I wasn’t familiar with Kate Beaton’s work until recently when I started noticing her book Hark! A Vagrant popping up on various blogs that I follow. On a whim I purchased it from Amazon without actually reading any of her comics beforehand or knowing what to expect. Here’s my review:This is seriously the funniest book I’ve read in a long, looong time. I read it in one sitting and laughed out loud almost the entire time. Ms. Beaton’s comedic timing is spot on and her drawings, though simple, are incredibly expressive.
Using historical and literary figures as her main characters, she dreams up hilarious scenarios using short comics strips. Some of the historical references can be a bit obscure (especially the ones about Canadian history) but she acknowledges this at the beginning of the book and hopes that the interested reader will take some time and google it if they so choose. Her comics cast a fresh and hilarious light on historical figures who we rarely think about today and the comedy ranges anywhere from witty and thought-provoking to utterly absurd silliness.
In the interest of full disclosure, many of her comics printed in the book can be viewed for free on her website, but I much prefer to have a copy for myself that I can flip through and enjoy (also the book only costs $11 on Amazon right now).
For more Kate Beaton, check out her website and her tumblr.
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