Tony Millionaire

Tony Millionaire is one of my favorite cartoonists and this book is a great example why. Millionaire is the author of both Sock Monkey and Maakies (which can be found in many alternative newspapers).

Billy Hazelnuts is a stand-alone story for kids. Millionaire's art style is reminiscent of illustrations in 19th Century children's lit, but his story-telling and subject matter are straight out of some kind of not-so-unpleasant fever dream.

The titular character is made by rats out of bits of show more garbage and mince meat. Despite this, he is befriended by Becky, a young science wizard and the two have a fantastic adventure featuring a spurned love, a steam-driven crocodile, and the missing moon. Millionaire tells it all with a dark-edged joy at the possibilities of the medium he loves. show less

This graphic novel creates a violent and sweet dreamscape rendered in thick pen lines and humorous faux-victorian dialogue. If you enjoy Terry Gilliam films (the better ones anyway), it will definitely make you smile. I preferred Tony Millionaire's Sock Monkey, but both are worthwhile and easily read in under half an hour.

It's hard to think of enough superlatives for Tony Millionaire's Maakies. Along with Patrick McDonnell's Mutts, Maakies is the only newspaper (or newsweekly) strip being published today that is worth reading. And having the first five years of Maakies to enjoy together in a single volume - this really is a special treat.

It's all here: the dismemberments, the drunkenness, the defecation, and even the alco-rocket. This type of crude humor is not unique or new, but it's rarely been handled by show more such an exquisite draftsman with such a finely honed sense of the surreal. The back of this volume features a blurb from The New York Times Book Review comparing Millionaire to George Herriman (creator of Krazy Kat), and the analogy could not be more appropriate. Like Herriman, Millionaire has no fear of working on the edge of sanity and taste, but unlike lessor talents, he's not there only because he has nowhere else to go. Maakies can be charming, philosophical, and sometimes even sappy, but it is more often violent, nihilistic, and just plain rude. Which is to say, it's brilliant.

For the Maakies enthusiast, this volume is indispensable. For everyone else, it's even more indispensable. This is the kind of free-thinking, genre-bending, gag-inducing art that the ayatollahs of every nation would prefer you didn't experience. So what are you waiting for? show less

While I love some of Millionaire's other books, notably the Sock Monkey books (see The Collected Works of Tony Millionaire's Sock Monkey, or Tony Millionaire's Sock Monkey: Uncle Gabby), Der Struwwelmaakies was a huge disappointment. The best thing about the book is the cover art. Inside, the illustrations are largely uninspired--definitely not Millionaire's best work. What's far worse, however, is the tone of the "humor" that dominates the comics. Mostly the "jokes" are crude, crass, show more juvenile, unfunny cracks based on bodily functions and misogyny. While I understand that Millionaire may have been after a certain effect in an attempt to push the envelope (especially given the social-outcast or rebel tradition of the Struwwelpeter from which this book's title is adapted), the problem is that these comics are just not funny. Nor are they insightful, interesting, or thought-provoking in any other way. It's a shame Millionaire wasted the brilliant Struwwelpeter-inspired cover on this collection of trash.

If I had to chose one word to describe the book, it would be "immature." It reads like a collection of sketches drawn by a troubled 13-year-old. And I do mean troubled--if my kid drew these, I'd seek counseling for him. (I say "him" because misogyny is a common theme in these comics.)

Bottom line: a huge disappointment for fans of Millionaire's other, less crass (and more interesting) works. show less