1-800-MICE

by Matthew Thurber, Brian Belott (Introduction)

"1-800-MICE" is Matthew Thurber's comic book anthropological study of the imaginary city of Volcano Park: a cross between Thomas Pynchon, Robert Altman and J.R.R. Tolkien. Over the course of the story we meet Peace Punk, a punker on the verge of a bourgeois lifestyle; Tom Chief, a beat cop with an identity crisis; and Groomfiend, a daffy creature who leads the narrative. The serial has earned Thurber rave reviews from, among others, cartoonist Ben Katchor, who writes: "Matthew Thurber has singlehandedly revived the Surrealist program of revolutionary politics through dreamwork. What more can you ask for in a comic-book?" This edition collects five issues of "1-800-MICE," plus 48 pages of new material.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Book Club, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics

160 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 3 out of 5]

My third foray into the mind of Matthew Thurber, which is different than the other two I reviewed. This one I'll just categorize as surrealism, though it is well within the (non) traditional world of alt-comix. The heart of it is invention, the creation of Volcano Park, which features mice as couriers. The story, such as it is, is less important than just the invention of weird characters such as Mr. Colostomy, Peace Punk, Gummi Boy, Anecdote the Tree Translator (yes, tree huggers, your love of trees is endorsed here: This story confirms you can have sex with trees. . . or at least with a woman half tree and half meat?), Osmosis, Mr, Shirt, and so on.

(You know those creative writing books that talk about the importance of the creation of realistic characters? Yeah, Thurber never read that, but instead seems to have dropped a lot of acid or got a character-generating computer program and fell asleep on the keys while working on it...).

But it's weird fun! Thurber gets Ben Katchor and Daniel Clowes to blurb it, whoa! But this was like 2011 and I don't see anything like it from him since. Maybe he went into treatment...

[Tony Vacation · Rating 3 out of 5]

Matthew Thurber wants to be the sequential art equivalent of Thomas Pynchon so badly! Conspiracies nested within conspiracies which lead to no clarity? Check. A sprawling cast of wacky and improbably named characters? Check. Musical numbers? Check. A hodgepodge of new age quackery, technological paranoia, free love and pulp novel conventions? Check. An approach to slapstick humor bordering on hysteria but also paired with a disturbing sense of dread? Check. A baggy plot rendered intentionally unintelligible? Check. But, alas, Thurber is no Pynchon. But, dear God, I don't think the world really needs another Pynchon.

[Printable Tire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hip new "underground" commix are the only kind of hip anything I consistently really like. It sort of amazes me, because I usually don't like or get or even know about new hip music, or movies, or performance art, of whatever. But this stuff I am just naturally drawn to love.

But enough about me. What makes this book stand apart from, say, If'n Oof is that it has a story that actually (more or less) makes sense and goes somewhere. It even has something sort of resembling a conclusion! It has lines of dialogue straight out of Zippy that are hilarious and a cast of characters and plots that are like Charles Dickens on acid. "(Blank) On acid" is a cliche at this point but it works here. There are so many great details and novel ideas it's worth paying attention and not just skimming over everything because it seems random and doesn't make sense. And the cast of characters list in the beginning is actually useful, so make sure you reference it when you need to. Okay, have fun!

[Eddie Watkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny, complicated enough (cloverleaf plotlines) to merit a reread, unhinged enough (the erotic, the violent) to feel real, and exuberant enough (eyeball excitement) to be perpetually enjoyable.

[disco · Rating 3 out of 5]

Violence is your destiny.

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

i’ve never wanted to take a picture of every page of a book more

[Angela · Rating 1 out of 5]

THIS was one of the most painful reads I have EVER encountered! It was other world, chaos, TOTAL disconnect, brain numbing, dribble and never to be revisited...not even in passing thought. Why would anyone write THIS? Why did I read THIS? Why did my public library consider , investigate, purchase, catalog and offer this up to it's beloved patron base?! IF I could render a rating of LESS than one star, I would.

[Kirstie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was inspired to read this when I saw that it was given a good review blurb on the front cover by Matt Groening and it's easy to see why he liked it...it's somewhat zainy and also a little deranged. In other comic book world splendor, it recalls the work of both Charles Burns and Daniel Clowes and it possesses a pretty interesting story line and characters. Set in Los Angeles, the story line involves humans, mutants, trees, and a being that is part human and part tree. There are shoguns and mystical creatures and some sort of tie in with Scotland and the banjo. There are ducks that drink Brandy and messenger mice who love coffee in this book. There are characters on the run and characters getting hooked on a drug that seems to make you want to annihilate yourself and others as you literally turn wooden. There's aspects of cyber detachment, fear of apocalypse, and transgenderism here all mixed in with a hint of punk rock. There is violence, a chase, banishment, and an act of politically motivated destruction. In some aspects, the story is still a demented sort of puzzle but it's one that is also a little bit fascinating. I wasn't the most keen on the ending but the adventure to get the reader there was still worthwhile.

There aren't any numbered pages but here were some quotes I liked:


"Well Mr. Groomfiend, you seem to be in perfectly good health. Why you came to me with a dental problem I don't quite understand. I'm a pediatrician."

"The media is just the black & white dream of a mouse in a shrivelled bikini."

"I remember when we met...it was in my O.N.O class, OVERCOMING NEUROTIC OBSESSION. Little kids taken out of school for rehabilitation. A certain number of people had a violent psychological reaction to the recent jumps in evolution."

"But I am not used to inspecting myself unless it is an occasional glimpse in a rushing stream or in the windows of a passing bus."

"You only live twice or so it seems-one life for yourself and one for your dreams" -Nancy Sinatra

"Death is a fugue with only one note. It starts when it ends because that's all she wrote."

"I am a parabola! I am a satellite! I am a search engine!"

[Spencer · Rating 2 out of 5]

maybe "creative" isnt the sweetest thing. this is spontaneous, disjointed, surreal, stream of conciousness, lower bodily stratum stuff that looks like a kid drew it cuz who cares. I would love to be able to create something like this, maybe i could have once, before i started taking life seriously. his non edited thoughts are interesting but maybe ther is something to be said about discretion or prudence or restraint. An eric satie piano piece might be less "creative" than something some noise outfit puts out but its more beautiful. dunno.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This graphic novel is among the oddest tales I've ever read. It is one part bad acid trip and one part anthology of West Coast high cultural weirdness. There are tons of characters and a plot that borders on schizophrenic. You will discover midway through that you are trapped under its spell and somehow this careening yarn has started to make sense. Best enjoyed with a nice tall glass of orange juice and multiple tabs.

[Miles]

never having read powr mastrs, prison pit or some of the others in this vein, I can't say much, but, on its own, this book is like a more grotesque, completely unhinged charles burns by way of PFFR.
loved it.

[alice alexandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked it much better than I thought I would based on the first few pages, but it was a little too surreal for me. Great for its genre, and it has many hilarious, satirical moments, but it just wasn't my taste.

[James Payne · Rating 5 out of 5]

SO GOOD. My favorite comic in a long time. Quotable! Timely! Funny! Peace Punk!

[Molly]

I couldn't get into this. I'm putting it in as "read" so if I ever see it come up again, I'll know that I gave it a shot but it wasn't for me.

[Brian · Rating 1 out of 5]

Never liked this type of gn.

[P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was kind of worried about this one b/c the introduction reads like the un-funny too-SPAM-email parts of Tim & Eric Great Job Awesome Show, but the actual book was sort of mindblowing.

[Liam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Saw this in Singapore in a bookshop. Thought it looked awesome. Still do.

[Ellen]

I have to get my book club back together so someone can explain this book to me.

[Brendan · Rating 5 out of 5]

a very special and very funny comic book.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes yes yes. This is quite amusing. I love it

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

classic example of dumb shit

[James Beardsley · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are many typos in this book and I am not certain how many of them are intentional.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Radicl, dudez

[Cole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ummm. This is the trippiest thing I've read in a long time.

[Paul Gallagher · Rating 5 out of 5]

it took me 3 or 4 years and many times picking it up and not being able to finish but finally i did, and ITS GREAT!

[Richard Chiem · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of my favorite graphic novels