Johnny Optimism - Volume Two: Laughter is Debased Medicine

by Stilton Jarlsberg

Welcome back to Johnny's world and a new mega-collection of cartoons from the wildly popular webcomic! Johnny Optimism is a darkly comic look at a wheelchair-bound boy who lives in a very strange hospital, and his unending effort to look on the bright side because "things could always get worse." And they do get worse, time after time. Johnny interacts with a highly unusual collection of medical professionals, bureaucrats, strange kids, fellow sufferers, a manic helper monkey, a creepy clown and more - getting real comfort only from his faithful dog, Lance. Together they're trying to cope with Life...just like the rest of us. • Deliciously sick humor for fans of Gahan Wilson, Charles Addams, The Far Side, or Max Cannon's Red Meat. • Kindle version optimized for reading on tablets and phones, making it easier to laugh out loud in inappropriate settings! Just hold your device horizontally, then tap on the screen to enter "full screen" mode and see one cartoon per page! • A great "get well" present whether you actually want the recipient to get well or not. • 600 cartoons! 10 years in the making! • Author's notes on why "Johnny Optimism" cartoons aren't as sick as you think. Maybe. • A perfect gift for anyone in the medical field. Or an undertaker.

204 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 21, 2020

Reviews

[Pat Cummings · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vegetable Soup and Wry

This second-opinion volume of Johnny Optimism provides a welcome dose of non-political dark humor to offset all the sickness that surrounds us. Plucky Johnny and his dog Lance confront the strange inhabitants of his world: the girl with her psychotic duck; an older couple in church, a dentist deep in his work, an infant with weirdly unmotivated parents, and the clown with a disturbing matched set of girl children clutched at his hip. Oh, and the grisly antibiotic-resistant bug. And the comatose man.

But don't waste time reading reviews, dig into this twisted and refreshing look at the best medicine in cartoon form. Johnny shows us (literally!) that despite everything, we don't have it so bad.

[Thomas B Forbes · Rating 5 out of 5]

A hoot

Lots of Dad jokes, puns and depraved humor! I’m at an age that’s had lots of hospital experience so I sure appreciated the laughs. Hey Stilt/ try this one. I was being prepped for a colonoscopy and was still quite awake. The nurses turned the lights down to better see the monitors. So I commented in a sleepy voice “ Is it appropriate for me to comment on the mood lighting?” Got some laughs then noted they were sparing on the anesthesia hoping to hear what I came up with next! Anyway, a very funny read and greatly needed these days!!

[richard d woods · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great humor

Any one who wants their sense of humor to go on a rampage, this is for you !!
However if you are a bit slow you best go back to Daddy Daze or some other bland comic. All kidding aside, put some pads on your funny bone and go for a excellent fun trip.

[W. B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gallows humor at its best!

Just the kind of morbid humor that tickles my funny bone; it's the cartoon equivalent of whistling past the graveyard!