Monster Rally

by Charles Addams

Creeping in and out of these pages are some of the most despicable characters in the world. How in the world they have ever become lovable - every last parent-murdering, wax-image-sticking, potion-brewing one of them - is a mystery known only to Charles Addams and countless thousands of his fans. They are, most of them, cartoons that have appeared already in The New Yorker, but were never published before in book form. There are six that no one has ever seen. And all of them will make you giggle and shutter deliciously.

Genres: Comics, Humor, Cartoon, Graphic Novels, Art, Horror, Graphic Novels Comics

91 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1950

About the author

The macabre humor and Gothic settings characterized many cartoons, first apparent in the New Yorker, of known American cartoonist Charles Samuel Addams.

Chas Addams best created "The Addams Family" comic characters, adapted for a variety of media. His signature style involved single panels.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles...

Reviews

[Radwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

More of Addams Family shenanigans, and after reading this collection, I do feel that the films did them justice. <3

[Pruett · Rating 4 out of 5]

All of the Addams Family cartoons in here are GOLD.

There are a couple of weird “jungle” cartoons and a lot of variations on “hahaha this husband/wife wants to kill their husband/wife,” but other than that, Chas Addams is a chad.

[Kirsti · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun collection with a half-dozen Addams cartoons I had never seen before. Published in 1950, so contains some cartoons that today we would call racist and sexist.

[Canavan · Rating 4 out of 5]

✭✭✭½

[Kris · Rating 3 out of 5]

As much as I love the Addams family and dark humor, this one has a few too many comics about murdering one’s spouse to be fully to my liking. Yikes.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Addams Family cartoons get 5 stars, but I was less-than-enthused with the non-Addams comics.

There were too many unhappy marriage/I want to kill my spouse ones (which are very of-the-time, and I suppose an interesting juxtaposition with Morticia & Gomez), which just isn't my type of humor. And I'm not afraid to admit, there were a fair number I didn't understand. The art style was great throughout, though.

[Chris Gager · Rating 5 out of 5]

My parents were always amused to see me bent over this book when my age was still in the single digits. In truth I missed a lot of the "subtlety" but I did get some of it and liked it and the artwork too. My favorite? The one showing the family about to dump boiling oil onto the Xmas carolers below at the front door. Date read is "general".

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

As expected from Addams, only one out the collection eluded my understanding this time.
The forward from O'Hara is unusually insightful and informative, perhaps due to his status as a fellow author.

[Kellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

After seeing the new Addams Family movie (disappointingly bland), I felt the need to revisit the original comics. I’ve had this book since I was a kid and it was a nice little nostalgic trip. I’d like to get my hands on some more collections of Charles Addams’s comics—this one is just a short selection.

And I don’t know if I really noticed as a kid, but... a disturbing number of these cartoons were about husbands and wives conspiring to kill each other.

[Rich Farrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first time experiencing a series of Charles Addams work at once. While these aren’t laugh out-loud funny, I do appreciate the cleverness of many of them and the nostalgia of them, in particular the cartoon that became the opening scene of the 1990s movie where the family pours oil on the Christmas carolers.

[Michael P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun collection of cartoons by the great Charles Addams. It features the famous Addams Family, but also cartoons separate from that continuity. Overall the collection is funny, though some of the cartoons have fallen victim to dated cultural references and social attitudes that would no longer fly. (Not surprising given the book is 70 years old.)

[John Lyman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic Charles Addams. I got most of the jokes, which was more than I expected. Ghoulish goodies.

[Kasey Silligman · Rating 5 out of 5]

These comics will have you giggling with each and every one.

[Osvald · Rating 4 out of 5]

great for reading with a friend!

Mati and I laughed a ton while reading this and had a lot of fun while trying to figure the illustrations out (we skipped the problematic ones about africa)

[Corey · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's nobody else like him. Even in these early drawings he was masterful.

[~•verena•~ · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't get most of the jokes, maybe because many where racist or sexist?
Also I expected it to be about the Addams Family, while they only appeared in few of the cartoons.

[Kathryn Baron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Childhood Treasure. My introduction to Chaz Addams. Much loved.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cool to see original illustrations of this popular group, very cool and funny

[Bria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good for the most part, but there are a few I seriously need explained to me.

[Elizabeth (Miss Eliza) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it! Though I am distrubed... what as an Elctro-Snuggie Blanket? Keep in mind this book is from 1950...

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

dark humor, amazing detail