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Jimbo's Divine Comedy #2
Jimbo in Purgatory
FOUNDER OF "PUNK" ART REINVENTS DANTE THROUGH HIS CHARACTER JIMBO IN THIS LANDMARK GRAPHIC NOVEL. Gary Panter has been one of America's preeminent designers and cartoonists of the last quarter century: In addition to being a prolific and sought-after illustrator, he was one of the graphic minds behind the award-winning Peewee's Playhouse show, and, as the creator of Jimbo, one of the pillars of the legendary RAW magazine. Panter's early graphics defined the California punk ethos and the alternative zine scene -- and although he hasn't achieved the notoriety of Keith Haring or Kenny Scharf, the post-Pop painting world is also deeply in his debt. Now, Fantagrphics is proud to present a major, all-new book by Panter: Jimbo in Purgatory. In this spectacular graphic novel, Panter has transformed his protean punk hero Jimbo into the protagonist of a reinterpretation of Dante's Purgatorio. After years of comparing Dante and Boccaccio to find commonalities between the two, Panter developed a narrative of his own that includes literary and pop references regularly injected throughout the captions of the reinterpreted cantos. In Panter's adaptation, Jimbo traverses a vast infotainment-testing center built in the shape of Dante's Mount Purgatory. Within its borders every man or robot stands in for a character in the Divine Comedy. In this version all the participants in the drama must respond to one another within a lunatic logic wherein each quotes a literary fragment that demonstrates their respective knowledge of a particular passage and its import to the specific location in a poem. Presented in a huge, oversize hardcover format (even bigger than the classic RAW!) to do Justice to Panter'sdensely packed pages, with a stunning two-color stamping on the cloth covers, Jimbo in Purgatory is an art object, a brilliant literary game, a visual feast, and the most eye-popping, visually and verbally challenging, and memorable new graphic novel of the year.
40 pages, Hardcover
First published August 16, 2004
3 people are currently reading
176 people want to read
About the author
Gary Panter
70 books48 followersGary Panter is an American cartoonist, illustrator, painter, designer, and part-time musician, widely regarded as a leading figure in the post-underground, new wave comics movement. His work, described by The Comics Journal as defining him the "Greatest Living Cartoonist," has influenced alternative comics and visual culture for decades. Panter grew up in Texas, studying at East Texas State University under Jack Unruh and Lee Baxter Davis. In the 1970s, he became a key participant in the Los Angeles punk scene, producing gritty, expressive art for the fanzine Slash and numerous record covers. This period saw the creation of Jimbo, Panter’s punk everyman, who combines influences from Jack Kirby, Picasso, and underground comics, appearing in Raw, Slash, and Panter’s own graphic novels, including Jimbo in Purgatory and Jimbo’s Inferno. These works blend classical literature, particularly Dante’s Divine Comedy, with punk sensibilities, and Jimbo’s Inferno won an American Book Award. Panter’s influence extended to television as the set designer for Pee-wee’s Playhouse, where his densely layered, chaotic designs earned him two Daytime Emmy Awards. He also created online comics like Pink Donkey and published retrospectives such as the two-volume Gary Panter. He contributed album cover art for Frank Zappa and Yo La Tengo, bridging the worlds of comics, music, and fine art. His style is expressionistic and fast, balancing painting, commercial art, illustration, cartoons, and alternative comix. Exhibitions of his work include the Phoenix Art Museum, Dunn and Brown Contemporary Gallery, and the "Masters of American Comics" show at New York’s Jewish Museum. In 2012, Panter received the Klein Award from the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art, recognizing his enduring contributions to the field.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
September 29, 2023
By taking aspects of the works of Dante and Boccaccio Gary Panter 'tosses' the salad and adds his own special dressing! One of the first GN that really took me by surprise: until that time the classics were 'untouchable' - I refused to read any reinterpretation - thought it somehow was just a rip-off of true talent. But this book made me see how 'snobbish' I was being; and I will always be greatful to Gary Panter and Jimbo for 'guiding' me past this!
August 11, 2016
Virtually unreadable while simultaneously captivating to look at. It's easy to write it off via the Publisher's Weekly synopsis as a postmodern mash-up re-imagining of the Decameron, Dante's Purgatorio, and Candide viewed through the lens of late 20th century "junk" culture and experienced by Panter's punk-rock protagonist, Jimbo. Because that is what it is. But that glosses over the nitty-gritty of Panter's canonization of pop culture icons in mock-classical cameos as rendered by his methodically ornate line art -- which, to me, is the value of experiencing Jimbo in Purgatory.
It's an ambitious failure. And in the last ten years since its publication, there has been nothing like it.
It's an ambitious failure. And in the last ten years since its publication, there has been nothing like it.
December 22, 2019
A pop-art visual/verbal pastiche of an old-fashioned Great Books course.
The page layouts and illustrations are freaking gorgeous, but the characters are inert mouthpieces for random quotations taken from what looks like a Norton Anthology of European Literature textbook. Characters don’t speak with each other or interact; they merely recite short literary quotes to one another. The result is a comic that you can’t really “read.” Instead, you “look at” it. If you can accept that, then you’ll dig this.
Ultimately, I’d muuuch rather see a single one of these pages hanging on my wall or in a museum than read a sequence of these pages in a book. Gary Panter’s pages ask you to dig deeply, not to keep moving on to the next one. If I were rating any single page, I’d give this top marks. But as a book, it just doesn’t work as well. It’s very good, but not great. And while that seems like a weirdly backhanded compliment, it’s only because it comes so *close* to greatness that I even point it out.
Regardless, this is not an easy find (thank you, research libraries!), so definitely give it a closer look if you do come across it.
The page layouts and illustrations are freaking gorgeous, but the characters are inert mouthpieces for random quotations taken from what looks like a Norton Anthology of European Literature textbook. Characters don’t speak with each other or interact; they merely recite short literary quotes to one another. The result is a comic that you can’t really “read.” Instead, you “look at” it. If you can accept that, then you’ll dig this.
Ultimately, I’d muuuch rather see a single one of these pages hanging on my wall or in a museum than read a sequence of these pages in a book. Gary Panter’s pages ask you to dig deeply, not to keep moving on to the next one. If I were rating any single page, I’d give this top marks. But as a book, it just doesn’t work as well. It’s very good, but not great. And while that seems like a weirdly backhanded compliment, it’s only because it comes so *close* to greatness that I even point it out.
Regardless, this is not an easy find (thank you, research libraries!), so definitely give it a closer look if you do come across it.
February 11, 2011
The density and cut-up quality of the text makes this a slow read, which is a good thing as it forces you to spend quite some time on each panel, giving each line the attention it deserves. The drawing is as good as it gets and the page compositions are striking. Time and space break apart in every way imaginable in Panter's incrediblly thought-out grids, and the relentless barrage of quotations, characters and symbols builds layer upon layer of meaning that I presume even the most well-read scholar would only find semi-transparent. The overall effect is hallucinatory. There were times as I was reading it when I swear I could hear my neurons snap.
November 2, 2009
I respect Panter for really pushing the boundaries of comics as a form. The complexity and literary cross references scream ART and the nods to popular culture say MODERN and COOL. The cover -
a quirky collage pastiche of Gustave Dore's mid-Victorian illustrated Dante - says both.
But, as you can tell, I respect it but I don't love it. It is monotonous, abstruse and dull. A bit like James Joyce: lousy for a read but great for a study course. I guarantee that copies will stay mint because people won't be able to read it. It's making comic book history but hopefully a dead end.
a quirky collage pastiche of Gustave Dore's mid-Victorian illustrated Dante - says both.
But, as you can tell, I respect it but I don't love it. It is monotonous, abstruse and dull. A bit like James Joyce: lousy for a read but great for a study course. I guarantee that copies will stay mint because people won't be able to read it. It's making comic book history but hopefully a dead end.
November 1, 2007
this book is huge and beautiful and will make you want to hang the pages from your wall. i love gary panter. he is sincere, unpretensious and profound...a hard fucking mixture to come across.
