Masterpiece Comics

by Robert Sikoryak

HILARIOUS PARODIES OF CLASSIC LITERATURE REIMAGINED WITH CLASSIC COMICS Masterpiece Comics adapts a variety of classic literary works with the most iconic visual idioms of twentieth-century comics. Dense with exclamation marks and lurid colors, R. Sikoryak's parodies remind us of the sensational excesses of the canon, or, if you prefer, of the economical expressiveness of classic comics from Batman to Garfield . In "Blond Eve," Dagwood and Blondie are ejected from the Garden of Eden into their archetypal suburban home; Oscar Wilde's Dorian Gray is reimagined as a foppish Little Nemo; and Camus's Stranger becomes a brooding, chain-smoking Golden Age Superman. Other source material includes Dante, Shakespeare, Dostoyevsky, bubblegum wrappers, superhero comics, kid cartoons, and more. Sikoryak's classics have appeared in landmark anthologies such as RAW and Drawn & Quarterly , all of which are collected in Masterpiece Comics , along with brilliant new graphic literary satires. His drawings have appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, as well as in The New Yorker, The Onion, Mad, and Nickelodeon Magazine.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Humor, Art, Graphic Novels Comics, Classics

64 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2009

About the author

Robert Sikoryak (born 1964) is an American artist whose work is usually signed R. Sikoryak. He specializes in making comic adaptations of literature classics, producing a mashup of high culture and low culture. Under the series title Masterpiece Comics, these include Crime and Punishment rendered in Bob Kane–era Batman style, becoming Dostoyevsky Comics, starring Raskol; and Waiting for Godot mixed with Beavis and Butt-Head, becoming Waiting to Go.

Reviews

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like comics and classic literature this book will make you laugh. I really enjoy original work like this; seems as if there are fewer and fewer alternatives to what the mass market of comic 'book to movie' pipeline offers readers today. It is always nice to see something fresh like this, gives me hope that comics will be staying with us for a little while longer!

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kinda corny, sometimes pretty clever...funny in places, matching famous comics with famous literature...

[Mitchell Hahn-Branson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book of short comics depicting stories from classic literature written and drawn in the style of familiar comic strips and comic books, usually with characters from the comics playing the roles of characters from the classics. This is a brilliant idea, but there are two distinct pitfalls Sikoryak has to avoid in order to make it work:

It can't be a wink-wink, nudge-nudge, painfully self-aware exercise in which the characters are constantly saying, "Hoho, we're little cartoon characters putting on Daddy's big literature boots! Aren't we all adorable and intellectual?" That joke gets old fast.

At the other extreme, it can't turn into a Classics Illustrated sort of thing in which the comics characters look like themselves but fully take on the personalities of the classic characters. The novelty value of Batman just rattling off lines from Crime and Punishment would lose its novelty value after about two panels.

But Sikoryak bypasses both of those dangers and instead creates something completely original, something that makes this weird idea live up to its full potential. His hybrid stories remain true to everything that's ridiculous, endearing, and true about the comics, and they illuminate the greatness and profundity (and occasional silliness) of the classics.

For example, take the rendition here of poor Gregor Samsa in Kafka's The Metamorphosis, with his outer insect state reflecting his inner alienation and existential crises. Through Sikoryak's twisted lens, we get a Kafka/Charles Schulz mashup in "Good Ol' Gregor Brown," in which the poor transformed fellow scuttles around in the familiar yellow-and-black shirt. It makes the weirdest kind of sense, doesn't it? Not that Peanuts ever got quite as bleak as Kafka, but it is, at heart, a deeply sad comic about a sincere, put-upon kid who can never get a break. The brilliance of this juxtaposition can be summed up in one line spoken by Lucy as Gregor's sister, Grete: "GREGOR, YOU BLOCKHEAD!"

There are so many other great examples—eleven of them, to be exact—in which material is skillfully matched to other material. Here's Little Nemo as Dorian Gray: "What? The portrait has changed! What a cruel expression! Um! Maybe I should apologize to Sibyl." This is a truly clever book by an artist with the utmost love and respect for works that have lasted and things that were once wrongly thought entirely disposable.

[Bruce · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have nothing to add to the publisher's synopsis by way of review, save that I would substitute "clever mashups" for "hilarious parody." As implied by the publisher, Sikoryak is a gifted visual mimic who has (mostly) successfully redacted classic works of the literary canon. He uses verbatim dialogue in some cases and eschews it where appropriate to the context (as in the full-page Beavis & Butthead realization of Waiting for Godot in which Didi regales Gogo as a "dumbass"). I thought the mashups worked well in most cases, though I'm not sure about the affinities of Bronte's Wuthering Heights to EC's Tales from the Crypt, especially given the more recent and strictly textual mashup inherent in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies .

The weakest part of the book are Sikoryak's use of the comic book Letters to the Editor section for on-the-nose acknowledgement of his juxtaposed sources (if you're going to put the answers in the back of the book, at least offer new insight). The high point of the book for me arises from arguably it's most profound compression, namely, Moby Dick reenvisioned as an ad for a mail-order toy Pequod. The mock ad promises "hours of adventure, years of contemplation." (p. 44)

Not sure whether Sikoryak accomplishes this feat himself. Masterpiece Comics is more like a groaner of a pun. Momentarily pleasurable, ultimately forgettable. It's cute.

[Desiree Koh · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a delight, what a lark! Being a Victorian literature geek and a comic book nerd, how much fun was it to read some of my favorite works interpreted as pulp and classic strips? My favorite was The Heights, a 1950s dimestore rag portrayal of the Emily Bronte gothic epic - just an example of how well Sikoryak thought out the parallels and literal allusions between classic works of literature and comic art symbolism. I don't typically endorse watering down the great classics, but with a kryptonite of intelligence and a superhero pep of verve, armed with nerves of steel, I could brave myself for this allusionary adventure. Looking forward to the Little Orphan Annie adaptation of Oliver Twist.

[Andrew Horton · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Doing classic literature as comics so kids will understand it, man" is as old as the comics medium, so it's fun for someone like Sikoryak to come along and do the whole thing with a wink and a nudge. Thus, "the Stranger" becomes "Action Camus" (after "Action Comics") with the absurdity of Superman emitting existential, miserable one-liners as he's led to the guillotine, while "the Scarlet Letter" becomes "Lil' Pearl" by way of "Little Lulu." While most are played for lulz, "Wuthering Heights" was BORN to be rendered as the E.C. Comics pastiche that it appears here as, complete its gruesome "Tales from the Crypt"-worthy climax (English majors, you know what I"m talking about).

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic literature told through the guise of classic comic strips: Kafka's Metamorphosis by way of Peanuts: Scarlet Letter by way of Little Lulu; Macbeth by way of Mary Worth; Dante's Inferno through the Double Bubble Gum comics, and others. Surprisingly, the plots of the stories are accurately presented, just a different and fun medium. Note of Caution: These are definitely Not For Children. The stories are not bowdlerized. For example, Blondie and Dagwood tell the story of Adam and Eve with full frontal male and female nudity. Part of the fun for me is seeing comics that don't exist any more, like "Little Lulu', again. For what it is, it definitely deserves 5 stars.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a year where the brain dead PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES mashup sold oodles and publishers sold their souls to crap out the next zombie/monster/classic mashup (okay, I’m speaking in hyperbole…publishers have no souls), R. Sikoryak’s insanely funny, smart, and deep (yes, deep!) collection of comic/classic mashups is the kind of book to be read and reread and you’d still not catch all the brilliant metaphors and links to themes of both classic lit and classic comic. That, or just delight in Charlie Brown as Gregor Samsa, or Garfield as Mephistopheles.

[Jeffrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great collection of comics by Sikoryak, and a must have if you didn't read the strips when they were being printed in places like Raw. Brilliant in that they don't adapt the classics, but rather comment and engage them, making it work on something like a half dozen levels for any reader familiar with the stories and comics he uses to tell them.

[Katherine Bishop · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel seen, as someone who neatly fits into the Venn diagram of ‘people very familiar with classic comics’, ‘people very well-versed in classic literature’, & ‘people who like parody.’

Clever & well executed. Brilliant in places.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

A friend informed me of the existence of this work and I must thank him heartily. The work has several fine details going for it, including art which gloriously mimics and parodies the work of Jim Davis, Charles Schulz, and countless others. While some had more impact on me than others – a character like Bat-Man as the protagonist in Crime and Punishment was far more enjoyable than the Tales from the Crypt / Bronte mashup – this is, perhaps, more linked to my fondness for Dostoevsky over Bronte. Mister Sikoryak brilliantly gives us comic sources that imitate everything from comic books to comic strips and even the old Bazooka Joe comics from gum wrappers. For his literary sources, he chooses a fine mix of literature from around the world, truly showing that our classics are global in source – the aforementioned Dostoevsky and Bronte, but also Oscar Wilde, Nathaniel Hawthorn, Voltaire, Dante, and Shakespeare. The merging of the aforementioned graphic sources and the literary classics are not without flaw, but are all solid and purposeful – sometimes eliciting humor and sometimes reminding us that these formats are not completely opposite – the creators of all these formats are artists with stories to tell in their own right.

It seems apparent that the creator – as he did graphics and stories which parody both comic and literature alike, it seems ill fitting to bill him just as author – has a genuine interest and passion for both the classics and the more modern comics and graphic novels which are around today. Though akin to Classics Illustrated, this is much more parody and satire, with adjustments made to fit the story to the need of the art, a la Ziggy being mashed up with Candide. It is here that Mr. Sikoryak proves his best form – as he shows in his “Masterpiece Queries” which mimic the letters to the editor pages of comics, he is quite intentional about how he mashes and blends the work in that he purposely selects his literature to mesh with a comic that has some similarities to allow one to think about how the literary structure of the latter might well mesh with the former. The concept of Bat-Man in the world of Dostoevsky does not seem too farfetched as both exist in the realm of crime writing, for instance. Such links and connection prove valuable in the work that promises both “parody and profundity in one package.”

Though not for everyone, this will be good for those classic literature people who want a good chortle or two or for those comic fans who lament the fact that Classics Illustrated took itself too seriously. For both crowds, they will naturally gravitate to their own interests – it is doubtful Batman fans will rejoice as much for the Crypt of Bronte as they do for the Dostoevsky Comics, nor will the Dostoevsky fans find as much humor in the Hawthorn mash up of Hester’s Little Pearl as they do in the Dostoevsky work. Still, Sikoryak proves he is artist, wit, and mimic in this book and while one may not find the urge to constantly reread it, it is worth a look for those interested in the comics of old or the literary classics.

[Gavin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Perfect pastiches of old comics (Snoopy, Mary Worth, Garfield, Bat-Man) with dark classic stories. But the gag fades after the first two.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

R. Sikoryak’s “Masterpiece Comics” is an inspired mash-up, combining classic works of literature with classic comic book and comic strip characters. At their best, the stories unite shared themes underlying each work. “Blond Eve” settles the Bumsteads in the Garden of Eden, where Dagwood’s open gluttony and Blondie’s innocent curves subject them to the raging wrath of Mr. Dithers.

It’s fun to watch Sikoryak connect the dots. Garfield’s selfishness takes a sinister turn as he tempts Jon Arbuckle into damnation in a retelling of Faust. Superman sneers through his downfall for “shooting an Arab” in Action Camus. Batman—complete with an axe on his chest in place of his traditional symbol (Sikoryak is careful with trademarks)—rationalizes the murder of his pawnbroker.

Each tale is paired with painstaking execution, as Sikoryak’s adaptable style lets him showcase the grace notes of the artists he mimics. His Little Nemo/Dorian Gray spoof showcases Winsor McCay’s immaculate detail; his pairing of Charlie Brown and “Metamorphosis” employs Charles Schulz’s simple, evocative lines.

A few of the stories seem more like retelling than reinvention, namely his Tales from the Crypt take on “Wuthering Heights” and his pairing of Little Lulu with “The Scarlet Letter.” Unfortunately, these are two of the longer stories in the book, and they come off as stylized recaps.

But most of the stories work, and all of them are inspired. For fans of classic works in both mediums, “Masterpiece Comics” offers plenty of smiles and some smug recognition as well.

[The_Mad_Swede · Rating 4 out of 5]

R. Sikoryak has done something quite ingenious in this volume. He has opted to retell works of classic (not classical) works of literature in comics form. However, rather than aiming for straight adaptations, Sikoryak uses the style and characters of specific classic comics for each retelling, e.g. 1950s EC Comics for the retelling of Brontë's Wuthering Heights in "The House-Keeper's Tale (in The Crypt of Brontë) and early Batman stories from Detective Comics for the retelling of Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment in Dostoyevsky Comics (in which Batman plays the role of Raskol). This naturally lends itself to levels of parody, which Sikoryak uses beautifully, but he is also providing insightful readings of the original literary works and the comics he draws upon for style and (visual) characters.

This is something which arguably anyone with a joint interest in classic literature and the comics medium (as well as questions of adaptation and parody) should take a look at. Clever and enjoyable.

[Erik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely one of the top ten graphic novels of 2009, Sikoryak’s clever amalgamation of major comic books tropes and styles with classic novels and characters from world literature is an amazing read that leaves no doubt that he is one of comic-dom’s most brilliant creators living today. (And to think that I hadn’t heard of him until I picked this up just recently.)

Imagine Garfield as Christopher Marlowe’s Faust if Jim Davis had drawn it as a cartoon strip, Wuthering Heights as a Tales from the Crypt multi-parter, Little Lulu as Pearl in The Scarlet Letter, Batman as Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment, and the white-haired busy-body Mary Worth recast as Lady Macbeth in Shakespeare’s infamous tragedy – to name but a few of Sikoryak’s cleverly executed and near-perfect spoofs. If he has more “masterpieces” on the way, I will be more than happy to snatch them up in a New York minute.

[Michael P. · Rating 3 out of 5]

For over a century pop culture writers have taken classic stories and changed them just enough so that audiences and readers could not recognize that they were swiped from Homer, Shakespeare, and Dickens. Sikoryak stakes the ground in-between this and adaptation. It is obvious that he is using classic sources, in fact it is one of the selling points, but he also recasts familiar comic strip and book characters to play the leads. Batman becomes Dostoyevsky’s murderer in a Detective Comics version of Crime and Punishment, and the Little Lulu characters tell the story of The Scarlet Letter. The bits are uneven in quality, but the best are very smart indeed. Readers of late fifties and early sixties DC comic books will also enjoy the house ads and letter pages where Sikoryak uses a smart device to attribute the sources of his work.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very funny, I may be the EXACT audience for this collection, as I adore books and classic literature, but don't mind some poking fun of them, and I am familiar with the newspaper comics enough to get those jokes (thank you comics curmudgeon!) Teens would probably find this book awesome, but I wonder if they would be familiar with Mary Worth and Tales from the Crypt. The knowledge isn't necessary, but it does add an extra level of fun and funniness.

My favorite was the Tales from the Crypt/Wuthering Heights. For a book I hated in high school, and never want to read again, this was a nice refresher, leaving in all the exciting, applesauce-throwing bits while taking out a couple hundred boring pages.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book for the literati, literature-minded, previous English majors, you name it! You've got Dostoyevsky's Crime & Punishment in a "Batman" comic form, The Scarlet Letter in "Little Pearl" comic form, Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus is played out through "Garfield", Wuthering Heights is told through a "Tales from the Crypt Keeper" strip, and it goes on. Highly entertaining for a literature geek . . . even the "advertisements" that accompany comic books have literature metaphors planted within. Great fun!

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Witty and delightful, especially for those of us who tend to lean more towards literature than comics. This really does show the power of comics, the breadth of the medium. The shorter pieces - the parody of Candide and The Stranger - are the strongest, because I think Sikoryak is more expressive here. He's not as bogged down in fully representing a long and complex story, but rather captures the essence of a classic work of literature, distills it down to it's recognizable elements and then runs nuts with it. Very well done.

[Katie Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun interpretations of literary classics (from the story of Adam and Eve to Wuthering Heights to Kafka) as portrayed by classic comic book characters. I particularly enjoyed the letter "question and answer" portion at the end of each section which explained Sikoryak's thoughts and reasons behind why he chose which comic book characters to tell which stories.

Being familiar with these stories seems helpful, although there were several I was not familiar with and I enjoyed their comic book versions just the same.

[Michael Wells · Rating 5 out of 5]

The canon as comic book. Rather than "illustated classics", these are wonderfully clever parodies that use masterful take-offs on classic comics. Ziggy as Candide. Little Nemo as Dorian Gray. Superman as the Stranger from Camus. There's a great retelling of Genesis using Blondie and Dagwood. And a rockin version of Wuthering Heights done as a Tales From the Crypt EC Horror comic. It's clever, the comics are spot on... The only problem is that there's not enough of it. But rest assured, I'm sure volume two must be in the works. It's just too good...

[Christiane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so cool! Sikoryak takes literary classics like The Scarlet Letter, Crime and Punishment, and The Metamorphosis and re-tells them in the style of classic comics! Anyone who's loved Little Lulu will enjoy her as "Pearl" in "Red Letter Days"; her mom plays Hester and Tubby plays Hester's long lost husband! And poor old Charlie Brown makes a perfect Gregor Samsa. I'd give this book to older kids if it weren't for the Creation story with Dagwood and Blondie in their pre-sin state of nakedness, not something I actually needed to see on Dagwood Bumstead!

[Susan Chapek]

Loved it! Comic books were a rare treat for me when I was a kid, and the funny pages an obsession. In this collection, each comic is a top-notch homage to one classic comic and one literary masterpiece.

My three favorite examples: The Scarlet Letter as a Little Lulu comic; Kafka's Metamorphosis as a Peanuts comic; Waiting for Godot as performed by Beavis and Butthead. The "casting" of the characters from the referenced comic is hysterical, the artwork terrific, and the story in most cases would serve as well as Cliff's Notes.

Thanks to R. Sikoryak for many laughs and a lot of nostalgia.

[Buried In Print]

This review was deleted following Amazon's purchase of GoodReads.

The review can still be viewed via LibraryThing, where my profile can be found here.

I'm also in the process of building a database at Booklikes, where I can be found here.

If you read/liked/clicked through to see this review here on GR, many thanks.

[Derek Royal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm usually not one for careless superlatives, but this is the greatest! A brilliant work of comics adaptation, translating not only the classic works of literature themselves, but also the classic comics used as scaffolding to retell the stories. Sikoryak chooses comics close or pertinent to the literary themes in his adaptations, so that the medium definitely becomes part of the message. Outstanding!

[Christian Lipski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect! Classics of literature told through classics of comics: "Wuthering Heights" as an EC horror comic. "Faust" as a Garfield comic, The book of Genesis as a Blondie comic, Dante's "Inferno" as a series of Bazooka Joe comics... and so much more. The art is dead-on in its reproduction of the original strips, yet the tone and message of the underlying stories are preserved. A treat!

[Simon Omnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book has been an instant pleasure. Not only did I got to discover classics that I never read before, though in summarised versions, but I also got to view them in a more comical version. Either with Garfield playing as Mephistofeles and Jon Arbuckle as Faust, or even the Bible with Blondie and Dagwood as Adam and Eve.

Among my favorites discoveries were two classics I had never read before, which are Wuthering Heights, and Crime and Punishment. For these two versions, what was really surprising was that the comic book universe that were used to represent those adaptations really corresponded to the novels. For Sikoryak reminds us that Wuthering Heights has always been a story of revenge and passion before what people tend to confuse today, with the Twilight craze, especially the Eclipse novel, and all that rubbish, as a love story like Romeo and Juliet. For neither Heathcliff or Catherine are as honest as their antagonists. Apart from the narrator, played by the crypt keeper. Which is what this comic book series has always tried to represent, heroes that are more terrifying and monstrous than the monsters that invade our dreams.

As for the Crime and Punishment adaptation, it is great how the author decided to represent the story through the Batman characters, as if he wanted to state to us the contradictions between`s Batmnman own morals and the manners he manages to make his justice. As if he is no better than the characters he despises and tries to stop. Now this is a theory that won`t please the ardent fans of Batman, but this is the greatness of that book. Which is to provide a restudy of those classics, both in litterature and in Comic Books, and to make us find details and themes that we maybe forgot to take a better look at during our first reading.

To conclude, it is a comic book that should be read not only by fans, but also by classical litterature classes, both in University and in High school.

[Erin Schott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the opportunity to talk with Mr. Sikoryak today and ask him about his work. He was so generous letting me, a college student, interview him for one of my classes. I loved his strips of Wuthering Heights and Gregor Brown (a combo of Kafka's Metamorphosis and the Peanuts). After talking with Mr. Sikoryak, I came to appreciate how much more goes into making these comics than I could have possibly realized. He rereads the novel, looks at other comics and illustrations, examines paintings from the era for costuming ideas, watches movies, and even turns to CliffsNotes to see how people condense the novel. He also does a wonderful job staying faithful to the style of whatever comic he is imitating, paying attention to the fonts and even poses of characters. I look forward to reading his next work when it comes out.

[Michael Norwitz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume collects stories which have appeared in a variety of other anthologies, in which he tries to capture the essence (or at least the barest outlines of the plot) of classic literature, done in the style of various old comics and newspaper strips.

Sikoryak's an amazing and clever mimic, and the adaptations are very amusing to read. The comics themselves can be wearisome if read in a single sitting (they're more successful as breaks in other tonally more diverse anthologies, to my mind), but this is still worth checking out.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Classic pieces of literature re-interpreted through classic strips - the Garden of Eden starring Dagwood and Blondie, Dante's Inferno starring Bazooka Joe, etc. - Sikoyak does a good job aping the different visual styles and fitting their humor into the context of the classic he's referencing. It's not great, but it's kinda cute.