Tedward

by Josh Pettinger

Tedward is, in many ways, the quintessential ‘lovable loser’ — an almost literal blockhead and mangenue in the grand tradition of Pee-Wee Herman, Candide, and Flakey Foont, affording his creator the perfect vehicle to indulge his brilliantly absurdist storytelling instincts. Tedward’s susceptibility to temptation, exploitation (capitalistic or sexual), and misplaced trust continually lands him in ridiculous and hilarious situations, be they scatological, orgiastic, violent, or mundane. Through it all, his heart of gold never wavers. Tedward is the debut collection from British-born Philadelphia cartoonist Josh Pettinger. Featruing sex trousers, coital hygienists, warm televisions, hot rocks, and clown meat, as well as romance, crime, conflict, and cosmic wonders! A spiritual cousin to the humor of Simon Hanselmann and Daniel Clowes, Pettinger’s singularity of tone and style in these episodic comedies mark him as a master cartoonist just entering his prime.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction, Humor, Comic Book

160 pages, Hardcover

Published March 18, 2025

About the author

Josh Pettinger is a Philadelphia-based English cartoonist, mostly known for his comic book series Goiter (Fantagraphics).

Reviews

[Rick Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tedward is a self-proclaimed "old fashioned guy", though it's made readily apparent that he's a hapless dweeb who struggles with just about every venture he gets into. First appearing in a short strip in Goiter #7 (not collected in this book), Tedward would soon become a recurring character in Philly-based cartoonist Josh Pettinger's recurring self-published comics. Power Wash would be the first Tedward-centric publication, and over the next couple years Pettinger would intermittently release more Tedward focused stories.

Pettinger's humor is largely built off of artistic cues - impassive reaction shots, exaggerated features and stilted motions. The jokes here are particularly deadpan and of increasing absurdity. The series gets quite crude at times, but usually in a rather subversive and inventive way. Rarely one for shock comedy, Pettinger allows the absurdity to build naturally with the progression of the story. As a character, Tedward serves somewhat as a proxy for the contemporary "chud", someone who is oblivious to the nature of politics and social norms, and remains in a constant "woe is me" state. The political jabs Pettinger makes are not so subtle, but it's definitely not in your face either. Though Tedward is somewhat dislikeable, Pettinger does on occasion add moments to highlight Tedward as a clueless dunce that doesn't know better which can be a little sympathetic. He can be quite prudish towards sex and frivolity, which proves to be a challenge for the bizarrely sexual and crude world he inhabits. Most of his struggles come from his inability to navigate mostly trivial situations, but that really is the driving force behind the comedy here.

Tedward collects several stories published by Pettinger between 2022-2024, starting with a colorized version of Power Wash. Further chapters include stories initially published in Tedward Classic Movies, Warm Television, Best Regards and Tracy Island (the two Tedward strips from Goiter #7-8 are not collected here, though it could simply be that the version of Tedward in those comics were not fully in line with what Pettinger really wanted to do with the character). Though the installments are episodic and can be read as standalone Tedward stories, an ongoing narrative does build leading to a grand finale. The stories here are all in color, unlike the previous single issue releases which were mostly in black-and-white. All the stories here are entirely drawn and written by Pettinger himself, with the exception of the "Vanessa, the Tinder Cocktease" story which was drawn by Simon Hanselmann. A tight read from start to finish, Tedward serves as a showcase of Pettinger's ability to deliver on a consistently hilarious gag strip with an encompassing narrative.

[Przemysław Skoczyński · Rating 4 out of 5]

Josh Pettinger ze swoimi komiksowymi komediami stoi okrakiem między twórczością Daniela Clowesa, a Simona Hanselmanna. Jego opowieści wydają się mocno groteskowe, by ostatecznie zostawić czytelnika z czymś w rodzaju współczucia i zakłopotania tym, co właśnie przeczytał. „Tedward” jest pozycją mniej abstrakcyjną niż historie ze zbioru „Goiter”, a jednak na tyle nieoczywistą, by przyciągnąć miłośników komiksowych dziwactw.

Tedward to nieprzystosowany, nieco staroświecki przegryw bez przyjaciół, mieszkający z mamą, której pomaga w uprawie rabarbaru. Bezskutecznie próbuje związać się z jakąś kobietą, ciągle trafia na nieodpowiednich ludzi i zostaje wplątany w dziwne sytuacje, jednocześnie przejawiając braki na poziomie komunikacji z otoczeniem, np. źle odczytując intencje czy wykazując kompletny brak empatii. Te opowiadania, choć programowo absurdalne, mają źródło w prawdziwych przeżyciach Pettingera, jednak są tak opakowane, by ich karykaturalny charakter zdominował narrację. Widać to choćby w "Power Wash". Pewnego razu bohater podejmuje pracę, w której ma za zadanie dbać o czystość uczestników orgii seksualnych, jednak musi robić to tak, by pozostać niemal niezauważonym i zapewnić im całkowitą dyskrecję. To nic innego niż zawoalowane wspomnienia związane z pracą autora jako kelnera. Mniej więcej tak się czuł, gdy miał być niewidzialny dla klientów z wyższych sfer, dyskretnie sprzątając to, co po sobie zostawiali…

Bardzo równy, a momentami wręcz błyskotliwy zestaw, którego jedynym minusem wydaje się gościnny udział Simona Hanselmanna, bo jego praca odbiega swym charakterem od pozostałych. Świetny zbiór artysty, który najprawdopodobniej dopiero się rozkręca.

[Betzim Gdolot · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve previously encountered some of these stories in their original black and white zine format, but experiencing them in color was truly refreshing.

For those unfamiliar, Tedward is a comedy that follows a protagonist who is similar to Daniel Clowes Wilson or Simon Hanselmann’s Megahex owl (Hanselmann also writes a guest story). Tedward is always trying to do the right thing, which makes things smeared and leads him to his doom.

The humor is offbeat and distinctive, hitting that perfect balance of awkward and entertaining.

The color edition really enhances Pettinger’s artwork and brings a new dimension to the storytelling that I hadn’t fully appreciated in the zine versions.

Give it a try if you enjoy stories like Wilson by Clowes, Megahex series or stuff written by Nick Maandag

[Olivia Cranston · Rating 3 out of 5]

Did Tim Robinson ghost write this ?

[Peacegal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, that was certainly unique. Tedward is a hapless, square-headed guy who stumbles through a variety of NSFW adventures. The comic has a very '90s underground feel to it.

[AR · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really really enjoyed the oddity of this world and the rigidity of Tedward. It feels like he simultaneously really knows himself and his boundaries and also that he inherently follows rules so strictly that he lacks any personality at all. Fun guy.

[Casey O'Brien · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this sad little perv

[🐴 🍖]

Q. Are We Not Men? A. We are Tedward! devo debut seemingly in the mix here, plus contemporaneous ohio art-punk, a hint of eraserhead, zippy maybe?, dan clowes… “hot rocks,” in which our hero takes a trip to the sauna with a new friend, a standout.

[Dan Burt · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75 stars.

[Alyssa Albanese · Rating 4 out of 5]

My boyfriend has been yelling at me to read this and I finally did and was so funny! You can definitely see the Simon Hansselman influence!

[María José · Rating 4 out of 5]

Que delicia cuando la peculiaridad y el sentido del humor se mezclan tanto!!

[Peter Landau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tedward into the future!

[unwesha · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a ride! Absolutely Tim Robinson in book form.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

The eponymous hero of Tedward is a hapless nebbish whose persistent attempts to attain a normcore life are thwarted just as persistently. The behavior is juvenile, but the action is adult, so buyer beware. Following the picaresque tradition of storytelling—a series of stand-alone incidents involving the hero but not necessarily along with a narrative arc of beginning, middle, and end and a changed hero—Tedward’s life is an unending sprawl of one damn thing after another. . . beginning with a job Tedward is gang pressed into preforming before he escapes—that of hosing off semen from bodies of orgy participants, then moving on to collecting money from television collection boxes attached to the TVs of people who only watch it by the half-hour. More witness to corruption occurs. So, yes, Tedward’s adventures are both absurd and uncomfortably plausible. If you’re prone to viewing humanity with a gimlet eye, here's the gin and lime juice to go with it.

For more of my reviews, please see https://www.thebookbeat.com/backroom/...

[doowopapocalypse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Arc from NetGalley.

Wonderfully weird. Great send up of middle America and the neuroses that lurk behind the facade.

[Titus · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a Clowesian off-kilter comedy about the outlandish misadventures of an uptight, socially maladjusted, emotionally stunted oddball called Tedward. Most of its chapters are basically self-contained episodes, but a couple run into one another more directly, and things come together quite cohesively at the end. Thanks to its amusingly absurd characters and situations, it's solidly, consistently entertaining, and it's punctuated with occasional really funny moments. The focus is definitely more on comedy than on character development or overarching narrative, but the ending does inject a bit of pathos, finally inviting the reader to view the protagonist with some sympathy, as a human being, rather than just as a caricature – this was my favourite part, and I hope Pettinger continues more in this vein in the future. The cartooning is great, with a stiff, awkward style that perfectly suits the stuffy, dysfunctional characters. My only complaint is that the chapter by guest writer-artist Simon Hanselmann doesn’t work so well; I love Hanselmann's work with his own characters, but his humour is less subtle than Pettinger’s, and here it feels like he dials up Tedward’s already ridiculous characteristics beyond where the stop being funny. Nonetheless, this is overall a really fun comic, and it’s left me keen to keep reading everything Pettinger puts out.

[Julesreads · Rating 5 out of 5]

A batch of Josh Pettinger’s Tedward has found its way to us in a tidy Fantagraphics collection. As I told my boss, this was the comics event of the year for me. Tedward lives a miserable life both of his own making and not. There is an edgy, anxious, science-fictionesque quality to the tales, kind of a send-up of our modern world but with that eternal sorrow of the hopeless sad-sack. Retro look to Pettinger’s cartooning. It’s quite pleasing. Only qualm is that one of the shorts here is a guest episode of Tedward done by Simon Hanselmann (they’re buddies). I love Hanselmann and have over ten of his books. And their Tedward is funny, but it’s also not in line with Pettinger’s and it breaks the flow. I got this for Pettinger, not Hanselmann. So that was a bit confusing to see a guest spot butt in. Otherwise, a good Fantagraphics debut.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was initially drawn to the clean, simple art style in the beautifully published Fantagraphics collection. Thought I would give this a try. Initially I was both lured in by the art and irritated by the short story format. But I got over that when I noticed the most of the stories connect together and culminate in a fever dream that switches up the tone. Kinda makes me hope that Pettinger continues to write these stories. I would come back for them. I’m really only giving four stars due to the serialized nature of the book.

And let this be a lesson to all readers: If you make friends with someone based on the scooter he drives, then he turns out to be crazy, he deserves everything he gets when you leave him to die in s burning shed.

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of the time this felt like a sequence of ITYSL sketches, where a guy who insists he's normal and old fashioned continually gets pushed to his breaking point through a series of social faux pas, but once I figured out this Pettinger dude is actually british, I was like ohh, this is mark from peep show or howard from mighty boosh type stuff.

Anyway, very good stuff. Love the restrained visual style and tedward's continually pained expression. Like most western alt-comix, it's very indebted to Clowes, as well as Hanselmann, but I do think Pettinger has enough unique about his work that makes him stand out. Looking forward to reading more of whatever he makes.

[John Reynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

Josh Pettinger is the cartoonist to watch - he's really killing it right now. A clean line that's mesmerizing to follow. Great, funny characters in great funny (and sometimes very bizarre) stories.

If you're like me, you'll read one of his comics (like this excellent collection maybe?) and then spend all your time trying to hoover up everything else he's ever published before it's all gone.

[Jed Haas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just a good solid funny book. Like an Archie comic except Archie’s (more of) a loser and has to work as a powerwasher at an orgy and also gets jacked in prison. Although there might be an Archie book where that happens now, who knows. Good stuff!

[Joanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tedward is a comically grotesque trip through awkwardness and failure, and I mean that in the best way. If you’re into weird alt-comics full of social cringe, deadpan absurdity, and the occasional orgy or cosmic meltdown, as Barry Manilow would say, this one’s for you.

[Dylan Zucati · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unlikable protagonist Tedward can't get on the same frequency as any of the people around him, and that's mostly his own fault. I wouldn't hand this to anyone, just anyone who claims to like "weird graphic novels."

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.4

Weird, but not my kind of weird.

Consistent artwork and characters. Had some funny moments and ideas. But overall, I was not into what there was of a storyline and didn't find the imagery particularly interesting.

[Mee Too · Rating 3 out of 5]

Extremely weird, yet oddly entertaining to read. Tedward is your average weirdo neighbor in his 30s living with his mom, just trying to figure out life.

Pretty fun stuff

3✨⭐️

[Harry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely fantastic work. Like a mashup of Johnny Ryan and early Dan Clowes. One of the best things Fantagraphics has put out in a good while. I highly recommend.

[Mimi Chuang · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely a fun read. I love the illustration style and colors as well.

[Bat Man · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow.

[David Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious. Absolutely fucking hilarious. My favorite chapter is one contributed by Simon Hansselman of Meg Mogg & Owl fame. Josh Pettinger is definitely on my list of artists to look out for.

[tinaathena]

POWERWASH!