November 18, 2017
This review is a review of Gary Panter's Jimbo Comics; particularly his Divine Comedy series.
Gary Panter has a punk rock aesthetic that's been elevated to high/fine art in the art circles. He's good friends (if not best) with Matt Groening so to me that friendship kind of illustrates the relationship with art and commerce. Groening's initially subversive cartoon strips and Simpsons eventually becoming the cultural zeitgeist, status quo and eventual sunset.
I'm including 4 books in this review; Jimbo: Adventures in Paradise (the first published and introducing Jimbo, and not really related to the thematic arc of the story, other than the title of the final part), Jimbo's Purgatory (the first in this story Arc), Jimbo's Inferno ("The Lost Prequel--although published 5-6 years afterwards) and lastly Songy of Paradise (which doesn't star Jimbo or Jesus nor does it focus on Paradiso--but instead a country bumpkin being tempted by Milton's devil with Paradise Lost Allusions).
Fractured and confusing? Good, because that's what a lot of the series feels like. To it's charm and detriment.
Jimbo: Adventures in Paradise. This in the introduction to the character of Jimbo from his shorts in the seminal "RAW" magazine. A punk rock almost fratboy. Although Jimbo functions as an engaging story about a punk rock guy named Jimbo who is struggling to find meaning and identity among a barrage of 20th century complexities and conflicts ranging from the mechanization of society to the use of LSD, to living through a nuclear holocaust, but it's the unique stylistic elements of the story and artwork as it shifts frequently and unexpectedly that really makes Jimbo the surreal experience that it is. It's part Jack Kirby meets the Guernica. It's by far the most striking; both beautiful and abrasive of the four works.
Jimbo in Purgartory: Publisher's Weekly synopsis recalls it as postmodern mash-up re-imagining of the Decameron, Dante's Purgatorio, and Candide viewed through the lens of late 20th century "junk" culture and experienced by Panter's punk-rock protagonist, Jimbo.
I've not come across another comic (not Moore, not Morrison, not Gaiman, not Jodorosky) that required such a baseline of knowledge or annotation use. Which is seriously saying something.
It also illustrates how underutilized and unliterate most of the genre is (no matter how much myself and the New Yorker would like to protest otherwise). It's one of those interesting failures I'm obsessed with. Two Stars.
Jimbo's Inferno: "The Lost Prequel to Jimbo in Purgatory". Written and drawn later. It's much more streamlined and reels in the ambition of the previous volume, but still keeping the general aesthetic intact. To me--it inverts the expectations of the trilogy; Purgatory is much crazier and weirder than Inferno within this narrative. This is ultimately three stars--it's an improvement in clarity and vision, but a major step back in ambition.
Songy of Paradise: Again this inverts expectations. Instead of being Paradiso (which kind of/kind of wasn't done with Adventures in Paradise) and perhaps a successful merging on the successes and flaws of Purgatory and Inferno--Panter jumps ship. This is much more straight forward and refined of the three previous works. It's basically just Milton's Paradise Regained with Jesus being tempted in the desert by Satan, but Jesus replaced with a Hillbilly in Texas. It loses the punk rock sensibility and pop culture mash-up to have a even experience. But perhaps also makes it more boring and predictable than the other three. It's definitely got more of a ZAP Comix buzz than Raw. It feels like a fakeout, and while psychedelic and somewhat interesting in it's own right--it feels unnecessary and lazy. Jim Woodring does and many other artists do it better, imo. 2.5 Stars.
Gary Panter has a punk rock aesthetic that's been elevated to high/fine art in the art circles. He's good friends (if not best) with Matt Groening so to me that friendship kind of illustrates the relationship with art and commerce. Groening's initially subversive cartoon strips and Simpsons eventually becoming the cultural zeitgeist, status quo and eventual sunset.
I'm including 4 books in this review; Jimbo: Adventures in Paradise (the first published and introducing Jimbo, and not really related to the thematic arc of the story, other than the title of the final part), Jimbo's Purgatory (the first in this story Arc), Jimbo's Inferno ("The Lost Prequel--although published 5-6 years afterwards) and lastly Songy of Paradise (which doesn't star Jimbo or Jesus nor does it focus on Paradiso--but instead a country bumpkin being tempted by Milton's devil with Paradise Lost Allusions).
Fractured and confusing? Good, because that's what a lot of the series feels like. To it's charm and detriment.
Jimbo: Adventures in Paradise. This in the introduction to the character of Jimbo from his shorts in the seminal "RAW" magazine. A punk rock almost fratboy. Although Jimbo functions as an engaging story about a punk rock guy named Jimbo who is struggling to find meaning and identity among a barrage of 20th century complexities and conflicts ranging from the mechanization of society to the use of LSD, to living through a nuclear holocaust, but it's the unique stylistic elements of the story and artwork as it shifts frequently and unexpectedly that really makes Jimbo the surreal experience that it is. It's part Jack Kirby meets the Guernica. It's by far the most striking; both beautiful and abrasive of the four works.
Jimbo in Purgartory: Publisher's Weekly synopsis recalls it as postmodern mash-up re-imagining of the Decameron, Dante's Purgatorio, and Candide viewed through the lens of late 20th century "junk" culture and experienced by Panter's punk-rock protagonist, Jimbo.
I've not come across another comic (not Moore, not Morrison, not Gaiman, not Jodorosky) that required such a baseline of knowledge or annotation use. Which is seriously saying something.
It also illustrates how underutilized and unliterate most of the genre is (no matter how much myself and the New Yorker would like to protest otherwise). It's one of those interesting failures I'm obsessed with. Two Stars.
Jimbo's Inferno: "The Lost Prequel to Jimbo in Purgatory". Written and drawn later. It's much more streamlined and reels in the ambition of the previous volume, but still keeping the general aesthetic intact. To me--it inverts the expectations of the trilogy; Purgatory is much crazier and weirder than Inferno within this narrative. This is ultimately three stars--it's an improvement in clarity and vision, but a major step back in ambition.
Songy of Paradise: Again this inverts expectations. Instead of being Paradiso (which kind of/kind of wasn't done with Adventures in Paradise) and perhaps a successful merging on the successes and flaws of Purgatory and Inferno--Panter jumps ship. This is much more straight forward and refined of the three previous works. It's basically just Milton's Paradise Regained with Jesus being tempted in the desert by Satan, but Jesus replaced with a Hillbilly in Texas. It loses the punk rock sensibility and pop culture mash-up to have a even experience. But perhaps also makes it more boring and predictable than the other three. It's definitely got more of a ZAP Comix buzz than Raw. It feels like a fakeout, and while psychedelic and somewhat interesting in it's own right--it feels unnecessary and lazy. Jim Woodring does and many other artists do it better, imo. 2.5 Stars.
November 23, 2018
A fascinating, if sometimes confused, reimagining of Dante, Boccaccio, and Chaucer, amongst others. Panter's art is absolutely gorgeous--resplendent with pop culture icons, bizarre landscapes, and dizzying page layouts--but the writing is consistently difficult and sometimes quite tedious, weakening the impact of the volume. As one other reviewer put it, it's probably better to study than to read. Nonetheless, the art alone is worth the (admittedly excessive) price of entry.
September 22, 2024
A pretty great work of art, but can’t say that we enjoyed reading it. Bet this hits better if your familiarity with Dante’s Inferno isn’t mostly the EA God of War clone. Love the album recommendations at the end, bet this goes well with some Hendrix.
March 10, 2012
Jimbo is a buff, kilt-wearing frat boy who visits purgatory and meets a calvacade of celebrities and fantasy creatures, all of who spout endless lines of confusing dialogue. I like surreal art, but this is ridiculous. A bit too intentionally obtuse and pretentious for me.
February 1, 2008
stunning
May 25, 2011
Dante's "Purgatario" re-imagined as a modern language graphic novel, with intricate woodcut-style illustrations? Sounds interesting...and yet, just dull.
January 16, 2014
could only get through the first few pages before admitting defeat.
April 9, 2015
Matthias Wivel's review of the work is well written. http://www.metabunker.dk/?p=4899
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews