What do you think?
Rate this book
Billy Hazelnuts #1
Billy Hazelnuts
Tony Millionaire, creator of Sock Monkey and one of America's most popular weekly comic strips, Maakies, delivers his first original graphic novel for Fantagraphics, Billy Hazelnuts. Billy Hazelnuts transmutes nursery rhymes and the golem myth into a storybook about Becky, girl scientist, her friend Billy Hazelnuts (who was created from cooking ingredients by tailless mice), and their journey to find the missing moon while battling an evil steam-driven alligator with a seeing-eye skunk.
Millionaire fuses the darker spirit of older fairy tales with an absurdist adventure story, throws gender politics into the mix, and brings it to life with his dementedly charming and meticulous drawing style that is utterly transporting. Billy Hazelnuts features all-new characters, a first for Millionaire after building a tremendous following for his Sock Monkey and Maakies characters, which is sure to delight existing fans as well as introduce an entirely new audience to his breathtaking line and imagination.
Millionaire fuses the darker spirit of older fairy tales with an absurdist adventure story, throws gender politics into the mix, and brings it to life with his dementedly charming and meticulous drawing style that is utterly transporting. Billy Hazelnuts features all-new characters, a first for Millionaire after building a tremendous following for his Sock Monkey and Maakies characters, which is sure to delight existing fans as well as introduce an entirely new audience to his breathtaking line and imagination.
111 pages, Hardcover
First published April 5, 2006
2 people are currently reading
283 people want to read
About the author
Tony Millionaire
105 books80 followersTony Millionaire was born in Boston and grew up in Gloucester, Massachusetts, by the sea. He attended the Massachusetts College of Art for three and three quarters of a year and resigned.
He writes and draws the ongoing adventures of Sock Monkey, published by Dark Horse Comics since 1998.
He is the creator of the syndicated comic strip, Maakies, which has run in weekly newspapers across the country begininning with The NY Press in 1994 and has been collected by Fantagraphics, who also published his graphic novels, Billy Hazelnuts and Billy Hazelnuts and the Crazy Bird.
His work has garnered him five Eisner Awards, three Harvey Awards, and an Ignatz Award.
His comic strip Maakies was adapted to the small screen in 1998 for SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE and in 2008 as THE DRINKY CROW SHOW for Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim, which is now in repeats and available at www.adultswim.com.
His illustrations appear in publications around the globe including THE BELIEVER, THE NEW YORKER and THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. He illustrated many record covers including THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS “Then; The Earlier Years,” JON SPENCER’S “Going Way Out With Heavy Trash,” JOLIE HOLLAND’S “Pint of Blood,” and ELVIS COSTELLO’S “Secret, Profane and Sugarcane,” and recently ELVIS COSTELLO’S “National Ransom,” to be released in the US in November.
He now lives in Pasadena, CA. with his wife, the actress Becky Thyre and their two daughters.
He writes and draws the ongoing adventures of Sock Monkey, published by Dark Horse Comics since 1998.
He is the creator of the syndicated comic strip, Maakies, which has run in weekly newspapers across the country begininning with The NY Press in 1994 and has been collected by Fantagraphics, who also published his graphic novels, Billy Hazelnuts and Billy Hazelnuts and the Crazy Bird.
His work has garnered him five Eisner Awards, three Harvey Awards, and an Ignatz Award.
His comic strip Maakies was adapted to the small screen in 1998 for SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE and in 2008 as THE DRINKY CROW SHOW for Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim, which is now in repeats and available at www.adultswim.com.
His illustrations appear in publications around the globe including THE BELIEVER, THE NEW YORKER and THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. He illustrated many record covers including THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS “Then; The Earlier Years,” JON SPENCER’S “Going Way Out With Heavy Trash,” JOLIE HOLLAND’S “Pint of Blood,” and ELVIS COSTELLO’S “Secret, Profane and Sugarcane,” and recently ELVIS COSTELLO’S “National Ransom,” to be released in the US in November.
He now lives in Pasadena, CA. with his wife, the actress Becky Thyre and their two daughters.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews
September 30, 2016
Absurd, surreal, trippy, darkly funny, beautifully realized stuff! Not sure what it all means, but I enjoyed the ride.
July 4, 2020
Se me ha hecho demasiado cortito, me deja con ganas de algo más, no sé qué. Visualmente, más relajado y menos impresionante que The Adventures of Sock Monkey, pero siempre bien o más que bien, que para algo es Tony Millionaire. Mi hijo (8 años) siempre me pregunta, por cada cómic que me leo, si ese se lo podrá leer él ya, sin esperar a ser un poco mayor. Con Billy Avellanas he podido decirle que sí, y lo ha disfrutado. Él dice que cuatro o tres estrellas y media. Yo lo dejaré en tres.
November 21, 2008
On the one hand, this is a thrilling adventure story about a sort of mouse-Golem made out of yeast, suet, and mince meat pie residue.
On the other hand it's a cautionary tale about what happens when unrequited love fills a bad poet with science and rage.
Stunningly drawn as usual, and wonderfully written ("Come on, Billy! That's not the moon they're eating, it's just a field of primroses!").
And you can tell that Millionaire is tellin' more than he's tellin' in the beautiful sequence toward the end, where Billy floats in the ocean -- head full of bats -- calling out for Becky as she floats away, mute as a buoy.
On the other hand it's a cautionary tale about what happens when unrequited love fills a bad poet with science and rage.
Stunningly drawn as usual, and wonderfully written ("Come on, Billy! That's not the moon they're eating, it's just a field of primroses!").
And you can tell that Millionaire is tellin' more than he's tellin' in the beautiful sequence toward the end, where Billy floats in the ocean -- head full of bats -- calling out for Becky as she floats away, mute as a buoy.
April 28, 2019
Strange. Too much at some points. But interesting.
July 12, 2010
Billy Hazelnuts is a very weird sort of children’s fable. Then again Tony Millionaire is a weird fellow. He balances wondrous adventure with a kind of adult cynicism. Vulgarity is easy (and Tony Millionaire can do that—see “Maakies” or “The Drinky Crow Show”), but Billy Hazelnuts is walking a much finer line. It’s weird and stylized, yet still endearing. Besides that, the art is nothing short of gorgeous.
Billy Hazelnuts is like if Gollum were a golem. He was made by rats living in an old house. The rats wanted an enforcer to protect themselves from the old lady of the house and her cat. Thus “Billy Houseflies” was born, with a body molded from gooey garbage and a ton of captured living flies for a brain. Billy is naturally rambunctious and bestial (you know, like a real kid), yet has a sense of innocence about him. He soon meets Becky, the girl living in the old house who fancies herself a scientist. After noticing that the moon has disappeared, Billy leads them on a quest into the wilderness to find it.
Most of all there’s a sense of imagination and adventure to this book. This world has an old-timey regularity, and is filled with characters that are just odd enough. But there is adventure to be had, and their wild exploits are approached with a classic dime novel “Hurrah!” We see a junkyard of broken planets, mechanical crocodile pirates, and a fierce battle-at-sea between a pirate ship and Noah’s Ark. It’d be easy to say that this is comparable to stuff like Tim Burton or the Brothers Grimm, but honestly, I think it’s a whole lot better.
Billy Hazelnuts is like if Gollum were a golem. He was made by rats living in an old house. The rats wanted an enforcer to protect themselves from the old lady of the house and her cat. Thus “Billy Houseflies” was born, with a body molded from gooey garbage and a ton of captured living flies for a brain. Billy is naturally rambunctious and bestial (you know, like a real kid), yet has a sense of innocence about him. He soon meets Becky, the girl living in the old house who fancies herself a scientist. After noticing that the moon has disappeared, Billy leads them on a quest into the wilderness to find it.
Most of all there’s a sense of imagination and adventure to this book. This world has an old-timey regularity, and is filled with characters that are just odd enough. But there is adventure to be had, and their wild exploits are approached with a classic dime novel “Hurrah!” We see a junkyard of broken planets, mechanical crocodile pirates, and a fierce battle-at-sea between a pirate ship and Noah’s Ark. It’d be easy to say that this is comparable to stuff like Tim Burton or the Brothers Grimm, but honestly, I think it’s a whole lot better.
August 24, 2016
Think of Pinocchio if Timothy Leary told you the story while 'tripping'. Suspend your disbelief and go with it...don't worry, you can come back!
August 18, 2023
This one's a bit of a quirky comic ride. The art style is seriously unique – kind of like a whimsical dream.
You get sucked into this strange world that's part fairytale, part surreal adventure. The positive? It's refreshingly different, a total escape from the usual stuff and the superhero genre. But.. here's the thing, it can get a bit too weird. The storyline takes some wild turns that might leave you scratching your head. And some characters... well, you might not know what's going on with them half the time and even when you know, then you find out it wasn't even taking itself seriously changing everything in the "plot" to fit the quirky character.
"It is the height of rudeness to loudly crack hazelnuts while someone is poeticizing at you." - Eugene
So, if you're up for a wacky journey and you're cool with the confusing bits, give it a shot. It's definitely not your typical comic, for better or for weirder.
The artwork was seriously something unique and at times really creepy with what's happening.
"Cruelty towards kitty-cats is the surest sign of psychopathic depravity."
You get sucked into this strange world that's part fairytale, part surreal adventure. The positive? It's refreshingly different, a total escape from the usual stuff and the superhero genre. But.. here's the thing, it can get a bit too weird. The storyline takes some wild turns that might leave you scratching your head. And some characters... well, you might not know what's going on with them half the time and even when you know, then you find out it wasn't even taking itself seriously changing everything in the "plot" to fit the quirky character.
"It is the height of rudeness to loudly crack hazelnuts while someone is poeticizing at you." - Eugene
So, if you're up for a wacky journey and you're cool with the confusing bits, give it a shot. It's definitely not your typical comic, for better or for weirder.
The artwork was seriously something unique and at times really creepy with what's happening.
"Cruelty towards kitty-cats is the surest sign of psychopathic depravity."
December 27, 2021
7/10
Billy Hazelnuts. Or Billy Houseflies. Or Billy Bats.
Made out of garbage. Created as a tool of mischief. Blinded with rage by the bats in his head, literally. Chasing the moon. Again, literally. A pugnacious fellow, to say the least.
Tony Millionaire's second non-strip comics effort follows in the footsteps of the previous one, Sock Monkey. A surrealistic journey from the basement of a Victorian house up to the sky. Those two places being closer than what you may assume.
The protagonist, Billy, is more aggressive than the naïve sock monkey Uncle Gabby, but shares with the latter the most redemptive of the qualities. As the poet Eugene puts it towards the end: 'No, I wouldn't call him diabolic, Mr. Punch...he is a real "go-getter" with a hot temper, but there is the whiff of innocence about him...'. As it seems to be a trope of Millionaire, that redemption comes from the loving hand of a little girl. Just like in the Eisner-winning Sock Monkey story A Baby Bird, where , so here the little scientist Becky heals our hero: 'How could I not forgive you? ...Billy Hazelnut'.
The art of Tony Millionaire is so nice to my eyes, with its cascade of black lines, and that cartoony roundness descendant of toons from the 20's.
Billy Hazelnuts. Or Billy Houseflies. Or Billy Bats.
Made out of garbage. Created as a tool of mischief. Blinded with rage by the bats in his head, literally. Chasing the moon. Again, literally. A pugnacious fellow, to say the least.
Tony Millionaire's second non-strip comics effort follows in the footsteps of the previous one, Sock Monkey. A surrealistic journey from the basement of a Victorian house up to the sky. Those two places being closer than what you may assume.
The protagonist, Billy, is more aggressive than the naïve sock monkey Uncle Gabby, but shares with the latter the most redemptive of the qualities. As the poet Eugene puts it towards the end: 'No, I wouldn't call him diabolic, Mr. Punch...he is a real "go-getter" with a hot temper, but there is the whiff of innocence about him...'. As it seems to be a trope of Millionaire, that redemption comes from the loving hand of a little girl. Just like in the Eisner-winning Sock Monkey story A Baby Bird, where , so here the little scientist Becky heals our hero: 'How could I not forgive you? ...Billy Hazelnut'.
The art of Tony Millionaire is so nice to my eyes, with its cascade of black lines, and that cartoony roundness descendant of toons from the 20's.
September 26, 2014
Lewis Carroll auf LSD? Ein Kinderbuch für Hartgesottene? Ein Irrsinns-Trip zwischen den Welten?
Ja, und ein Mordsspaß!
Billy Hazelnuts, ein Golem aus Küchenabfällen zusammengesetzt, erlebt mit der Forschergöre Becky deliriöse Abenteuer. Die total abgedrehten Ideen hier aufzuführen verbietet sich, denn eines steht fest: dieses (Kinder?)Buch, das als subversiver Comic daher kommt, macht Erwachsenen vermutlich mehr Spaß als Kindern, und die Dichte der maulaufsperrenden Ideen ist immens. Ja, manchmal hat Billy Fledermäuse im Hirnkasten...
Tolle Artwork? Check.
Verrückte Ideen? Check.
Pädagogisch wertlos? Check.
Must read? Check!
Ja, und ein Mordsspaß!
Billy Hazelnuts, ein Golem aus Küchenabfällen zusammengesetzt, erlebt mit der Forschergöre Becky deliriöse Abenteuer. Die total abgedrehten Ideen hier aufzuführen verbietet sich, denn eines steht fest: dieses (Kinder?)Buch, das als subversiver Comic daher kommt, macht Erwachsenen vermutlich mehr Spaß als Kindern, und die Dichte der maulaufsperrenden Ideen ist immens. Ja, manchmal hat Billy Fledermäuse im Hirnkasten...
Tolle Artwork? Check.
Verrückte Ideen? Check.
Pädagogisch wertlos? Check.
Must read? Check!
December 26, 2017
Tony Millionaire is bananas.
April 1, 2021
Boží stylizace a super práce s linkou. Sice se kvalitou neblíží dokonalýmu Woodringovi ale má podobnej feeling. Story je uplně absurdní, nonsensová, nostalgická a pro dospělý, který si pamatujou jaký to je bejt dítě. Víc k tomu asi nemám co dodat. :D
4.5
4.5
June 4, 2022
Los comics de Millionaire te rompen la cabeza. Historias extremadamente originales y salidas de madre. En esta ocasión más para niños que la otra obra que he leído de él pero igualmente disfrutable. Genial.
April 17, 2022
Weird and very entertaining. I like the characters and the art, but other than that it doesn't grab me too hard. I think it's very hard to regret reading anything by Millionaire though.
January 28, 2019
Tony Millionaire is an interesting personality in the world of comics. No one seems to have more reverence for the old classic “Little Nemo In Slumberland”-style comic strips and yet no one seems to have more fun pissing on all that formal pretension. This love/hate relationship is on full display in Millionaire’s graphic novel, “Billy Hazelnuts,” a bonkers fairy tale about the adventures of a golem-like creature. It’s like a Brothers Grimm story told by Tim Burton, if he was your erratic drunk uncle.
The titular little gremlin, crafted out of kitchen scraps and spite by a group of mice, befriends a strong-willed girl named Becky when she replaces the jumbles of flies in his eye sockets with hazelnuts. Got that? That’s pretty standard Tony Millionaire-esque lunacy. Together, Billy and Becky must find the lost moon, in the process tangling with a steam-powered alligator robot - fashioned from a meat grinder - and his seeing eye skunk. Millionaire takes advantage of the extra space a full-length graphic novel has over his Maakies newspaper strips, dazzling the reader with some of his most intricate and inventive panels. Frankly, the story is just kind of okay but I get the feeling that Millionaire doesn’t really give a shit what anybody else thinks. “Billy Hazelnuts” is an opportunity for him to cut loose and really let his freak flag fly and he does so with gusto.
It may look sort of like a children’s comic but “Billy Hazelnuts” certainly is not. You know, unless you want to give your kids nightmares or something. Grim, macabre, but beautifully drawn, “Billy Hazelnuts” could only have come from dementedly fantastic mind of Tony Millionaire.
The titular little gremlin, crafted out of kitchen scraps and spite by a group of mice, befriends a strong-willed girl named Becky when she replaces the jumbles of flies in his eye sockets with hazelnuts. Got that? That’s pretty standard Tony Millionaire-esque lunacy. Together, Billy and Becky must find the lost moon, in the process tangling with a steam-powered alligator robot - fashioned from a meat grinder - and his seeing eye skunk. Millionaire takes advantage of the extra space a full-length graphic novel has over his Maakies newspaper strips, dazzling the reader with some of his most intricate and inventive panels. Frankly, the story is just kind of okay but I get the feeling that Millionaire doesn’t really give a shit what anybody else thinks. “Billy Hazelnuts” is an opportunity for him to cut loose and really let his freak flag fly and he does so with gusto.
It may look sort of like a children’s comic but “Billy Hazelnuts” certainly is not. You know, unless you want to give your kids nightmares or something. Grim, macabre, but beautifully drawn, “Billy Hazelnuts” could only have come from dementedly fantastic mind of Tony Millionaire.
March 22, 2018
A 4.5-star fairy tale without fairies that is suitable for all literate persons.
A gang of mice build Billy Hazelnuts from scraps because they need an enforcer to fight the lady of the house. Billy is an inanimate lump until the mice cram living flies into his eye sockets and chant "Get alive! Get alive! Get alive!"
That's just the first few pages, after which we meet Becky, the girl of the house and maybe the best character in it even though her glossy black eyes are only slightly less creepy than Billy's "fleyes." She's an inventor and an avid astronomer. Perhaps this farsightedness/vision allows her to see something salvageable in Billy even though he attacks her mother (because of biased info from the mice).
Another intriguing character is Eugene ("well born"), Becky's would-be poetical suitor. As with many such nerds, he doesn't know that he's oblivious to his frienemy status. That is, until he is aware and said awareness turns him toward insanity of the evil genius variety. Sadly, we don't get to see Eugene during this brief but crucial phase.
The moon rises. The moon sets. Or is it taken away? By an evil force? Billy Hazelnuts must find out. Becky goes with him.
Let the capital-ay Adventure begin! Let there be introduced an evil villain to battle. Let there be fighting and science and magic and wonder. Until it is done.
A gang of mice build Billy Hazelnuts from scraps because they need an enforcer to fight the lady of the house. Billy is an inanimate lump until the mice cram living flies into his eye sockets and chant "Get alive! Get alive! Get alive!"
That's just the first few pages, after which we meet Becky, the girl of the house and maybe the best character in it even though her glossy black eyes are only slightly less creepy than Billy's "fleyes." She's an inventor and an avid astronomer. Perhaps this farsightedness/vision allows her to see something salvageable in Billy even though he attacks her mother (because of biased info from the mice).
Another intriguing character is Eugene ("well born"), Becky's would-be poetical suitor. As with many such nerds, he doesn't know that he's oblivious to his frienemy status. That is, until he is aware and said awareness turns him toward insanity of the evil genius variety. Sadly, we don't get to see Eugene during this brief but crucial phase.
The moon rises. The moon sets. Or is it taken away? By an evil force? Billy Hazelnuts must find out. Becky goes with him.
Let the capital-ay Adventure begin! Let there be introduced an evil villain to battle. Let there be fighting and science and magic and wonder. Until it is done.
October 17, 2015
Dark, bright, gruesome, silly, dreamy, filled with over-the top cartoonish violence and has an old-timey flair and a touch of so-called innocence.
Billy Hazelnuts is the tale of a golem-like critter built by rodents to keep them safe from one particular adult human. Billy is feisty and not a little belligerent, and yet loyal and caring in his way. He is befriended by girl scientist Becky, daughter of the the adult human I mentioned earlier.
Becky meets Billy Hazelnuts and they form an instant bond. Meanwhile, Becky is being romantically pursued by, of all things, a long-winded poet. She's not happy about that! In this book poets and scientists are one and the same and yet, clearly they can be at odds with each other.
When Becky rejects her suitor he gets angry and becomes something of a mad (or at least angry) scientist, out for revenge. Adventures unravel, as does the toy-like solar system.
This book a hard one to rate. I was between a 3 and 4. Not exactly my thing aesthetically, and yet, it does what it does with such exuberance and clear sense of style, I give it a 4.
Billy Hazelnuts is the tale of a golem-like critter built by rodents to keep them safe from one particular adult human. Billy is feisty and not a little belligerent, and yet loyal and caring in his way. He is befriended by girl scientist Becky, daughter of the the adult human I mentioned earlier.
Becky meets Billy Hazelnuts and they form an instant bond. Meanwhile, Becky is being romantically pursued by, of all things, a long-winded poet. She's not happy about that! In this book poets and scientists are one and the same and yet, clearly they can be at odds with each other.
When Becky rejects her suitor he gets angry and becomes something of a mad (or at least angry) scientist, out for revenge. Adventures unravel, as does the toy-like solar system.
This book a hard one to rate. I was between a 3 and 4. Not exactly my thing aesthetically, and yet, it does what it does with such exuberance and clear sense of style, I give it a 4.
July 8, 2010
If the art wasn't so strikingly similar, it'd be hard to believe the same guy made this and Maakies. The online comic is so gross and violent and demented and cynically hard-boiled it makes me sort of queasy. But Billy Hazelnuts, while pretty disgusting (it does star a Golem fashioned by vengeful mice out of garbage and houseflies) is also sort of delicate and sweet-natured and gently funny. And there's a really rewarding depth to the dream-logic of the plot. Not bad for a thirty-minute read.
September 18, 2016
I didn't actually think this would be good. And yet here I am, loving it. This is so cute and wonderful and creative. The weird combination of horrible violent tendencies and total sweetness makes for such weird and wonderful characterization in Billy, and let's face it, there's nowhere near enough lady scientists in anything. This is great.
August 14, 2010
Maybe it was the unnerving Little Orphan Annie-style drawings or maybe it was the creepy Lynch-esque touches (flies buzzing in the golem-like creatures head instead of a brain), but I wasn't crazy about this strange little graphic novel.
May 14, 2013
Such an original idea. This doesn't feel derivative in any way, which is uncommon since most of the good stories I have read recently are at least based on something else. But what I like more than the art or the story is the dialogue. "I'm a barrelful of hate! Come open me up!" That's classic.
August 15, 2012
Excellent, excellent- language, artwork, everything.
March 10, 2014
"A headful of bats should make you sufficiently demented..."
May 31, 2020
A surreal, bizarre and thoroughly captivating romp! Fantastically drawn.
November 5, 2020
This is clearly the beginning of a pretty zany adventure. It's fast-paced, sometimes to a slightly confusing degree, but I liked the art style, impressive writing, and madcap vibe.
May 1, 2021
As countless attempts to do surrealist comics very quickly come apart because of their creators’ inability to understand what surrealism actually is, those people should look to Tony Millionaire to find out how it’s done. Although very different to Jim Woodring in content and style, he shares a very similar sense of representing dreams on paper. Whereas Woodring heads into a richly symbolic world, Millionaire seems more interested in childhood and the universe surrounding those formative years. Billy Hazelnuts - created by mice, “humanised” by a young girl - flirts with nursery rhymes and fairy tale territory, but drives it in this ferocious direction where events have a kind of inevitability to them.
There’s a line in Twin Peaks, another work of art that demonstrates the success and failure of trying for surrealism, that I always love from Mike, the one armed man: “I mean it like it is, like it sounds...” I always read that line as a crystallisation of Lynch’s belief that the story doesn’t have to make literal sense but have a sort of flow that it DEMANDS to have. So the events in this make no narrative sense in conventional story telling but have this real sense of feeling like moments rising from the depths of the unconscious mind. There’s a sadness and anger and beauty here, but one that feels drawn from a singular vision and brought into a glorious whole. It’s a phenomenal work of art, let alone a great comic
There’s a line in Twin Peaks, another work of art that demonstrates the success and failure of trying for surrealism, that I always love from Mike, the one armed man: “I mean it like it is, like it sounds...” I always read that line as a crystallisation of Lynch’s belief that the story doesn’t have to make literal sense but have a sort of flow that it DEMANDS to have. So the events in this make no narrative sense in conventional story telling but have this real sense of feeling like moments rising from the depths of the unconscious mind. There’s a sadness and anger and beauty here, but one that feels drawn from a singular vision and brought into a glorious whole. It’s a phenomenal work of art, let alone a great comic
August 30, 2020
My favorite book by Tony Millionaire. Filled with strangeness, death and magnificent beauty.
Billy is a naive, adventurous boy created like an egregore or golem out of junk and slop in the basement by rats looking for protection. He befriends Becky the girl scientist in a quest to save the Moon, journeying across cosmic landscapes so wondrous they bring tears to your eyes.
Millionaire's affection for classic art and early painterly cartoonists like Winsor McCay (Nemo in Slumberland) is reflected throughout, along with his love of humorous, Shakespearean language. The whole mad tale mashes this all up w Millionaire's usual bag of tricks, combining action and adventure in a surreal world from a gorgeous dream.
I keep this book close, because it reminds me that the goodness and sweetness in the world are forever mixed with weirdness and humor. I love taking down this book when I'm feeling down; it always lifts me up with its poignant, profound magical vibe, especially during these dark times.
Highly recommended.
Billy is a naive, adventurous boy created like an egregore or golem out of junk and slop in the basement by rats looking for protection. He befriends Becky the girl scientist in a quest to save the Moon, journeying across cosmic landscapes so wondrous they bring tears to your eyes.
Millionaire's affection for classic art and early painterly cartoonists like Winsor McCay (Nemo in Slumberland) is reflected throughout, along with his love of humorous, Shakespearean language. The whole mad tale mashes this all up w Millionaire's usual bag of tricks, combining action and adventure in a surreal world from a gorgeous dream.
I keep this book close, because it reminds me that the goodness and sweetness in the world are forever mixed with weirdness and humor. I love taking down this book when I'm feeling down; it always lifts me up with its poignant, profound magical vibe, especially during these dark times.
Highly recommended.
October 22, 2017
Of course the drawings are jaw dropping and the hijinks hijinkular—this is Tony Millionaire. But ... points off for flippant animal cruelty. And for a story that is merely ok enough to set up the action sequences. Comes close to deeper emotional resonance, but can’t quite make the leap.
February 28, 2017
Totally weird! Enjoyed every minute of it. The art is great too. Simple yet exciting.
February 8, 2018
Absurdly weird, beautifully drawn and worth an hour of your time. It was a quick read but I enjoyed the journey into Millionaire’s twisted mind.
May 24, 2018
Boh però vaffanculo.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews