Putty Pygmalion

by Lonnie Garcia

Derryl, a lonely radish, attempts to create a boyfriend out of a defunct and now illegal children's product. His creation, Peter, springs to life ready to make a child happy, and instead finds a suffocating and cloistered existence catering to Derryl’s needs. When Peter sneaks out to a party one night and meets Derryl’s friends, he discovers there’s even more to his creator’s intentions than he thought.

A queer complication on the Pygmalion myth, brought to life through Lonnie Garcia’s emotional, multimedia comic art.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Horror, LGBT, Queer, Fiction, Fantasy

72 pages, Paperback

First published July 17, 2024

Reviews

[s.penkevich [hiatus-will return-miss you all] · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ever have a real bummer of a roommate situation? Well check this. An unsettling twist on the Greek myth of Pygmalion as an eerie confrontation of loneliness and captive trauma, Lonnie Garcia’s brief graphic novel Putty Pygmalion is a huge success. Trapped in grief, Derryl creates Peter as a companion out of putty and brings him to life, but the rather alarming former kids toy creation is not pleased to find himself brought into existence to be the companion for an adult shut in who seems uncomfortably concerned with keeping him inside…

This story compounds uneasy weirdness with each flip of the page with queasy moral dilemmas around basically frankenstein-ing a person into existence as a stand-in for an unhealthy obsession with someone else and it just hits. I was rather charmed by the art style, adding cartoonish characters over photos of an old dollhouse the author found on facebook marketplace. It makes for a really eye catching and chilling effect.

While the conclusion sort of lets Derryl off the hook for some rather fucking depraved behavior, Putty Pygmalion is a delightful read that has a lot of heart amidst all the weirdness. Another fun read from Silver Sprocket. I simply loved this.

5/5

[Jillian B · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had no idea what to expect from this book, but it was such a fun one! The main character, Derryl, constructs a creature out of a special putty to be his new roommate and best friend. But things don’t go according to plan when his new creation decides he wants a life outside the home—and friends other than Derryl. And the plot takes a turn for the weird when he learns about Derryl’s last roommate…

This was a weird but delightful read. If you liked Blob by Maggie Su, you’ll also like this one a lot. This is a graphic novel with an incredibly unique art style, and it is a thing of beauty.

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

i tried to read this surreal graphic novel before sleep, and it kept melting in my mind.

the mixed media art style is inventive, trippy, and beautiful - i love the use of photo backgrounds. the author's note says these are photos taken inside a vintage dollhouse, and i got an old school grandma's house vibe. cozy yet eerie, like something lost in time.

garcia's art is amazing - in particular, the facial expressions are priceless, and so evocative! sometimes the action sequences had me confused, but i rolled with it.

the story is absurd (a lonely turnip uses a now-illegal children's product to sculpt a person to meet all his needs), yet the themes are so real. oh, to be suffocating under the weight of someone else's sadness. talk about toxic power dynamics. it's dark, uneasy, and surprisingly suspenseful, all tugged along by a deep thread of loneliness.

i would have loved to see the story slow down and go on a bit longer, as there's so much complexity here to work with. but overall i loved this!

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

In which a radish sculpts himself a boyfriend, and toxicity ensues. Delightfully weird and genuinely eerie with a unique mixed media style, though I think it could have stood to have more time to breathe.

[Marj Gaber · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love love love the clay and photo-collage elements of this comic, it's the kind of Nightmare Ned mixed media core that I think more stuff needs to look like. Plot-wise I'm glad this is the kind of monster-making tale where a freak who needs a friend is held accountable but not shut out or left to fester into somebody worse, as stories about freaks who need friends tend to go.

[Juushika · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. A lonely radish creates a companion using a banned children's sculpting toy. So this should be weird, right? Aesthetically, it is: fun character design and a phenomenal use of multimedia and image editing which gives this a crunchy, retro vibe. But even with the violent climax, this still feels like the most straightforward take on "reasons to maybe not try crafting a best buddy from clay": the uncomfortable power dynamics are forefront yet somehow still so tame.

[hope h. · Rating 5 out of 5]

YESSSSSSS THIS WAS SO GOOD!!! i love the concept so much and like the execution was just spot on. immediately engaging, great characters, the art is just incredible, and all of the backgrounds were pictures of a dollhouse the author got on fb marketplace??? that is SO genius and delightful. 10/10 would putty again

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting concept and execution. The pacing was way too rushed and I couldn’t always figure out what was happening on the page — even if it added to the creepy and nostalgic feel.

[Collin :) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love art!!! And I love artists!! Wow wow wow wow!

[seasalted.citrus (Topaz, Oliver) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, really cool! Especially visually: the character designs are brimming with personality and a bit strange, the collage style of the panels only adds to the feel. The hyper-realistic backgrounds and oversaturated colors make the story feel more uncanny and existential. (Sort of reminds me of a kookier version of toynbeck’s art on Instagram?) Some of it definitely makes the art seem visually confusing at first glance, but this is short enough that you can easily read through it a second time and see the details better, instead of being caught off-guard by how much is happening.

While I liked the visuals of the horror, the story itself was lacking a bit. I feel like the shortness meant that the fucked-up power dynamics between Peter and Derryl only got to be addressed at their surface level. I also wanted to see more of Derryl’s friends, since they gave Peter a bit more insight into his situation, and contrasted with the claustrophobic monotony of being stuck inside Derryl’s house. A lot of how they handled the plot towards the end was mostly revealed through Peter’s dialogue, too, and I’d hoped to see more conflict. (Also, because Derryl doesn’t have to face many consequences, lol?)

The storytelling for Derryl’s spiral was fantastic, though. I loved seeing it unfold the more independent Peter becomes. I think the fight towards the end is where the art starts to get a little overwhelming again, but ooo it was so visceral (both his and Peter’s unraveling).

I thought this was eerily charming, and unabashedly creative in a way I don’t see comics brave enough to be. Sorta niche indies like this one take a while to find their audience, but I have more hope that the right people will find it. Cheers to maybe having nightmares tonight! Thank you Queer Liberation Library for adding this to your digital catalog! :)

[kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5!! this was an interesting concept, familiar yet unique. it seemed very ex machina in the whole creating a partner type thing but the use of the putty was interesting with the art being the main force of the story and the mixed media situations. i truly didn’t catch that derryl was a radish until the explanation in the end. i just saw him as a fuzzy lil character. but it was pretty straightforward and short. guy makes a lil putty thing come to life to love him but you can’t make someone love you!!! you can’t manufacture someone for you to just be solely existing for you as their main purpose. and you can’t dwell on what never was!!

[Beck Sanchez · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's painful to see myself in Derryl, to recognize my longing and historically even desperation to just have somebody, to not be alone. Certainly never to the point of cruelly and thoughtlessly bringing someone, fully conscious, into this world solely for the purpose of easing some of my emotional pain but also that's just never been an option to begin with. And even though I've never emotionally or physically kept anyone captive like he has, it felt super triggering to re-experience that "abandonment" once Peter - reasonably apathetic and resentful - squirmed out of Derryl's clutches.

[Lemon · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of my favorite favorite favorites ever!!! the settings, the character designs, the desperation for normality & sameness, is so GORGEOUS. its so eerie & strikes such a weird part of my heart that feels like making a home of it. so bittersweet. we are all just big crybabies that need to accept certain circumstances eventually.

[Izzy Pilares · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a super theater geek who stans the original pygmalion, I really loved this adaptation! The use of multiple mediums is so smart and gives the whole story a kooky yet creepy vibe.

[Elissa Park · Rating 4 out of 5]

A visually and narratively ambitious comic! But I was left wanting more...

I love the use of dollhouse photos and objects for the backgrounds. It definitely gave it the comic the uncanny feeling of a house that is Not Quite Right. 
The strangeness of Derryl's house is only emphasized by backgrounds outside his home being photographs of real locations. 

The juxtaposition of the flat low detail cartoon characters against a 3D space almost evoke a paper doll like effect?
The story of a toy brought to life, using dollhouse backdrops and paper doll visuals does feel very fitting.

But at the same time, it also felt like the multimedia aspect of the comic caused problems for the artist which lead to inconsistent visuals throughout the comic.
Unlike the dollhouse which could capture the same rooms from many different angles, certain out of home scenes use backgrounds of different similar locations. Most notable in my mind is the hospital scene, where, depending on the angle, the waiting room chair may or may not have arm rests. 
Another example would be in the props of the comic. In some cases, the props in the comic were dollhouse objects that interacted with the 2d characters. Other times they were drawn in.
I was never too certain if these were intentional choices, or just a matter of what was the easiest for the artist in the moment (also valid).
The fuzzy retro VHS static of the backgrounds add an eerie but nostaglic feeling, and help to meld the 2d and 3d elements. But also at times make it hard to parse what's happening in the backgrounds in the daker pages.

The emotions and relationships being explored are complex and full of contradictions. Derryl is a friend, a parent, an abuser. Peter is a normal man who wants to live a free normal life, but also a non-human being built to bring joy to the person who made him.
I think what Putty Pygmalion is trying to explore may be more complicated than its 76 pages are able to capture. 
Still, Lonnie is successfully able to capture the emotions of both characters in such a realistic way that you feel so much understanding for them, even in the brief snippet of their lives you get a peek into.

[ashes ➷ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Immediately one of my favorite reads of the year based solely off the premise of "guy uses children's make-a-friend putty to sculpt son-boyfriend combo." Everyone in this story gives off the strongest trans guy vibes even though we have no firm evidence they're trans (I said this to someone and they said isn't it a Silver Sprocket book? yeah no shit they're trans which, okay, fair enough) and my only quibble is that I think the author didn't even fully grasp what they were stroking the end of by doing a trans I'm-your-father-but-also-your-lover abuse narrative. Like, I think they maybe do not fully understand they're writing an incestuous abuse story, and that's why things get kind of fuzzy and almost saccharine at the end.

Love that the art style is clay and doodles on top of PHOTOS OF A GRUNGEY DOLLHOUSE BOUGHT OFF FACEBOOK MARKETPLACE; absolutely crazy choice that works so so well for the "fun and playful and nostalgic but also extremely horror vibes aesthetically no matter what is happening on the page" tone.

[Marek · Rating 4 out of 5]

7.4
Zawsze ciężko oceniać mi materiał, który początkowo wywołał we mnie ekscytację, a pod koniec znacząco ostudził emocje. Od pierwszej strony Garcia pochwycił mnie swoim niesamowicie wyrazistym stylem opartym o elementy kolażu i mixed media. "Putty Pygmalion" atakuje wyrazistymi kolorami, pomysłowością kadrów i całego wykonania. Ale ten efekt przyciągania wowołuje także sama atmosfera dzieła - jest tu wręcz zaskakująco niespokojnie oraz mrocznie. Aura niczym z thrillera psychologicznego czy horroru utrzymuje się przez bardzo długi czas, a kontrast, jaki niosą ze sobą wręcz absurdalnie kreskówkowe mimika i gesty bohaterów sprawiają, że wszystko staje się coraz bardziej surrealistyczne. Ustawiając poprzeczkę zaciekawienia dość wysoko, rozwiązanie całości - jak na tak niestandardowy, dziwaczny punkt wyjścia - wydaje się być zbyt proste i nieprzystające do całej historii. A jednak pomimo poczucia lekkiego zawodu, nie mogę się na Garcie obrażać, bo to, co w tym komiksie stworzył, jest naprawdę ciekawe i dalej tkwi w mojej pamięci. Będę więc wyczekiwał czegoś więcej.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Putty Pygmalion by Lonnie Garcia is yet another inventive and interesting Silver Sprocket production, It's of course insopired by George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, and/or the original Greek myth about a sculptor who falls in love with the sculpture he creates. Of course there are many versions of this myth, but this one is a queer rendering where a boy creates a potential boyfriend out of. . . silly putty.

Initially I just thought it was going to be silly, and the cartoony nature of the artwork lends credence to this inclination. But this story taps into a dimension of the myth, that the creator may become controlling, not allowing his creation any freedom to become himself. So increasingly there's an unexpected element of psychological horror to the story, insightful about the nature of relationships.

[Sadifura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazingly creative work that plays with the medium of comics, as well as an incredibly well written character study into obsession and toxic relationships.

Derryl is a character that is hard to like yet hard to hate; he obsesses over his past friends because he's lonely and has abandonment issues, but his obsession drives him to lock his putty partner in his house with no way of getting out and eventually creating a new figure in hopes of companionship due to his obsession with his old roommate. It's a terrifying and interesting premise for someone like me, who both fears their obsessions with people and fear of abandonment will turn them possessive, and who in turn fears entrapment and deprivation of independence.

Overall, a well written, creative, scary, and poignant piece of fiction.

[Emma (littledollreads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love an art project that is not afraid to be weird. This was a weird one. The best way I can think to describe it is that it is a bit like an analog horror YouTube video and a bit like a dream you might have after listening to too much Welcome to Nightvale and The Magnus Archives after spending all day going through late 90/early 2000s memorabilia.

I liked it, weather you will or not is not really something I think I could guess at.

If you did like it, I would recommend checking out Yugo Limbo

[Rick Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Putty Pygmalion is a charming comics adaptation of the play, where a sculptor falls in love with his own creation which promptly springs to life. This comic subverts some of the basic story beats to create something subversive, and overall was a truly enjoyable take on the mythology. What really works for this comic is the multimedia artistic approach, where Lonnie Garcia really experiments around with the visual language to add an even more complex layer to the narrative. It's a short comic so a quick read overall, but definitely felt weightier than the slim page count due to how dense some of the artwork is. Well worth checking out.

[Horace Hudson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Online library read <3
I found this one really neat. It's a short read that stuck in my mind. It's a play on a myth where a fellow makes something that's then brought to life. Peter (the creation) has actual wants and needs outside of what Daryl wants though, thus the story. Their personalities are well defined, and I thought the writing was efficient.
I also really loved the art, mixing mostly 2d, photos, and clay. Their expressions convey their emotions wonderfully, and their character designs are all adorable. I'd say that the added photographs can be a tad confusing because they're low res, but it was clear enough with the added context.

[Madi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a lovely jump back into the world of comics, and I am ecstatic to learn that the author resides in Portland! Wonderful story that I could have devoured chapters of rather than the short and neat story that it is. The use of imagery and ambition in stylization is poignant and touching, makes you feel bad for the sick (derogatory) radish man! Frankenstein's monster turns out to be a gay dog who wants autonomy--radical.

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the mixed media elements to this, from the clay to the drawing to the photos. It made each element stand out in its own way, almost surreal at times. But you know sometimes you can't just make a boyfriend out of clay and have him sit around doing nothing until you decide he's worth your time! Strange lesson to learn huh. I saw no problems with this plan initially!

[Julia]

This was a super creatively made and interesting story! I loved the multifaceted approach to making panels from clay and play-do to 2d animation to arranged doll house photography, it gave a super unsettling effect. I also really enjoyed the author's notes at the back of the book. I think more books should follow in DVDs' footsteps and include special features.

[Carina Stopenski · Rating 5 out of 5]

stunning and sharp and a wild subversion on the traditional pygmalion. this comic channels so many strong emotions and utilizes such an interesting art style as the story progresses. gut-punching, raw, and a little kooky.

[Axolotl · Rating 5 out of 5]

The page structures were all very creative and flowed easily. Few pages were the simple 'square square rectangle square' formula. I love the graininess of the backgrounds, which really compliments the childlike art style the characters are drawn in. Derryl has a satisfying character arc too.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

such a creative comic, I loved the backgrounds and colour mixing. such a cool concept too. I did feel like it could have a better emotional build up. I did chuckle out loud a few times. overall so glad I got this

[DJ Jacobson · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing book you can finish in one sitting, but enjoy rereading. The mixed medium art style is both unnerving and extremely compelling, I was fascinated the entire time I was reading. Absolutely stellar.

[uncertainskies · Rating 5 out of 5]

really sick art style!! multimedia cover, layered textures over photographs of dollhouse interiors, amazing colors... great queer/alternative style graphic novel. also really strangely funny!? big fan. i would buy a copy for myself.