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The Complete Origamiac Chronicles
Following in the irreverent spirit of Deadpool, The Tick, and Squirrel Girl, it’s Origamiac—the shape-shifting superhero who’s a piece of sheet!
The compilation issue of this five-part “ungraphic novel” series* recounts the complete adventures of Orson “Orry” Thitchafer, from relative anonymity to reluctant celebrity. Starting with his origin story of transforming into loose-leaf paper, the action transitions to Orry’s recruitment by Dr. Seethesome’s evil enterprise known as MALefactory.
When Orry discovers MALefactory’s nefarious bent, he seeks out a group of do-gooders, only to become frustrated and disillusioned by the limited scope of their goals (think apprehending jaywalkers). Returning to MALefactory in the hope of changing its mission to goodness, Orry joins an idealistic presidential campaign supported by the company—or so he thinks. Dr. Seethesome eventually spins the election toward the opposing candidate, a politician he can manipulate to bring his master plan for malevolence to life.
But an unforeseen failure causes Dr. Seethesome to resort to his fail-safe, an initiative designed to wipe humanity from the planet. Will Orry save the day? And if he does, can Orry survive a final showdown with a nemesis he never saw coming?
Special note: The content of this series is satirical and not for kids nor those who are easy to offend—and maybe not even for those who are hard to offend.
*An ungraphic novel proceeds panel by panel like a classic comic book, except the imagery traditionally portrayed via penciling, inking, and coloring is instead expressed through words. If a picture is worth a thousand words, this story proves it (actually, per panel, just tens of words)!
The compilation issue of this five-part “ungraphic novel” series* recounts the complete adventures of Orson “Orry” Thitchafer, from relative anonymity to reluctant celebrity. Starting with his origin story of transforming into loose-leaf paper, the action transitions to Orry’s recruitment by Dr. Seethesome’s evil enterprise known as MALefactory.
When Orry discovers MALefactory’s nefarious bent, he seeks out a group of do-gooders, only to become frustrated and disillusioned by the limited scope of their goals (think apprehending jaywalkers). Returning to MALefactory in the hope of changing its mission to goodness, Orry joins an idealistic presidential campaign supported by the company—or so he thinks. Dr. Seethesome eventually spins the election toward the opposing candidate, a politician he can manipulate to bring his master plan for malevolence to life.
But an unforeseen failure causes Dr. