.

[Stewart Tame · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a particular favorite of mine as far as Alan Moore series go. Not everyone seems to feel that way, which is fair. I like the deadpan humor and the general weird vibe of it. It scratches the same mental itch for me as the works of such luminaries as Charles Addams, Gahan Wilson, Edward Gorey, maybe Tim Burton as well …

There are vampires and werewolves and elder gods all living in a working class flat in Great Britain during the mid-80’s: the Bojeffries family. When the Curiosity Damper goes on the fritz, Trevor Inchmale, rent collector for the city council, shows up on their doorstep about the small matter of unpaid rent going back to the time of Queen Victoria. Yes, there's an introduction and a brief tale of father and son bonding, but the rent tale was the first written, and serves as our best introduction to the family.

Part of what makes the series for me is Steve Parkhouse’s art. It manages to be both deadpan and cartoony at the same time. It's the perfect complement to Moore’s story.

The Bojeffries stories may have had a difficult time gaining traction as the series was published in bits and pieces by at least five separate companies. As I said, it remains a personal favorite, and is definitely recommended!

[Barbarroja · Rating 4 out of 5]

¡Alan Moore, humorista! Qué gran descubrimiento. La familia Addams/Monster en la Inglaterra thatcherista, dibujada fabulosamente por Steve Parkhouse, con toda la mala leche que el mago de Northampton puede poner en un tebeo. Maravilloso.

[Juho Pohjalainen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not one of Moore's best, but even his least good is good.

[Shelby · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars
I did not really get into the this book as much as what I thought I would but it soon had gotten better and then I soon got to like it more than what I did before. The artwork was amazing in this book. I would maybe read this book again. I would recommend this book to anyone that likes to read comic books.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Bojeffries are not your typical family, unless your family happens to include werewolves, vampires and other monster-type creatures. Their adventures are likewise off-kilter. From the very beginning, where a tax collector discovers that the Bojeffries house has managed to avoid taxation for a couple of hundred years (mainly by befuddling anyone attempting to collect)and befalls a comically terrible fate, it is evident that this "saga" is going to be an interesting ride.
For readers of Moore's other work (Watchman, V for Vendetta, Swamp Thing, etc.), this collection will come as a bit of a surprise. It's full of bizarre black humor and eccentric characters, but lacks the more serious gravity of Moore's later works. Nevertheless, it still manages to utilize Moore's inestimable storytelling talents to create a fascinating, albeit quirky, world.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

"But remember... I'm a sensuous modern woman, and while I don't think the size of a man's orgasm is important, I do insist on multiple penises." All the Bojeffries stories in one twisted yet strangely uplifting package. A compelling portrait of modern Britain, admittedly through the eyes of a vampire, a werewolf, an Elder God... and, well, whatever their daughter Glinda actually is. I still don't know.

[Neven · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun little bit of British lower-middle-class comedy mixed with Lovecraft and The Addams Family. Too brief and joke-based to have much lasting power, but cute nonetheless.

[Sawan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely Hilarious series.

What would a family of suburban misfits be like if they had super powers?

Read and find out!

[Dominick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collection of this Moore/Parkhouse oddity, their series of short strips about the Bojeffries family, a family of eclectic SF and horror-derived (and in a couple of cases, questionable origin)--vampire uncle, werewolf cousin, Lovecraftian granddad (complete with Hitler mustache, presumably a comment on Lovecraft's racism), etc. Mainly a chance for Moore to riff verbally (sometimes irritatingly, as in the news report strip about the family scandal, in which Moore goes out of his way to give the newscaster words to pronounce in which "i" becomes "oi") and politically, with some witty but not exactly subtle satire. Unlike some of Moore's other early work, which seemed to acquire resonance and depth ad he elaborated and extended it, this remains basically a one-note joke. Amusing, but not essential.

[Derek · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the most outrageous Alan Moore I've ever read. Completely weird! Never has suburbia been this crass and incredulously funny in a gallows humour sort of way. What a wacky collection of off-beat characters. Festus, the vamp, Ginda the demigod with a stinky attitude, Raoul, the werewolf, and my fav Trevor Inchmale, the rent collector.

The Bojefferies Saga is a collection of a couple of issues from this awesome classic. Covering such fun issues like Batfishing in Suburbia, The Rentman Cometh, Sex with Ginda. This is obviously very slapstick and enjoyable. Steve Packhouse's artwork is a n absolute marvel.

[Lucas · Rating 3 out of 5]

First came across this crazy family in the pages of Atomeka's A1 anthology, and instantly fell in love. It feels like such a weird outlier in Moore's bibliography. It's a kind of Adams Family spoof, with some later Thatcher-era sociopolitical commentary. A bunch of supernatural misfits (read vampires and werewolves) trying to navigate the world of late-80s/early-90s UK. I understand it's not everyone's cup of tea, but it's very funny to me. Parkhouse has that caricatural newspaper strip style going, which suits the story perfectly. Highly recommend this for fans of What We Do in the Shadows

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't really know what I just read. For whatever reason I started reading all of the dialogue as if read by Monty Python and that helped make sense of things. This feels like the comic book equivalent of a Monty Python sketch.

