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The Cowboy Wally Show
Considered a cult classic (at least that's what it says on the back cover) from the artist who went on to write and draw the highly praised Why I Hate Saturn, The Cowboy Wally Show consists of four chapters. "The Cowboy Wally Legend" is our introduction to this overblown mockery of a film star; "Sands of Blood" and "The Making of Hamlet" are two crazy attempts at film; and "Cowboy Wally's Late Night Celebrity Showdown" is his final moment of television glory. This will appeal to fans of trashy television talk shows.
128 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
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226 people want to read
About the author
Kyle Baker
275 books88 followersLibrarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Kyle John Baker is an American cartoonist, comic book writer-artist, and animator known for his graphic novels and for a 2000s revival of the series Plastic Man.
Baker has won numerous Eisner Awards and Harvey Awards for his work in the comics field.
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Kyle John Baker is an American cartoonist, comic book writer-artist, and animator known for his graphic novels and for a 2000s revival of the series Plastic Man.
Baker has won numerous Eisner Awards and Harvey Awards for his work in the comics field.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
December 29, 2019
I was a fool once, having an ingrained prejudice against graphic "comic book" novels and speaking it out loud. But after From Hell, Fun Home, Brat Pack... no. It IS an art form, true and authentic: it is storytelling told in a form that is pretty strict like poetry, but flows as naturally as prose. Sorry if this is a Johnny-come-lately type situation for me. But IT IS.
There is so much imagination in this very unconventional riot of a read. Obviously Ignatius from "Confederacy of Dunces" comes up--Cowboy Wally is just as self-centered. Just as ridiculous. He moves within the real & imaginary Hollywood of yesteryear, so you can predict how satirical it can get, especially averaging one or more giggles per page! You really must spend an hour reading this: you wont have it any better with any given Netflix show, I assure you. This is true entertainment!
There is so much imagination in this very unconventional riot of a read. Obviously Ignatius from "Confederacy of Dunces" comes up--Cowboy Wally is just as self-centered. Just as ridiculous. He moves within the real & imaginary Hollywood of yesteryear, so you can predict how satirical it can get, especially averaging one or more giggles per page! You really must spend an hour reading this: you wont have it any better with any given Netflix show, I assure you. This is true entertainment!
September 8, 2024
[7/10]
Quality jollity!
Yeah! This collection of caustic cartoons is odd, something that I can’t say I was prepared for, but a riotous journey that I started to appreciate more about halfway through.
I picked it up because I noticed that the author, Kyle Baker, has several Eisner Awards under his belt and I wanted something that is not related to his work for the big guys at Marvel or DC.
So strike one for creative artists who feel stifled by the big studio system and decide to go freelance with original work in the indie area.
Acknowledgements:
I blame society!
Kyle Baker is clearly a very good cartoonist, his characters in the panels are very expressive and finely drawn. The quality of the artwork helped me continue with the album when I found the ‘talking heads’ format of the presentation rather off-putting in the first chapter,
As I kept reading, I also began to appreciate more the mature, lambasting tone of the material, the bleak commentary on the entertainment industry that is wrapped up in the often offensive, mostly clueless and always self-centred personality of its lead character, the Cowboy Wally himself.
As a counterpoint to the antics of Wally there is often a straight man character named Walsh [Lenny, Ken, etc] that I read is based on Baker himself. For some reason, the style of presentation reminded me of Harvey Kurtzman cartoons, and a little more digging online showed me that Kyle Baker collaborated with Mad and National Lampoon magazines, among others.
The book is split into four chapters:
Chapter One: The Cowboy Wally Legend
This is a mock documentary about the rise to fame of Cowboy Wally from a children TV show presenter to a national figure on the big networks. Massively overweight, wearing a super-tall white Stetson and high heeled boots, Wally excels at insensitive and/or abusive language and coarse jokes. The public apparently loves his political incorrectness, even as his shows fail regularly after a couple of episodes.
Chapter Two: Sands of Blood
An action movie about a fort manned by the Foreign Legion in North Africa coming under attack, written and acted by a partner of Wally named Walsh who tries to insert some existential angst into the script only to be sabotaged at every step by Wally’s own repulsive type of humour.
[image error]
Chapter Three – The Making of Hamlet
Presented as another mockumentary, this time scripted and directed by Cowboy Wally himself, this chapter describes the production of a twenty minutes version of the classic drama, filmed inside the prison where Wally and Walsh are incarcerated. This is even more lowbrow than the desert war movie from the previous chapter, with even angrier reactions from Walsh about how culture is mistreated for so-called popular entertainment
Chapter Four: Cowboy Wally Late Night Celebrity Showdown
Baker saved the best for last, with a chapter presenting a reality show hosted by Cowboy Wally who invites on his couch a famous actress, an elderly country singer and a mentalist, the show sponsored by his own brand of Cowboy Wally Beer and some sort of reinforced eggs that cannot be beaten brand. Is this reality or only a scripted skit?
I did in the end enjoy the jollity of the whole Wally show, but it was touch and go in the beginning. I do hope I will come across more of Baker cartoons in the future.
Quality jollity!
Yeah! This collection of caustic cartoons is odd, something that I can’t say I was prepared for, but a riotous journey that I started to appreciate more about halfway through.
I picked it up because I noticed that the author, Kyle Baker, has several Eisner Awards under his belt and I wanted something that is not related to his work for the big guys at Marvel or DC.
So strike one for creative artists who feel stifled by the big studio system and decide to go freelance with original work in the indie area.
Acknowledgements:
I blame society!
Kyle Baker is clearly a very good cartoonist, his characters in the panels are very expressive and finely drawn. The quality of the artwork helped me continue with the album when I found the ‘talking heads’ format of the presentation rather off-putting in the first chapter,
As I kept reading, I also began to appreciate more the mature, lambasting tone of the material, the bleak commentary on the entertainment industry that is wrapped up in the often offensive, mostly clueless and always self-centred personality of its lead character, the Cowboy Wally himself.
As a counterpoint to the antics of Wally there is often a straight man character named Walsh [Lenny, Ken, etc] that I read is based on Baker himself. For some reason, the style of presentation reminded me of Harvey Kurtzman cartoons, and a little more digging online showed me that Kyle Baker collaborated with Mad and National Lampoon magazines, among others.
The book is split into four chapters:
Chapter One: The Cowboy Wally Legend
This is a mock documentary about the rise to fame of Cowboy Wally from a children TV show presenter to a national figure on the big networks. Massively overweight, wearing a super-tall white Stetson and high heeled boots, Wally excels at insensitive and/or abusive language and coarse jokes. The public apparently loves his political incorrectness, even as his shows fail regularly after a couple of episodes.
Chapter Two: Sands of Blood
An action movie about a fort manned by the Foreign Legion in North Africa coming under attack, written and acted by a partner of Wally named Walsh who tries to insert some existential angst into the script only to be sabotaged at every step by Wally’s own repulsive type of humour.
[image error]
Chapter Three – The Making of Hamlet
Presented as another mockumentary, this time scripted and directed by Cowboy Wally himself, this chapter describes the production of a twenty minutes version of the classic drama, filmed inside the prison where Wally and Walsh are incarcerated. This is even more lowbrow than the desert war movie from the previous chapter, with even angrier reactions from Walsh about how culture is mistreated for so-called popular entertainment
Chapter Four: Cowboy Wally Late Night Celebrity Showdown
Baker saved the best for last, with a chapter presenting a reality show hosted by Cowboy Wally who invites on his couch a famous actress, an elderly country singer and a mentalist, the show sponsored by his own brand of Cowboy Wally Beer and some sort of reinforced eggs that cannot be beaten brand. Is this reality or only a scripted skit?
I did in the end enjoy the jollity of the whole Wally show, but it was touch and go in the beginning. I do hope I will come across more of Baker cartoons in the future.
February 18, 2018
Cowboy Wally follows the comedic tale of an evil-alcoholic version of John Wayne through a few decades of Hollywood saturated in(s)anity. A talk-show, a jail, and motion picture productions which include a faux French Foreign Legion tale and a bizzare-o reduplication of Shakespeare's Macbeth all provide the settings. Spoofs and jests all deserving of a Middle-Age fair drive laughs all the way to the end.
The jokes are there but, like those in many of Baker's works, they go on for way too long. As has been well said before, "Brevity is the soul of Wit." Ironically enough, this unheard maxim is as as unused as the mediocrely, misapplied, modernized replication of Macbeth which was (IMHO) the weakest link of the comic.
Funny and deserving of a read? Yes. Are the jokes equally enjoyable as they are well spread out? Not so much. Either you'll dig it or you won't. Although presented otherwise I do find Kyle Bakers' bibliography to be something of an acquired taste.
A Sunday Brunch for the Eyes.
One grinning thumb Up.
The jokes are there but, like those in many of Baker's works, they go on for way too long. As has been well said before, "Brevity is the soul of Wit." Ironically enough, this unheard maxim is as as unused as the mediocrely, misapplied, modernized replication of Macbeth which was (IMHO) the weakest link of the comic.
Funny and deserving of a read? Yes. Are the jokes equally enjoyable as they are well spread out? Not so much. Either you'll dig it or you won't. Although presented otherwise I do find Kyle Bakers' bibliography to be something of an acquired taste.
A Sunday Brunch for the Eyes.
One grinning thumb Up.
December 3, 2023
A goofy fun time
Cowboy Walley is a lowlife actor who enjoys nothing more in life than beer, money, and food. He mostly deals in shlock films/box office cash grabs.
This one is pretty short but it's a good time. A lot of mature content though so keep that in mind. Overall I give this a 4/5 I enjoyed my time with it.
Cowboy Walley is a lowlife actor who enjoys nothing more in life than beer, money, and food. He mostly deals in shlock films/box office cash grabs.
This one is pretty short but it's a good time. A lot of mature content though so keep that in mind. Overall I give this a 4/5 I enjoyed my time with it.
June 11, 2012
This is funny stuff. Great graphic novel about a documentary being made chronicling the rather dubious career of "entertainer" Cowboy Wally, including his film version of "Hamlet" and various other bits. Frequently laugh out loud funny, sometimes just because of non-sequitur jokes (reinforced eggs that "Can't be beat" kind of stuff) but often becasue Baker has an uncanny sense of rhythm, both verbally and visually. The writing's occasionally a bit glib but is generally sharp, and the art offers a delightful, balance of realistic rendering (characters look believable and are all very clearyl delineated) and comic exaggeration--Baker's especially good at exaggerated mouths. Very entertaining.
July 10, 2016
This book is a work of comic - and comic book - genius. If you've never encountered it, go find a copy.
It is absolutely brilliant satire of the worst kind of celebrity entertainment culture. It starts on a high point and just keeps getting better. "The Cowboy Wally Legend" will make you laugh, with brilliant lines like "You see, before [Cowboy Wally], there was something of a stigma attached to being fat, loud and stupid" or a little boy blurting out "Mom says the reason you don't wear rings is that they would spark when you drag your knuckles on the ground."
"Sands of Blood" takes it to a higher level, spoofing romantic poetry, artistic angst, masculine sensibility, Laurel and Hardy, and action epics all at once. It doesn't seem possible, but it works on every level. Can "The Making of Hamlet" raise the bar any higher? Oh, you bet it can. The production of Cowboy Wally and Lenny's low-budget version of Hamlet - scene for scene accurate, with some sections shot using puppets...while in prison - is not to be believed. And just when you think it can't get any better, "Cowboy Wally's Late Night Celebrity Showdown" comes along to prove you wrong, ending the book with a string of perfectly paced and executed gags.
This is a laugh-out-loud book of the best kind. Thank you, Kyle Baker. Thank you.
It is absolutely brilliant satire of the worst kind of celebrity entertainment culture. It starts on a high point and just keeps getting better. "The Cowboy Wally Legend" will make you laugh, with brilliant lines like "You see, before [Cowboy Wally], there was something of a stigma attached to being fat, loud and stupid" or a little boy blurting out "Mom says the reason you don't wear rings is that they would spark when you drag your knuckles on the ground."
"Sands of Blood" takes it to a higher level, spoofing romantic poetry, artistic angst, masculine sensibility, Laurel and Hardy, and action epics all at once. It doesn't seem possible, but it works on every level. Can "The Making of Hamlet" raise the bar any higher? Oh, you bet it can. The production of Cowboy Wally and Lenny's low-budget version of Hamlet - scene for scene accurate, with some sections shot using puppets...while in prison - is not to be believed. And just when you think it can't get any better, "Cowboy Wally's Late Night Celebrity Showdown" comes along to prove you wrong, ending the book with a string of perfectly paced and executed gags.
This is a laugh-out-loud book of the best kind. Thank you, Kyle Baker. Thank you.
September 23, 2015
Reading The Cowboy Wally Show again almost twenty years after its publication, this reader was struck by two things. One, it dovetails perfectly with the film Idiocracy. In the meta-story, an irretrievably stupid man finds momentary success as a performer on a kid’s television show. Guided by slightly less dumb enablers, he has adventures in movie making, beer drinking, and small arms fire.
Second, in terms of form, The Cowboy Wally Show feels like a webcomic. The story starts with a documentarian arriving to interview Cowboy Wally. When he’s fired at the end of the first act, the story follows Wally’s adventures in a film based on the French Foreign Legion called Sands of Blood. The third act concerns a jailhouse production of Hamlet which has to be produced by Friday to ease ‘a tax issue’. The final act has Cowboy Wally returning to his roots to host Cowboy Wally’s Late Night Celebrity Showdown. This last section lampoons the vacuity of celebrity culture and modern late night television with enthusiasm, skill, and an ad for the 2-liter-size Cowboy Wally Lite beer.
The Cowboy Wally Show is the perfect marriage of low brow humor and high art.
Second, in terms of form, The Cowboy Wally Show feels like a webcomic. The story starts with a documentarian arriving to interview Cowboy Wally. When he’s fired at the end of the first act, the story follows Wally’s adventures in a film based on the French Foreign Legion called Sands of Blood. The third act concerns a jailhouse production of Hamlet which has to be produced by Friday to ease ‘a tax issue’. The final act has Cowboy Wally returning to his roots to host Cowboy Wally’s Late Night Celebrity Showdown. This last section lampoons the vacuity of celebrity culture and modern late night television with enthusiasm, skill, and an ad for the 2-liter-size Cowboy Wally Lite beer.
The Cowboy Wally Show is the perfect marriage of low brow humor and high art.
March 4, 2011
My first exposure to the strange work of Kyle Baker is the story of a debauched and selfish former cowboy star down on his luck. Part social satire, part satire on fame and those who think they need it, and part playful exercise in futility, this book ranges so far that it is beyond me to sum it up. I read it for the extended plot line about producing a film of HAMLET in a prison, which is just strange. While I do not pretend to understand why Baker created this character or this story (stories, really), his talent as a storyteller and artist shines through. The book is dense, befuddling, and entertaining.
April 24, 2008
A true sequential masterpiece. It reads like the movie W.C. Fields made in an alternate universe and it won Oscars for best film, original screenplay, actor, and is remembered as the greatest comedy ever filmed. In that universe, Baker is not working on a sequel.
June 24, 2009
Mock-documentary about a loveable and hateable cowboy entertainer who doesn't know the meaning of the word 'stupid' and gets to look back on his career, the highs and lows.
May 11, 2021
0385241224 = wrong cover = should be bright backstage angled
You must be patient as you plod through the beginning-> the payoff is backloaded.
1. Merely setup. Dumb humor. Some silent ha!s.
2. Extraordinarily over-dramatic story with "smart" humor. Some silent ha!s.
3. Single cell four prisoner Hamlet. Plenty of out-loud chuckling action mixed with more silent ha!s because it's juicy stupid and smart at the same time!
4. Late-night show antics. Now you're actually laughing!!
You must be patient as you plod through the beginning-> the payoff is backloaded.
1. Merely setup. Dumb humor. Some silent ha!s.
2. Extraordinarily over-dramatic story with "smart" humor. Some silent ha!s.
3. Single cell four prisoner Hamlet. Plenty of out-loud chuckling action mixed with more silent ha!s because it's juicy stupid and smart at the same time!
4. Late-night show antics. Now you're actually laughing!!
May 23, 2021
Història vital d'una estrella de cine de Hollywood que compleix amb tots els estereotips negatius existents a l'indústria. Té moments subtils d'ironia per criticar certes males pràctiques, combinats amb obvietats estridents però no menys creïbles.
July 28, 2022
Funny in parts, it definitely gets better towards the end. Baker is amazing with visual comedy, so it's very strange that for this he opted instead to keep most of the gags in the dialogue. Certainly there were good jokes, but on the visual end this was pretty dry.
March 17, 2021
This is dated and dumb and very, very funny. I love it.
May 27, 2021
Gonna go do some guy stuff
October 4, 2025
Amusing, if underwhelming…
January 17, 2022
The Cowboy Wally show is one of the funniest pieces of literature I have ever read. The format is unique, and meta and Baker's art is really something special. As a Texan, this character is painfully nostalgic, and the chaotic situations Wally gets himself into rivals peak Krusty the Clown shenanigans on the Simpsons. If you read one book about a faux cowboy who re-creates Hamlet from behind prison walls this year, make it this one.
September 16, 2025
(Read Digitally)
March 27, 2015
The Cowboy Wally Show is wildly, wonderfully uneven. Kyle Baker's faux documentary of the "rise", fall, and return of the eponymous entertainer approaches the subject with a bit of a "throw everything at the wall and see what sticks" approach. The result is a delightfully scathing look at the entertainment industry filled with quotable dialog, laugh out loud gags, and heavy doses of absurdity. Written when Baker was 23, what TCWS lacks in subtlety (it doesn't know the meaning of the word) it makes up for in charm.
Baker's art is phenomenal, here. Characters faces, in particular, are beautifully realized. They're drawn in a very realistic manner, with slightly exaggerated features (more exaggerated during emotional moments). The writing might be as subtle as a brick to the head, but Baker manages to capture a tremendous range of (sometimes) nuanced expressions on his character's faces.
The writing won't appeal to everyone, but I found a lot of the gags and jokes laugh out loud funny. During a bit about Cowboy Wally's brief stint as a news caster, Baker draws two panels depicting the show: "Today's big story, Mayor Fenton Hubley was killed today in a tragic plane crash." "On the lighter side of the news, I never liked him anyway." During a rewrite of Hamlet, a palace guard,Francisco, is talking to another guard, Bernardo, about the King's death: "accidental death, says the Queen. The King fell on his sword." "Wow." "Eight times." "Sounds fishy to me." "Hey, I don't see nothing, I don't hear nothing. That's what they pay me for." "You're the palace guard." "And I want to keep it that way." Cowboy Wally's brief stint in jail is pretty typical of the kinds of jokes that run through the book:
I could go on; Baker's absurd humor ("Ed Smith: Lizard of Doom!") and rapid fire approach mean rarely a page goes by without something at least chuckle worthy happening. I can only imagine what TCWS would look like if Baker were writing it today; his depiction of a shallow Hollywood icon has aged surprisingly (depressingly) well.
Much recommended!
December 2, 2008
I had not read much of Kyle Baker's early work other than "You are Here" and this book is more akin "Why I Hate Saturn." The Cowboy Wally Show is an intriguing mix because parodies vaudeville,the silent movies and the comedy shows of yesteryear and late nite but it is placed in the corrupt yuppie eighties Hollywood. There is also some wonderful Woody Allen type patter thrown in. Our villain is Cowboy Wally, a Hollywood star who has almost no claim to fame or talent but somehow manages to pump out show after show, and movie after movie of infamy. The book starts out like a documentary and then goes rogue, rather like the modern reality show. I especially enjoyed Cowboy Wally's version of Hamlet, done with shadow puppets in a prison cell. Highly recommended to those who like the humor in Dave Sim's Cerebus.
December 7, 2015
One of my all-time favorite graphic novels. This was a grail novel for me back in the day --- I had heard of it (mainly through quotes seen on rec.arts.comics on Usenet), but didn't see a copy for years. I finally picked up a used copy and was underwhelmed for the first read. Later reads, however, just cemented for me the comic genius of the work. The last of the four acts in particular melds great comic timing, horrible jokes, and just enough pathos to add some emotional impact. One of my favorite things to read when I can't get to sleep.
January 22, 2013
Kyle Baker's graphic novel was a bit ahead of the curve at the time of its release in exposing the seamy underbelly of entertainment figures. The humor's edge had blunted a bit with time, but his approach, which basically turns the graphic novel into an episode of E!'s True Hollywood Story, is still novel. The jokes land with some brio (I laughed out loud more than once), and Baker's art is always enjoyably cartoonish. Worth a look if you're a fan of Baker's work and showbiz satire.
July 8, 2010
Disappointing. I love Kyle Baker from her other graphic novel "Why I Hate Saturn," so I gave this a chance despite the dubious cover. It had some OK moments, like a chopped-down modern version of "Hamlet" in three pages, and some great barbs against modern day Male Chauvinism in entertainment, but mostly I give it a firm "meh."
October 11, 2020
A cutting satire of the entertainment industry, visually stunning (it is so hard to draw in a way that is so easy on the eye and just flows like that), razor-sharp writing and laugh-out-loud funny.
"You see, before C.W. there was something of a stigma connected with being fat, loud and stupid. I think we're doing something very important here."
"You see, before C.W. there was something of a stigma connected with being fat, loud and stupid. I think we're doing something very important here."
October 5, 2008
Read this one Easter weekend in one sitting at the Beehive in Pittsburgh.... I was hiding from my own reality at the time.
Funny graphic novel. I wouldn't say one of my favorites, but certainly worth a whirl.
Funny graphic novel. I wouldn't say one of my favorites, but certainly worth a whirl.
July 28, 2011
First published in 1988, Kyle Baker's The Cowboy Wally Show is an acerbic parody of the entertainment industry. If Baker were writing/drawing this today, he'd include the reality series trend, but otherwise it still holds up very well. Recommended.
August 27, 2013
Kyle Baker gets it!
Great comedy timing with simple yet very nice art.
His characters are completely believable, and his comedy is simply dead-on!
Alls that was missing was a 'Yippe Kay Ay...' from the main character.
Great comedy timing with simple yet very nice art.
His characters are completely believable, and his comedy is simply dead-on!
Alls that was missing was a 'Yippe Kay Ay...' from the main character.
February 14, 2008
didn't finish
May 25, 2008
I read this upon publication in 1988. I am man enough to admit it was the last time I actually wet my pants from laughter. NO kidding.
This is a fort. Lock the door.
This is a fort. Lock the door.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews