Marbles in My Underpants

by Renée French, Jamie S. Rich (Editor)

What's lurking under the bed? Who's casting that shadow outside my window? Common questions children ask themselves in the dead of night. But what if, instead of those rather innocuous queries, the child asks things like: What's inside this bunny that makes him move? What if I put a raisin in a dead man's nose? If I leave the paw of a deceased mole in the sun, will it grow sprouts and fungus like potatoes? This is the world of Renee French, who's independent comic book stories have been disturbing readers and provoking reactions since the early '90s. Oni's hefty collection, Marbles In My Underpants, is the first major volume of her work to be published anywhere. It's a comprehensive retrospective, examining French's versatility and the spectrum of her career, from the harsh early work in Grit Bath up to Corny's Fetish, a touching tale of a lonely man and his desire for love. Through horror, psychedelia, and, ultimately, a skewed approach to conventional storytelling, French gets to the dark middle of the human psyche, crafting a truly unique comic-book experience.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Surreal, Graphic Novels Comics

232 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2001

About the author

Renée French is a an American cartoonist and illustrator. Her work has been widely anthologized, and she is the author of the graphic novel The Ticking.
French is also a children book author, with the pen name Rainy Dohaney .

Reviews

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice and creepy in a darkly cute kind of way. Worth reading even if it's just for the great drawings of an angry raccoon eating someone's face. More books need angry raccoons in them!!

[George Marshall · Rating 2 out of 5]

I welcome things on the dark side but this left me feeling nauseated and unsatisfied. French has a limited pallet of disgusting images (usually contrasting graphic violence with images of innocence) that she mines endlessly. But she never goes below the supercial aesthetics to explore why these have meaning. She depends on the incoherent dream format to sidestep meaning and narrative. It feels very superficial. 2 stars for having some good ideas and nice draught(person?)ship.

[Patty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved these illustrations

[Gabriel Infierno · Rating 3 out of 5]

I suffer while I read it but I liked it, It's just full of sick and disgusting stuff, if you like that you will enjoy it.

[D.M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is nothing I know of that is quite like Renee French. Her output is poised somewhere between David Lynch and Tobe Hooper, but portrayed in a style closer to children's-book illustration than what might be typical of comics similar to hers (of which there are VERY few).
I've been following her bizarre, entrancing work since the first time I saw it, so this book was a wonderful (if superfluous) addition to my library. It collects pretty much everything that had been published of French up to that point, including some items she illustrated for other authours (including Penn Jillette!).
This is not, however, something I'd recommend to just anyone...or indeed to anyone I didn't know fairly well. Some of the stories are enough to make the skin crawl and/or the stomach clench, but certainly all could be taken as offensive to gentler sensibilities.
But I love it. And the book provides an opportunity to see the growth and change of French both narratively and graphically. The world is a better, if stranger, place for her presence.

[Jennifer]

At first I was disgusted then intrigued then genuinely impressed. Some of these are SO twisted. But I really really liked the last comic, Corny's Fetish." On a whole, very experimental in form, some great artwork.

[Zenpvnk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully disturbing. Another 'must have' if you are into graphic novels.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such good disturbing little things like eggs on... but most of all I like the line... "Do it!!!" {Splunk}...
Good wholesome stuff.

[Vince · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just about the most disturbing comics I can imagine reading. Cute, sad, horrifying and lonely little creatures populate these pages.

[Harry]

A collection of Renee French's wonderfully disturbing comics. A very uneasy read. Perfect for traumatizing kids and traumatized adults.

[Kirk Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

the most insidious comic in the world. yes.