The Complete Cholly & Flytrap

by Arthur Suydam

Collected for the first time EVER, this volume contains within its hallowed covers all of Cholly & Flytrap's tales of daring-do, grievous bodily harm and giant bat riding!

On distant planets, in cities of future past, Cholly - survivalist, battlefield entrepreneur and all-round anti hero ¬- and his pal, the giant naked Chinaman known as Flytrap, struggle against the troubles that seem to follow them like a bad smell...

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels

240 pages, Hardcover

First published October 7, 2014

Reviews

[Drew Canole · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eeek. When I read a few of these stories in Heavy Metal I thought they were really weird and cool. Reading them together I slowly realized that the story makes zero sense, and none of the stories have any continuation. It's all just goofy. The art at times is fantastic but most of the time it's abstract to the point of being difficult to interpret.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember reading these comics in Epic Illustrated back in the 80's and being fascinated by them. I had never seen anything like them. Though dated, the artwork is still amazing. Be warned, some of the attitudes of some of the characters are a bit racist.

[Dominick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmm. This is something of a dog's breakfast. The early stories have rich, lush art that combines echoes of figures such as Frazetta or Williamson with the sensibility (and narrative loopiness) of someone like Vaughan Bode--indeed, the early stuff is reminiscent of Bode's Cobalt 60. Then there's a long (overlong) story that largely seems to relocate the characters into a sort of retro world, still occupied by grotesques and caricatures but lacking the dizzy fantasy elements of the early stories. This sequence has something of the vibe of a noir, and channels Frank Miller more than anyone else, though there are echoes of others, and even a brief sequence that I think must have been lifter from Cronenberg's The Fly. The art here also lachs th erighness and texture of the earlier painted work. Narratively, it's all very over the top but also not nearly gonzo or transgressive enough (there isn't even real cursing), and there is no real sense of character, beyond the cardboard. The book is also sloppy, both in Suydam's art (in one sequence, Cholly's books are stolen, but he somehow is still wearing them a couple of page slater) but also in the ancillary material. The introduction is not well written and suffers form inaccuracies. There is some nice additional art at the end, and a history of the Suydam family's artistic endeavours, but this too is messy--significant chunks of information about Arthur appear twice. It is nice to look at, though.

[JJ]

So far not bad for a dollar :-)

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great artwork, some snappy dialogue, but in the end a derivative plot and all a bit chaotic (not in a good way).

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

Occassionally fantastic art followed by dark humor and subpar writing. Date Heavy Metal with some Feanzetta style.