Lil' Donnie Volume 1: Executive Privilege

by Mike Norton

Finally, the acclaimed Rueben Award-nominated webcomic is collected! Follow the timely and terrifying adventures of Lil’ Donnie, the worst president in the history of the United States of America! This collection contains the first year of antics of a truly motley crew of weirdos and degenerates as they work (HA!) to make our world a better place... for them FOR THEM! Get one while we still have a first amendment!

Collects the first 125 LIL’ DONNIE comic strips

Genres: Humor, Comics, Graphic Novels, Politics, Cartoon

80 pages, Hardcover

Published August 28, 2018

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

Mike Norton has been working in comics for 10 years now, gaining recognition for projects such as The Waiting Place and Jason and the Argobots. In 2001, he became Art Director for Devil's Due Publishing where he drew the first Voltron mini-series. In 2005, he went freelance and has since made a name for himself working on books like Queen and Country, Gravity, Runaways, All-New Atom and Green Arrow/Black Canary.
He is also very, very tall.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mike Norton gets his frustrations out with the current administration with this often hilarious and sadly, often honest portrayal of those currently in power. This will at least make you laugh while you witness the fall of Rome.

Received a review copy from Image and Edelweiss. All thoughts are my own and in no way influenced by the aforementioned.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

As laughter is better for us than despondence and crippling anxiety, we all owe Mike Norton an unpayable debt for preserving our mental health during these dark days.

[Randy Lander · Rating 5 out of 5]

A darkly hilarious comic tour of Trump’s many, many, many missteps in his first year in office, with dead-on exaggerated parodies and magical realism.

[Cheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Should be read by anyone who needs a boost during these dark times. Loved the art and the writing. I absolutely recommend this book and plan to get a hardcover for myself, even though I've read the PDF version.

Big thanks to Edelweiss and Image Comics for the ARC.

There's a longer, more thoughtful review on my blog but just know that I liked this a whole lot.

http://reviews.c-spot.net/archives/6335

[Jesse Richards · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautifully drawn and with a knack for sticky character nickname/exaggerations almost as good as Trump's himself. But this shows how quickly any Trump administration satire ages ... six months later and I've already forgotten half these people. It's just not that funny to laugh at Sean Spicer now. We had less turnover when I worked at McDonald's.

[Terry Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful draftsmanship and gag writing make this a treat for any viewer of our current President and his motley cabinet and original crew. Published during the first year of Trump’s reign where you could still laugh bitterly at his corruption and ineptitude...as opposed to the daily horror show 2020 has unleashed upon us.

[Shandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

FYI, I read a digital arc from Image/Edelweiss, in exchange for a fair review. And my fair review is that it was great!

His art is superb, his humor biting, and his forays into the bizarre (Kelly-Anne Conway as a vengeful ghost, for example) don't always seem as far removed from reality as they could, given the weirdness that already comes from this current administration. Sometimes the punchline hit a little to close to the bone and elicited more of a pained snort than a guffaw, but mostly it was great to laugh because I'd rather laugh than cry!

Fair warning, it is unlikely that anyone who actually supports 45 will enjoy this. "Fair and balanced" this book is not - it is political humor and it is not gentle, nor is it at all on Lil' Donnie's side.

[Pop Bop · Rating 3 out of 5]

Uneven, But Sometimes Right on Target

This book starts with an odd foreword by a writer from the Stephen Colbert Late Show. He starts the Introduction with a sort of smarmy dismissal of Gary Trudeau's "Doonesbury" and then ends the Intro by declaring this book to be the new "Doonesbury". Well, "Doonesbury" certainly comes to mind as soon as you start looking at these strips. The drawing style, the structure of the jokes, the timing - it's all very similar. But, at least to me, the "Doonesbury" strips had a much lower misfire-to-hit average that what you will find here.

There are some excellent strips, some that don't really go anywhere, and some that cover ground that has been beaten to death. That said, I admire the effort very much. It's hard to parody, or mock, or shame the Trump administration and I guess an author's first instinct would be to go over the top to somehow get attention or make an impact. To his credit, Mike Norton doesn't get strident or exasperated, and he often aims for the subtle or pointed or unexpected twist in order to get his laugh. That's high risk and high reward and I understand it isn't always going to work.

That said, when it does work the laugh is on target and penetrating. And there's something else going on here. Almost all of the Trump strips cover familiar ground and mock Trump on the usual subjects. Where the strips work more often is when they are aimed more at Trump's collaborators and enablers. So, some of the best strips are aimed at Betsy DeVos, Scott Pruitt. Ben Carson, John Kelly, Jeff Sessions, Stephen Miller, the Trump children, and of course Sean Spicer, Kellyanne Conway and Sarah Sanders. Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell get especially brutal attention. Trump is Trump, but calling his apologists to account has a certain nice symmetry.

So, some funny bits and as topical as this morning's news, and mostly not fake.

(Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

[寿理 宮本 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Look, this is a great effort, honestly. The art is great, the comedy is great... but it's about the worst president in the history of the United States. [quote from back cover, honest] As such, I can't even finish a slim book making fun of him, because I can't stand him THAT much, even more that enough people prefer him to *any woman* to put him back in office.

I already have seen far too much of that waste of space to keep subjecting myself to more (though I thought this would be a good effort, since I did like the strip the odd times I saw it elsewhere). I picked it up anyway, because 1. it was cheap at the used bookstore, and 2. maybe as a free library donation, it'll help someone cope with Term 2 if they can remember how Term 1 went (which is to say, badly, so... maybe not).

[Theediscerning · Rating 2 out of 5]

A reasonable selection of skit strips concerning the 45th POTUS, but while it's better than some instances of its kind I've seen, with clear talent in creating the visuals, it falls into the same trap as others – or at least it does for anybody here in the UK. These Pence, McConnell, Bannon, Conway, et al people – we don't know who the fluck these people are. We long since lost track of the names of the oh-so effective advisors, press lackeys and whatevers these people are. One of them could be Vice President and we just don't know. Partly because these people are and always will be very minor characters in history anyway, and partly because we're all just sht scared of the dayglo incumbent to keep in touch with any of his staff. So in among all the worthwhile political statement and parody here is the over-arching fact this book will struggle to travel beyond the US audience.

[Kelly Lynn Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

LIL' DONNIE is a collection of comic strips skewering the Trump administration and all its characters. It's kind of depressing because this shit is happening in real life, but it's also funny and cathartic. Donnie is essentially a baby being watched by Steve Bannon, Paul Ryan never has shirt sleeves and is always carrying dumbbells, Mitch McConnell is a cursed apple core doll, and Kellyanne is a ghost. This is a quick read, and a nice way to let off some steam after you've been reading Twitter for too long.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't usually rave about comic strips but Lil' Donnie really deserved its first hardback book collection due to the quality of the work. Mike Norton's strips develop a strange parallel-but-also-very-real version of the Worst White House Ever and make me laugh as well as do that appalled face I like to do.

[Paul Allard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Satirical series about the lovely Trump - very good

This is a series of newspaper cartoon strips covering Donald Trump’s presidency up to the middle of this year. Inspired by Doonesbury, it’s no holds barred at taking the mick out of the US president.
Artwork is clear and compliments the sarcasm of the dialogues. Enjoyable and makes a pleasant change. Recommended.

[Gabrielle Belisle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hate Trump with a fiery passion. This reminded me of some of the terrible things he's done so far. There are so many it's difficult to keep track. This will serve as a great keepsake to someday look back and know things will, with any luck, never be this horrendously bad again.

[Amanda [Novel Addiction] · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know this is satire, technically. But it also hurts, because I wouldn't doubt ANY OF THIS.

Amusing, and painful, but like... in a "laugh or you'll cry" kinda way.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Doonesbury with a touch of Bloom County.
So honest and true to life, it could be used in history classes soon.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

We all own Mike Norton an unpayable debt. His scathing wit is preserving our sanity in this trying time.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was so funny! Also, slightly depressing but it’s better to laugh than to cry.

Book Riot’s Read Harder: A book published prior to January 1, 2019 with fewer than 100 reviews on Goodreads.

[Rye · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Just because I say terrible things doesn't mean they have to report it!"

[Patrick Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great job by Mike Norton. Obviously, if you are a fan of the current president the book is not for you. Leave it alone.

[Peacegal · Rating 3 out of 5]

4.5 stars --The artist does a bang-up job of caricature and some sharp attention to news headlines. The sad thing is, our political situation is so outrageous it's a parody of itself; it's hard to satirize it.

[Art · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty sharp satire. I feel it is justified, but know others would disagree. Too bad they're wrong.

[mad mags · Rating 4 out of 5]

449 Days in The Bad Place

(Full disclosure: I received a free e-ARC for review through Edelweiss.)

I will say about Lil' Donnie Volume 1: Executive Privilege what I say of all humorous/satirical books about 45: it'd be funny if it wasn't so damned depressing. A collection of the first 125 strips of Mike Norton's webcomic of the same name, Volume 1 spans the time of Drumpf's inauguration through April 13, 2018.

Norton's art is spot-on; somehow he manages to make a revolving door of white men all immediately recognizable and distinct (something not always easily accomplished in comics). My favorites are Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell, depicted here as a cursed apple-doll puppet. John Bolton's 'stache merging with Drumpf's comb-over in nuclear ecstasy is a solid runner-up.

Norton's wit is similarly biting, although I must admit that some of the earliest strips had me scratching my head and consulting ye ole google. With catastrophes breaking on the daily, it's hard to remember what fresh hell transpired last month, let alone last year.

I look forward to reading the inevitable Toad-inspired strip.







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