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Pulp Affliction: Issue #1 of the Origamiac Chronicles
Following in the irreverent spirit of Deadpool, The Tick, and Squirrel Girl, it’s Origamiac—the shape-shifting superhero who’s a piece of sheet!
In the first issue of this five-part “ungraphic novel” series*, Orson “Orry” Thitchafer simply wants to go out on a date. But after a series of disastrous mishaps, he's accidentally transformed into loose-leaf paper. Desperate to become human again, he seeks the help of his only—and highly incompetent, emphasis on “high”—friend.
Unknown to Orry, someone else is interested in his plight, a recruiter at the evil enterprise known as MALefactory. Will Orry be seduced by the malevolence the company represents?
Special note: The content of this series is satirical and not for kids nor those who are easy to offend—and maybe not even for those who are hard to offend.
*An ungraphic novel proceeds panel by panel like a classic comic book, except the imagery traditionally portrayed via penciling, inking, and coloring is instead expressed through words. If a picture is worth a thousand words, this story proves it (actually, per panel, just tens of words)!
In the first issue of this five-part “ungraphic novel” series*, Orson “Orry” Thitchafer simply wants to go out on a date. But after a series of disastrous mishaps, he's accidentally transformed into loose-leaf paper. Desperate to become human again, he seeks the help of his only—and highly incompetent, emphasis on “high”—friend.
Unknown to Orry, someone else is interested in his plight, a recruiter at the evil enterprise known as MALefactory. Will Orry be seduced by the malevolence the company represents?
Special note: The content of this series is satirical and not for kids nor those who are easy to offend—and maybe not even for those who are hard to offend.
*An ungraphic novel proceeds panel by panel like a classic comic book, except the imagery traditionally portrayed via penciling, inking, and coloring is instead expressed through words. If a picture is worth a thousand words, this story proves it (actually, per panel, just tens of words)!
61 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 23, 2016
1 person want to read
About the author
Seth Levens
21 books5 followersIs he the love child of J. K. Rowling and Stephen King? Or is it a pseudonym for the Watson supercomputer? Or perhaps he's an attention-starved, thin-skinned alcoholic (but aren't all authors?)? Find out by e-mailing seth.levens@gmail.com!
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 25, 2018
I found the first half so bad that I almost bailed on this short book around the halfway point. The second part (shall we say, after the "origin story" part of the issue) picked up somewhat, but only to a tolerable level.
December 4, 2017
Clever fun
Witty and word-playful. Sharp satire that bends absurdity to its surprisingly logical conclusion. I am looking forward to the next installment.
Witty and word-playful. Sharp satire that bends absurdity to its surprisingly logical conclusion. I am looking forward to the next installment.
December 12, 2016
Often, humour is served using a scattered approach… load up dozens of bullets, line them up, fire, and hope that some of them make the mark. This happened here in this book. The ratio of hilarious hits to the fire-away arsenal wasn’t as high as I hoped, but there were some chuckles. I particularly liked those blurbs:
"Sorry to disappoint… but this is Accounting, and the staff work in cubicles. We benchmarked Fortune 500 companies and found modern office design to be oppressive enough that nothing additional was required to improve upon its dehumanizing effects."
"Okay, Mr. Termite. Prepare to be termite-inated. Or terminate-ited. You get the idea.”
When I saw the title of the book and the book cover, I thought it would be a graphic novel, illustrating a paper man in comic-style panels with text in speech balloons. Or, I thought, maybe photos of an origami man, in different and funny poses, from actual origami handiwork. Instead, it is in the style of a play script, with each scene described. I’m wondering if a more graphic approach might be more successful.
The author takes on a bewildering range of topics to satirize, and the diversity is huge, from politics to human foibles to corporate trench war. Actually, now that I think of it, the paper man sort of faded away from all the stories when the author trained his sights on objects of derision.
"Sorry to disappoint… but this is Accounting, and the staff work in cubicles. We benchmarked Fortune 500 companies and found modern office design to be oppressive enough that nothing additional was required to improve upon its dehumanizing effects."
"Okay, Mr. Termite. Prepare to be termite-inated. Or terminate-ited. You get the idea.”
When I saw the title of the book and the book cover, I thought it would be a graphic novel, illustrating a paper man in comic-style panels with text in speech balloons. Or, I thought, maybe photos of an origami man, in different and funny poses, from actual origami handiwork. Instead, it is in the style of a play script, with each scene described. I’m wondering if a more graphic approach might be more successful.
The author takes on a bewildering range of topics to satirize, and the diversity is huge, from politics to human foibles to corporate trench war. Actually, now that I think of it, the paper man sort of faded away from all the stories when the author trained his sights on objects of derision.
January 17, 2017
There’s a lot of very clever humor here, and I love the creativity of the story. I never would have imagined quite a superhero as this one, but he seems very fun to watch and I look forward to seeing how his journey unfolds. I also want to acknowledge how unique and easily discernible all of the characters are. They each have their own style and their own voice.
But I must say this….The title is awesome and the cover is awesome, which is kind of a problem. I took one look at the Pulp Affliction cover and the first thing I said (mentally) was “I can’t wait to see the illustrations in this thing!” I have never heard of an ungraphic novel before, perhaps it’s a growing trend. But this story needs a second edition. It needs to have illustrations. The descriptions are so vivid and amusing and so comical (no pun intended) that it is practically begging for actual panels. People will love it, it will have a cult following. It must be done!
That being said, I still believe the story, even without the illustrations, is worth reading .
But I must say this….The title is awesome and the cover is awesome, which is kind of a problem. I took one look at the Pulp Affliction cover and the first thing I said (mentally) was “I can’t wait to see the illustrations in this thing!” I have never heard of an ungraphic novel before, perhaps it’s a growing trend. But this story needs a second edition. It needs to have illustrations. The descriptions are so vivid and amusing and so comical (no pun intended) that it is practically begging for actual panels. People will love it, it will have a cult following. It must be done!
That being said, I still believe the story, even without the illustrations, is worth reading .
December 6, 2016
Seth Leven’s book about a man turned into a living piece of paper was was very clever, unique, and hilarious! Poor Mr. Thitchafer, and all his troubles! Finding himself no longer a three dimentional person, but a thin piece of paper, (due to the combination of some toxic waste [provided {accidentally} by Ms. Unsavory] and an unfortunate accident in a paper mill) Mr. Thitchafer finds himself significantly changed. But does he let that stop him? Goodness no! He takes on the evil MALefactory, Dr. Seethesome, Ms. Unsavory, and all, as the new somewhat superhero, Origamiac!
For my personal tastes, I didn’t care necessarily for the format, with the panels, rather than told in a traditional narrative form. That’s just a personal thing, though. The story itself was very clever and funny. There was some strong and/or suggestive language here and there, for those who might be concerned about that.
For my personal tastes, I didn’t care necessarily for the format, with the panels, rather than told in a traditional narrative form. That’s just a personal thing, though. The story itself was very clever and funny. There was some strong and/or suggestive language here and there, for those who might be concerned about that.
January 12, 2017
I found this first issue of the story to be reasonably funny, and very original. There are many inconsistencies, but as they are used to move the story along and add to the humor, that's not actually a complaint. There are qualities to like about the hero, Mr. Thitchafer, qualities to hate about the villain, Dr. Seethesome, and a properly deus-ex-machina quality to the ending. Various other characters add to the fun, especially Ms. Unsavoury, who seems of two minds about the whole good versus evil thing. The format is a non-graphic graphic novel (the images in each panel are described, not drawn). The format was clever, and it fit nicely with the overall irreverence. There is some nice satire here. Warning, if you are allergic to puns, this may not be the book for you. Otherwise, enjoy.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews