hypops's review
3.0
A collection of short, wordless, black-and-white comic strips that mix crude visual gags with expressionistic, existential angst. Clean lines and spare detail. When Thorburn is good, he’s really great. Unfortunately, when the gags start to repeat and the angst becomes predictable, the collection starts reading more like a personal sketchbook than a finished collection.
With half the number of strips, this would be an absolutely incredible book. But as is, it’s a bit uneven. I might expect unevenness in a career-spanning collection where thoroughness trumps selectivity. But this is a first major collection from Thorburn. A shorter, tighter selection would have had a lot more impact.
Nevertheless, at its best, Penguins can resemble the existential horror of Quimby the Mouse or the dream-like brilliance of Krazy Kat. And I really dig Thorburn’s short strips on the back of Now. Like many of the greatest cartoonists, he can distill humor, ennui, crudeness, grace, disgust, pain, childishness, and joy to just 3 or 4 panels and just a few lines of ink. Being similarly sparing in deciding which strips to include would have gone a long way.
With half the number of strips, this would be an absolutely incredible book. But as is, it’s a bit uneven. I might expect unevenness in a career-spanning collection where thoroughness trumps selectivity. But this is a first major collection from Thorburn. A shorter, tighter selection would have had a lot more impact.
Nevertheless, at its best, Penguins can resemble the existential horror of Quimby the Mouse or the dream-like brilliance of Krazy Kat. And I really dig Thorburn’s short strips on the back of Now. Like many of the greatest cartoonists, he can distill humor, ennui, crudeness, grace, disgust, pain, childishness, and joy to just 3 or 4 panels and just a few lines of ink. Being similarly sparing in deciding which strips to include would have gone a long way.
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