From the Ashes by Bob Fingerman

by Bob Fingerman

Bob Fingerman's speculative memoir (starring Bob and his wife Michele) set in a post-apocalyptic and nuclear ravaged New York City is a surprisingly perky take on Armageddon. A hip, topical satirical romp though Manhattan's ruins, From the Ashes is a new spin on the autobiographical comics genre.Foreword by comedian Marc Maron (Air America’s Morning Sedition; WTF podcast). South Park’s Trey Parker says, “Fingerman is a brilliant satirist, artist and mind. FROM THE ASHES made me laugh out loud. Awesome.” With more than 20 pages of bonus material.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics

Paperback

First published February 1, 2010

About the author

Recent releases are From the Ashes, a satirical "speculative memoir" set in post-apocalyptic New York (IDW, March 2010) of which The Onion wrote, “As a blitz of astringent satire, an unabashed love letter to his wife, and a love-hate manifesto aimed at the whole human race, From The Ashes is a gem; as an addition to the often-staid canon of post-apocalyptic pop culture, it’s a revelation… A“

In August 2010 my second novel, Pariah (Tor Books), a Pinteresque zombie tale, was released. It rec'd a starred review from Publishers Weekly and an A- from Entertainment Weekly and was Fangoria's Book of the Month selection. The mass market pocket edition came out in 2011.

My most recent release is the deluxe oversized hardcover collection Maximum Minimum Wage, from Image Comics (April 2013), which made Entertainment Weekly's Must List and received a starred review from Publishers Weekly.

Reviews

[Will · Rating 4 out of 5]

This guy seems to really be into his wife. I like that. I also like the way he beefs on the Fox News/Conservative freakshows. A fun tale of a post-apocalyptic world.

[Mark Schlatter · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've liked Bob Fingerman's more autobiographical works (Beg the Question and the Minimum Wage series), but this volume is a very odd duck. It tells the story of Bob and his wife Michele navigating a post-nuclear-holocaust NYC while encountering mutants, cannibals (who call themselves "foodies"), zombies, and barely disguised parodies of the Westboro Baptist Church, Tim LaHaye, and Bill O'Reilly. The latter appears as a giant head supported by flying armor, calling himself Modoz and setting up a camp to repopulate the Earth. (There's a very odd scene where Bob's character calls out the O'Reilly analogue for using all the nerd references (MODOK, Zardoz) that Bob loves.) In short, it's a mess of a parody, with a plot that never coheres and a very confusing dead end in issue #5.

And the art is stunning.

Yes, it's cartoony, but it's high quality cartooning with excellent character design, gorgeous shading and tone, and everything you need in facial expressions and timing to carry the jokes. I just found it sad that the art didn't support a better narrative.

I reread this to see if it's staying in my collection --- it's not.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fingerman and his wife have a grand old time in a post-apocalyptic nightmare world.

[Brandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun enough. Decidedly not teen-friendly. Use of Stephen Colbert, Bill O'Reiley, Karl Rove clones, and other political figures will make this seem dated, but for now, it's reasonably entertaining.

[Lyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I live through the apocalypse, I hope my attitude is as good as Bob and Michelle in this book. They meet all types and they survive.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read sometime in 2013

[Taylor Friese · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun and worthwhile read. I love the art style