Snake 'n' Bacon's Cartoon Cabaret

by Michael Kupperman

Featuring the mannister! Two-fisted Poe! Mister Bossman! wonder Book Junior, Boy Detective! Cousin Grampa! Sex Blimps! Underpants-on-his-head man! and much, much, much, more!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Humor, Fiction, Comedy, Graphic Novels Comics, Comix

128 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2000

About the author

Michael Kupperman is an American cartoonist, illustrator and comedy writer, based in New York City.
Kupperman created comics and strips for various magazines and anthologies in the 90's. Many were collected in the book Snake'N'Bacon's Cartoon Cabaret (2000).
Since 2005 Kupperman has published his own comic anthological series Tales Designed to Thrizzle through Fantagraphics Books. In particular, the story Moon 1969: The True Story of the 1969 Moon Launch, first appeared in Tales Designed to Thrizzle Vol. 2 Issue 8, won an Eisner Award in 2013.
His longer comic stories include the humorous Mark Twain's Autobiography 1910-2010 (2011) and the graphic novel All The Answers (2018), a bio of Kupperman's father as a child celebrity in the 1940s.

Reviews

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Have you ever tasted adventure in your own BATH TUB?"

"What? What kind of question is that? Who are you and how did you get into my office?"

Culled from Michael Kupperman's weekly comic strip "Up All Night," this book is an appropriate ode to that feeling of sleep-deprived anhedonia you get when you're... well, up all night.

It's filled with surreal characters and nonsensical situations - Peter Faulk as a crime-fighting robot, the enabling "pirate in your dresser," an inanimate-object-brawling Pablo Picasso and, of course, a sex-blimp - all illustrated in Kupperman's beautiful faux-woodcut style.

[Kelldicott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un-be-frickin-lievably funny, weird, and random as all heck. Ted Spas made me read this, if that tells you anything. And we now share an until-death love for Mr. Kupperman's little projects. This book is a gem. I challenge you not to die laughing halfway through the book. I did. Luckily, I was resuscitated by a level-headed passerby.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kupperman is very much a rarity in his field; a comic book artist who deals in a dreamlike humor that is witty and inventive, and free of the usual sophomoric or juvenile drag that seems to plague some of his colleagues. Another great comix artist of similar quality would be Tony Millionaire.

You will laugh so hard, you'll fall off your freakin' sex blimp.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like highly anachronistic comics involving hoboes, pirates, robots and Mark Twain and Einstein as a crime-fighting duo, you should buy this immediately.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

What else can you say about this book except "ssssss" or "Pat me with a paper towel to remove excess grease?" Enough said.

[Jeff Lewonczyk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Comic-strip nonsense of the highest caliber, evincing a nearly miraculous purity. Each painstakingly crafted panel is single-mindedly dedicated to the purpose of embodying Kupperman's square, serene sense of absurdity. There are many adult situations here - and to be clear, the references and mindset are very much reflective of a corny, white, mid-century America that not everyone shares - but the short stories and strips nonetheless felt radiantly innocent, as if freshly birthed from some platonic pop-culture id. SPOILER: Snake doesn't speak, but Bacon does.

[Vincent Mollica]

❤️

[Al McCarty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genius!

[George Hamblen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Random, often lol or head scratching. Never dull. Great for short attention folks like myself. Author has vivid imagination….

[Don · Rating 5 out of 5]

Downright bizarre. Loved it.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michael Kupperman gots the crazy. His comics are full of bizarre characters, pointless detours, meaningless and boring plot twists, and the little-known facts of famous people's lives. Typical comic plot line: a man gives himself the strength of twenty men.... and subsequently flees from the twenty-five men who want to beat him up. Plus, there's the hilarious exploits of Snake 'n' Bacon, who never stop hissing and tasting good in the face of adversity. You need this book, is what I'm trying to say.

[Chapin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite books of all time. I have never laughed, out loud, so hard, sitting alone reading a book as I have with this little slice of genius. At any given time, I'm not really sure whether I currently have a copy of this or if I've lent it out. Usually I'll just buy another. This book will change your life.

[David James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michael Kupperman may well be the funniest cartoonist alive. His work makes "The Far Side" look like the "The Family Circus" by comparison. Dada surrealism with heaps of pop culture references, and recurring appearances by Mark Twain, Pablo Picasso, Underpants-On-The-Head Man (the greatest superhero of all time), and a talking strip of bacon. How could it go wrong?

[Walkermettling · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was recommended this book years ago by Johnny G., who I believe read it for the first time in the car evacuating from hurricane Katrina.

This comic is the best absurd humor ever! Ever! It's Great great great!

[Barrie · Rating 2 out of 5]

After coming off of Maus this was just a disappointment. Felt a lot like everything you see on Adult Swim, but not nearly as funny. Yet another graphic novel that tries to be weird for weird sake, but doesn't actually make you laugh at all. Move on...

[Will · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as Tales that Thrizzle. Still funny parts and nice tie-ins connecting completely different story lines. He's clever and he's a good drawer-er, but this early work shows even how much he's improved in his artistic medium.

[Eva · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the funniest comic book I've ever read.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite is "Creamed Corn Bossman."

[Arpad Okay · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is the funniest book you will ever read

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

SNAKE: Ssss!

BACON: Use a towel to wipe up excess grease.

[Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm real bacon. Pat me down with a paper towel to remove excess grease.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best book of all time.

[Nfpendleton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Only slightly funnier than Tales Designed to Thrizzle, and that's the funniest sillybook I've ever read.

[The Irrepressible Crank · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I could somehow meld Michael Kupperman, Jack Pendarvis, Philip K. Dick, and George S. Kaufman's swizzlestick into a gestalt being, I would be quite surprised.

[Jr · Rating 4 out of 5]

tomfoolery, plain and simple. worth it if you've got a hankering for truly out of nowhere turns. there's a healthy amount of non-sequitur going on here so be prepared for shenanigans.

[Martin · Rating 1 out of 5]

With all the rave reviews on this site I expected much, MUCH more than this... Some funny bits, but mostly WTF material. Maybe that's the point, I don't know...

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

A FINE TOME OF LITERATURE

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many of the cartoons in this book make me chortle even after multiple viewings. That's a rare and beautiful thing. The artwork is freakishly detailed. This guy knows what the hell he's doing.

[Mer · Rating 5 out of 5]

GODDAMN SEX BLIMPS.

[Gary Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, Teenage Grandpa...