[Confuzzled Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Bojeffries are a unique family with supernatural characters and British humor.

Each person in the family is a little strange. I have seen some reviews comparing them to the Addams Family but in my opinion, they lack the Addams charm. The missing charm and the way the stories change abruptly confused me a bit.


I wish I had more to say about this graphic novel but it has taken me months to just write this. I do not hate the stories but I don’t love them either. I wish there was more explanation about the family and each their differences.


I am beginning to think Alan Moore is not my cup of tea after this and The Lost Girls vol.1. They just were not that enjoyable.

[Wilde Sky · Rating 3 out of 5]

This graphic novel details some adventures of a bizarre family.

I thought some of the ideas / points made in this book were fantastic, but ‎overall it was a bit too weird for me.

[Ribrarian Not · Rating 4 out of 5]

Libro de historietas con ISBN propio.
Edición en castellano.

[Bruce · Rating 3 out of 5]

2 1/2 stars, really. Moore's Bojeffries Saga basically comes across as a Mad Magazine take on the Munsters, if the Munsters were working class Londoners. It's certainly fish-out-of-water/violation-of-archetype humor, though whether it rises to the biting, satirical level of Mad is an open question.

Consider the racist Bobbies:

It's all episodic, each episode more or less devoted to a different member of the "family." There's a hapless vegetarian vampire, a happy-go-lucky working stiff werewolf, a construction crew-harassing battleaxe, a senile protoplasmic patriarch, etc. The Bojeffries live in a house on which they never pay taxes (or rent?), and use a thermostat-like curiosity damper to keep the neighbors at bay. They take their annual holiday in a detached camper at a run down, radioactive beach "resort."

There's some clever stuff here. I like the idea of going rooftop bat-fishing using a moth in jumpers as bait, and my favorite bit was a "Day-in-the-Life" lyric punctuated by newsies chanting out "Sun-Sun-Sun-Sun-Guardian-Sun." All in all, one of Alan Moore's ( Watchmen, From Hell, etc.) shallowest works, but at least it's not sexist.

Not worth the bother unless you're an Alan Moore obsessive or have nothing else better to read.

[Ollie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alan Moore is known for a lot of things. Of course there's Watchmen, V for Vandetta, and even From Hell. Then there's the lesser known stuff like Promethea and Swamp Thing. If there's one thing that is prevalent in Moore's work is it's sharp writing and dialogue and it's unpredictability. Like the Bojeffries Saga; a "series" I didn't know existed until Top Shelf announced is release.

It's hard to really pinpoint what the Bojeffries Saga is really about, except to say that it's a fun experimentation. The story revolves loosely around a family of superhuman individuals living together under one roof in England. The stories in Bojeffries Saga which apparently have spanned decades revolve not around the purpose each individual has, but more around their interactions with the outside world. Think the Munsters or the Addams Family but much more English.

The family consists of a primordial soup monster of a grandfather, a wolf man, a vampire, and nuclear reactor for a baby among others. So yes, it's a little more imaginative than your standard primetime fare. The stories are unique, inventive, and funny as we get a snapshot of what each individual's life is like.

I mentioned some of Alan Moore's great works at the beginning of this review and it's hard to determine where exactly The Bojeffries Saga fits into his work. It's most definitely not an epic, or a historical interpretation, nor does it make a political statement of any sort. What it is is a complete oddball, like the smart, witty, weird uncle we're glad to see once a year.

[Carlos Eguren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Siempre que se habla de la familia como concepto en el mundo del cómic, la mente del lector suele vagar por una obra tan importante como The Sandman, donde teníamos a una familia tan dispar como los Eternos. Cuando al escritor Neil Gaiman le comentaban que los Eternos era una “familia desestructurada”, el autor inglés siempre ponía su mirada irónica y decía que no conocía ninguna familia que no fuese desestructurada, que no fuera extraña o incomprensible. Y este pensamiento nos viene a la cabeza cuando leemos La Saga de los Bojeffries del escritor Alan Moore y el dibujante Steve Parkhouse.

Con motivo de la edición recopilatoria publicada por Planeta Cómic, hablamos de los seis puntos más interesantes de la obra, uno por cada miembro de la familia Bojeffries:

Seguir leyendo

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a lot of fun. Bojeffries is one of those things that gets talked about in all the books about Alan Moore but something that's not been collected before. It was an amusing look at all the worst things about British society at the time. I was expecting more of a strip comic but was glad to see there were issues and continuing themes. I know the "updated" material was written a few years ago but it was still funny. Exactly the kind of social satire you'd expect from Alan Moore.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another absolute all-time favorite. Where several of my Facebook profile pics come from (Uncle Festus!)

Read in the original serialized form in WARRIOR MAGAZINE

[Danny Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny. Old Beano style graphics coupled with Moore's humour. Just funny. :)

[Alessandro · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Complete Bojeffries Saga is Alan Moore at his most delightfully unhinged. If you're expecting a straightforward horror comic—or even another Addams Family pastiche—you're in for a surprise. Moore and Steve Parkhouse take the familiar idea of a family of lovable monsters and twist it into something unmistakably British, wonderfully absurd, and consistently unpredictable.
The Bojeffries are an unforgettable bunch: a poodle-devouring werewolf, a spectacularly foul-mouthed vampire, a hulking woman searching for love, an eldritch grandfather occupying the greenhouse, and the comparatively "normal" young Reth trying to navigate this chaotic household. Presiding over them all is Jobremus, whose wonderfully ridiculous "curiosity dampener" ensures the neighbors never ask the questions they really should.
What makes these stories work isn't just the bizarre cast but Moore's offbeat sense of humor. The jokes range from visual gags to sharp satire, often embracing the surreal without ever losing their warmth. Beneath the grotesque exterior, the Bojeffries genuinely feel like a family, complete with all the petty arguments, awkward moments, and unexpected affection that entails.
Steve Parkhouse's expressive artwork is the perfect complement to Moore's scripts, capturing both the grotesque and the mundane with effortless charm. His characters are exaggerated without becoming caricatures, making the bizarre seem almost ordinary.
This collection is also a satisfying archival edition, gathering all the stories published through 1992 along with a fun musical piece, cut-outs, and other bonus material that reinforce the wonderfully eccentric spirit of the series.
The Complete Bojeffries Saga may not be as famous as some of Moore's landmark works, but it's one of his most entertaining. It's funny, strange, gleefully macabre, and unmistakably original—a hidden gem for anyone who appreciates British humor, monster stories, or comics willing to embrace pure, joyous weirdness.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a supporter of WorldBuilders, a lovely Science Fiction and Fantasy charity, which along with helping poorer people get ahead in the world also occasionally provide me with random comics/books/games. This was how I ended up with a copy of The Bojeffries Saga.

The first thing that you notice about this book is the author, the great Alan Moore, and the next thing is the fantastic artwork, well suited to the bleak English setting, but from there on in... Well.

This is a strange and somewhat uneven (in several senses) set of comics that explore lower class Northern English society via a family of strange and powerful individuals who turn out to be as messed up as the rest of us. Occasionally poignant, regularly strange, and often a bit random, this may well be exactly what Alan Moore was aiming for, but for me it misses the mark a little more than it hits.

[Alexander Lisovsky · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a familiar and unpleasant weight rolled on top of her, England lay back, closed her eyes, and thought about sex...

Слабоумие и отвага! Раннее творчество Алана Мура, "паранормальная мыльная опера" о Семейке Адамс (как я её себе представляю), тихо живущей в спальном районе Лондона. Понравилась только первая история про сборщика арендной платы - одного из столпов британской цивилизации - который в свободное от работы время выдумывал остроумные заголовки для своей будущей биографии. Остальные сюжеты местами забавны, но в целом ощутимо проседают, а в диалогах автор начинает злоупотреблять разными лингвистическими играми и культурными отсылками времён 80-х, из-за чего становится сложно уловить хоть что-нибудь. Британский юмор, errbdy.

[Joni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me sorprende lo poco que se habla del humor de Moore .. (humoore¿?). De todos los géneros que escribe el maestro, creo es donde más lo disfruto. Por irónico, sarcástico, ácido, como siempre le chupa todo bien un huevo y hace un arte de lo políticamente incorrecto. Encimate tira una atrás de otra, tanto esta obra como Splash Brannigan, algunas cosas con la 2000 AD.
Moore se da el lujo de hacer musicales, cuentos ilustrados, y acompañado por Parkhouse que brinda un trabajo impecable. Aguante el barba mágico.

[Fahad Ahmed · Rating 1 out of 5]

You know, I think this just wasn't for me. Every now and then, there would be a funny page or line, and the art was really good. Being completely honest, though, I basically pulled myself through just to get it out of the way. Some people say the British humor isn't working with me, and while I've enjoyed the hell out of British humor in other books, maybe that's what it actually is. And yeah, that's pretty much all I have for this review

[Robert Hudder · Rating 3 out of 5]

You know this is largely an updated ripoff but it is still delightful. It is an English version of American classics. It does seem to conjure up the 80s, so it has some relevance today. I had it on my shelf for years and read it a few times. Now, I am finally willing to let it find its way into the world where someone who is just discovering old punk might be amused.

[Steven Pilling · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is different to the more superhero Moore.

It reads like an episode of the goons scripted by the league of gentlemen

Its funny in a quiet sense , the illustrations are perfect for the story .

I enjoyed but I didn't really love it