Disillusioned Illusions

by Greg Stump

When a pair of washed-up silhouettes abandon the optical illusion business to make a graphic novel, they desperately hope the book will rocket them to fame and fortune. They’ll do just about anything to finish their project — anything, that is, except put forth any kind of effort whatsoever. Instead, they enlist a Juilliard-trained actor named Rodney to bear the burden of the work while they bicker, smoke, and relax in the break room. But their ingenious attempts at evading the hard labors of proper storytelling backfire when the three become entangled in a labyrinthine narrative of deception, adoption, and betrayal. Alliances and identities are forged and discarded with the turn of a page as the trio hurtles towards a thrilling courtroom conclusion that threatens to pull back the curtain on closely-guarded secrets and conspiracies.

Both a touching tale of persistence and a scathing send-up of bibliolatry, Disillusioned Illusions is a powerful exploration of what happens when
ambition collides with indolence in this debut graphic novel from cartoonist Greg Stump.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics

299 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2009

Reviews

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

If Waiting for Godot were a graphic novel, this would be it. I still can't figure out whether I liked it or not. I think I did? It's less bleak than Godot, certainly, but didn't feel nearly as satisfying.

Still, a pretty impressive feat for a graphic novel whose characters are entirely comprised of silhouettes.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book isn't even published yet. And so I'm not quite sure how goodreads even registers it. I got my copy from the author himself at a very small "book giveaway" party because I used to work with him. There are only 100 self-published copies of this in all of existence! The point being, I think goodreads is smarter than God.

Greg Stump is a friend of mine and an all-around stand up guy. He just finished this graphic novel, and, I'm not just saying this because it's the first graphic novel that I've ever read: but it's the best graphic novel that I've ever read. The humor is wry, the social commentary is somewhere between crass and delightful , and the characters themselves are completely loathsome, in the best possible way.

Please borrow my copy if you'd like, even if you're not normally into graphic novels. You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll wonder just who is tickling your butt. And later you'll remark at the inscription which places me as his #4 fan. (Didn't quite make the podium.)

[Nathan Matthews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reread this. Clever and funny and very appealing to my sense of humor.

[Glen Farrelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this absurdist graphic novel. The artwork is spartan basically 2-3 silhouettes against a plain white backdrop - but Greg Stump makes the most of the confines with some inventive and humourous touches (I particularly like how the vase is used). The story is mostly about nothing - although the premises is the two optical illusion guys deciding - but never quite - creating a graphic novel. So there's some meta-commentary on the medium that is funny - more of this would be great. I love the absurd jaunts into storylines that are unpredictable. But too much of the story centers around some bullying behaviour that wears thin long before the author finally drops it. Overall, I found this to be something truly different for graphic literature and I love to see such innovation.

[Derek Royal · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was intrigued by the book's premise when I first saw it solicited a few months ago. And I appreciate where Stump goes, but after the first quarter of the text I felt that the situation might have begun to run its course. Some have compared this to a Beckett play or something like Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author. The text has its metafictional moments, at times front and center, but it rarely goes beyond the schtick. There's not much in the way of commentary, critique, or self-reflection on the medium. The book is good for a few laughs, but the joke wears thin without a more reflective backing.

[Will · Rating 4 out of 5]

Greg Stump's unpublished graphic novel based on the short-run strip of the same name. Minimal doesn't even begin to describe the artwork, but the balance is complete with the hilarious, smarty-pants and often too self-reflexive banter. Great stuff and I hope it gets published one day soon.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

If Samuel Beckett had become a cartoonist.