The first volume of the collected comic strip by Judd Winick, Frumpy the Clown is kind of like Calvin & Hobbes, if you replace the stuffed tiger with a six foot tall clown and dial down the sentimentalism by about 50%. Winick has created an endearing family dynamic with Frumpy and his adoptive family, and both volumes in this collection capture that entire two year run. Frumpy the Clown deserves to be recognized in the company of Bloom County and yes, even the kid with his stuffed tiger, and if you enjoy comic strips like that, Frumpy will fit right in. ( )

This excellent and charmingly macabre strip by Winick preceded his wonderful "Barry Wein" books, but one can see the ideas brewing here. More than anything else, one can see the comic influence of "Bloom County" here (which Winick pays homage to in his foreword. The premise is that a 6'4" cigarette-smoking clown named Frumpy rents a room from a typical (sort of) family. Frumpy is impossible to categorize; he is unbound by society's rules, a hedonist and honest to the point of pain, often obnoxious, quick to anger, but a quick wit and a heart of gold somewhere. Oh, and the two kids love him. The parents have a cautious affection for him, which is probably best. All in all, this is a very funny strip most of the time, always interesting, and occasionally moving. That's pretty good for a guy's first syndicated strip. ( )