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Penguins
A collection of interconnected short comic strips by The Unicorns singer that, without words or Homo sapiens, showcases the human condition. The debut graphic novel by musician Nick Thorburn (Islands, the Unicorns, Mister Heavenly, Serial), Penguins is a series of interconnected short comic strips that, sans words or human characters, showcases the breadth of emotion we as humans experience. Black & white illustrations with some color.
- GenresGraphic NovelsComics
288 pages, Hardcover
Published September 18, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
December 10, 2018
A beautiful, spare, elegant, 285 page wordless/silent hard cover collection put out by Fantagraphics of alt comics and cartoons by Canadian musician and cartoonist Nick Thorburn that are not exactly about penguins, but in a quasi-anthropomorphic comics way, about humans, who in this book are vulnerably like penguins, or in the same existential space they may share.
When I say "elegant" I mean the lines are clean, the large pages feature lots of white space, with little background, so there's a kind of minimalism to it, and then there is some slapstick aspect to it, as in early silent film, some juvenilia, some grotesque alt stuff, just playing around, and then there's a kind of silent film melancholy strain to it, too, as in Buster Keaton, Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chaplin. And some early comics such as Basil Wolverton. And it is also just simple cartooning/comics, and what you can do with little. This guy is one to watch, I say.
When I say "elegant" I mean the lines are clean, the large pages feature lots of white space, with little background, so there's a kind of minimalism to it, and then there is some slapstick aspect to it, as in early silent film, some juvenilia, some grotesque alt stuff, just playing around, and then there's a kind of silent film melancholy strain to it, too, as in Buster Keaton, Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chaplin. And some early comics such as Basil Wolverton. And it is also just simple cartooning/comics, and what you can do with little. This guy is one to watch, I say.
November 1, 2018
Embarrassing admission: I did not realize until page 197 (of 286) that the stylized black-and-white characters in this book were actually supposed to be penguins. Yes, despite the title! I just thought it was one of those symbolic or nonsensical alternative comix titles like Eightball or Hark! A Vagrant or Kramers Ergot. I suppose I thought all the characters were just mimes, as all the strips are wordless. Anyhow, please feel free to question my judgement about all opinions that follow.
Most of the strips in this book end in death, usually involving melting or explosions. While that worked for me in The Many Deaths of Scott Koblish and Et Tu, Brute?: The Deaths of the Roman Emperors or even Mad's Spy vs. Spy, here it just falls flat and seems sort of sad. Not in a death-is-sad way, but because this seems to be the only way the creator knows how to be funny. Lacking the cleverness of any of the aforementioned works, this book just wears one down with the repetition.
And fair warning to others, the strips are pretty gross. Thornburn tries to channel Basil Wolverton in some of his more detailed drawings of ugly and disgusting characters. Penises pop up a few times, and one of the few color gags features an extended and copious urination sequence. I'm sure I would have found all of this hilarious when I was twelve.
p.s., I wonder how many readers will give up on page 12, the first of a few deaths of cute animals?
Most of the strips in this book end in death, usually involving melting or explosions. While that worked for me in The Many Deaths of Scott Koblish and Et Tu, Brute?: The Deaths of the Roman Emperors or even Mad's Spy vs. Spy, here it just falls flat and seems sort of sad. Not in a death-is-sad way, but because this seems to be the only way the creator knows how to be funny. Lacking the cleverness of any of the aforementioned works, this book just wears one down with the repetition.
And fair warning to others, the strips are pretty gross. Thornburn tries to channel Basil Wolverton in some of his more detailed drawings of ugly and disgusting characters. Penises pop up a few times, and one of the few color gags features an extended and copious urination sequence. I'm sure I would have found all of this hilarious when I was twelve.
p.s., I wonder how many readers will give up on page 12, the first of a few deaths of cute animals?
November 25, 2018
Simple black and white drawings... that result in death or violence or other bizarre-ish things. I’m not opposed to such things, but I think I didn’t ‘get’ this one.. although I did like the cover.
It also actually took me a while to even understand that the drawings were actually penguins... so maybe I really was missing a lot. Either way this book and I missed each other.
It also actually took me a while to even understand that the drawings were actually penguins... so maybe I really was missing a lot. Either way this book and I missed each other.
November 3, 2018
This one is tough to rate. I wanted to check this out because I really love Nick Thorburn's other work, especially his music with Islands and his culture-defining soundtrack for the breakout podcast Serial. So, the book.
The jacket description: 2-star, misleading. The back of the book describes this as "Penguins is the first graphic novel by musician/writer/director/cartoonist Nick Thorburn....is a series of inter-connected short strips that, without words or human characters, does more to showcase the breadth of emotion that we as humans experience than most prose novels." Bookjacketese tends to be hyper-ultra-mega-bolic (i.e. it is there to sell the book, so it really overstates the case for this book, rather than the book next to it). My issue here is the use of "graphic novel"...yes, wikipedia, you say that a graphic novel is a book made of comics content, but this volume is sort of a book of standalone / interconnected penguin cartoons filled out with sketchbook material. And that's how I wish it were framed...and probably even grouped. Either all the Penguins comics in one section and then a separate (end) section of sketchbook melting faces...or marked interludes of "more from the sketchbooks."
The cover: 5-star gorgeous.
The content: 1-star to 5-star...just like you would expect in any collected work. And my 5-star pieces would probably be 1-star for someone else.
Horse penes: more than were noted in the book jacket copy.
The jacket description: 2-star, misleading. The back of the book describes this as "Penguins is the first graphic novel by musician/writer/director/cartoonist Nick Thorburn....is a series of inter-connected short strips that, without words or human characters, does more to showcase the breadth of emotion that we as humans experience than most prose novels." Bookjacketese tends to be hyper-ultra-mega-bolic (i.e. it is there to sell the book, so it really overstates the case for this book, rather than the book next to it). My issue here is the use of "graphic novel"...yes, wikipedia, you say that a graphic novel is a book made of comics content, but this volume is sort of a book of standalone / interconnected penguin cartoons filled out with sketchbook material. And that's how I wish it were framed...and probably even grouped. Either all the Penguins comics in one section and then a separate (end) section of sketchbook melting faces...or marked interludes of "more from the sketchbooks."
The cover: 5-star gorgeous.
The content: 1-star to 5-star...just like you would expect in any collected work. And my 5-star pieces would probably be 1-star for someone else.
Horse penes: more than were noted in the book jacket copy.
July 24, 2020
Very creative and funny at times
November 27, 2021
I liked this book because I just like looking at it - I like the pleasant clean line work, I like the oddness and, at times, grotesque or morbid nature of the drawings and I like the conglomeration of all of this artist's work over years, I imagine. This book feels like a sketchbook polished up and taken to the ball. Perhaps my favorite parts are one-off pages, with a simple, beautifully clean drawing of a man walking in the wind and his legs being blown about or a face melting. This book was constantly surprising and random, and didn't ALL include penguins (spoiler alert). There are probably a ream of pages I could have edited out, to be perfectly honest, but the size of the book and the length of time to read it was very pleasing. I never talk about this but I also am very anti glossy paper. I find it hard to read (call me an old woman) but this book is printed on NICE paper, at a NICE size and is all the more enjoyable because of it. The penguins themselves are the stars of the show. I could buy any of the penguin pieces framed for any room of the house. It's also worth mentioning the introduction of color into this book was unexpected and done in the smartest way, Nick Thorburn!
May 7, 2019
I didn't find this appealing at all.
August 28, 2021
As a somewhat fan of the author Nick Thorburn's bands Islands and The Unicorns, when I learned he'd published a dialogue-free graphic novel featuring penguins, I was immediately intrigued and sought the book out at my local library. Sadly, I must say, I was largely disappointed by the book. The 280-something pages are drawn entirely as a loosely associated sequences of semi-related hand drawn panels, progressing through the book feels like a chore, like visiting the overly-long art exhibit of a talented but sophomoric art student. Although real flashes of humor, irony and ingenuity are to be found in Penguins, they are intermittent and sputtering in delivery. There is also a fair amount of crudeness; not shocking in content but just... crude. I am not one to be offended, but the sexual / smutty sequences seem designed to provoke in intention, but in reality come across more like the dirty scribblings in teenage boy's notebook. All said, I admire Thorburn for his definitive style, his achievement as an artist across many media, and his ambitious attempt here to deliver a long-form wordless graphic novel. Unfortunately, it just feels like this is one experiment that just doesn't work.
February 13, 2019
A collection of short, wordless, black-and-white comic strips that mix crude visual gags with expressionistic, existential angst. Clean lines and spare detail. When Thorburn is good, he’s really great. Unfortunately, when the gags start to repeat and the angst becomes predictable, the collection starts reading more like a personal sketchbook than a finished collection.
With half the number of strips, this would be an absolutely incredible book. But as is, it’s a bit uneven. I might expect unevenness in a career-spanning collection where thoroughness trumps selectivity. But this is a first major collection from Thorburn. A shorter, tighter selection would have had a lot more impact.
Nevertheless, at its best, Penguins can resemble the existential horror of Quimby the Mouse or the dream-like brilliance of Krazy Kat. And I really dig Thorburn’s short strips on the back of Now. Like many of the greatest cartoonists, he can distill humor, ennui, crudeness, grace, disgust, pain, childishness, and joy to just 3 or 4 panels and just a few lines of ink. Being similarly sparing in deciding which strips to include would have gone a long way.
With half the number of strips, this would be an absolutely incredible book. But as is, it’s a bit uneven. I might expect unevenness in a career-spanning collection where thoroughness trumps selectivity. But this is a first major collection from Thorburn. A shorter, tighter selection would have had a lot more impact.
Nevertheless, at its best, Penguins can resemble the existential horror of Quimby the Mouse or the dream-like brilliance of Krazy Kat. And I really dig Thorburn’s short strips on the back of Now. Like many of the greatest cartoonists, he can distill humor, ennui, crudeness, grace, disgust, pain, childishness, and joy to just 3 or 4 panels and just a few lines of ink. Being similarly sparing in deciding which strips to include would have gone a long way.
August 12, 2020
The art is really good in this collection and is certainly able to tell a story, but it’s mostly without dialogue. I thought that would be the unique thing about this collection but it’s kinda off putting. I read this to see how a comic collection mostly silent could work with the chance that it might inspire my own silent comics. I might stick to my one panels and one pager review comics for right now. For the art I’d give this a four star rating, but in its entirety I don’t see myself going back to this.
November 5, 2019
Interesting, certainly some very attention-grabbing vignettes. I'm not sure if it's totally my style, but I'm still sorta new to graphic novels so, I'm not sure how much of value I can really say about this.
I might be a bit too attached to words.
I might be a bit too attached to words.
January 8, 2019
Not for me!
January 10, 2019
Wordless comics. Some hit home, but most in this collection I find myself moving on from quickly. Pretty good art, a lot of repetition of theme/symbolization. Worth flipping through once!
January 30, 2019
Weird and wacky stuff.
April 16, 2019
Charming
July 31, 2021
A visually stunning book that’s very short on story. It relies on the visual gags too much, and not always in a good taste.
July 25, 2022
i taught this to students in my introductory college writing class while showing them how you can imagine writing in different forms. this is writing without words, how poetry becomes wordless even though it is made of words. I started narrating in my head, lives in the imagination. it is a great work of absurdism hyperabstraction and a satisfyingly self reflective world of redundant deaths
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews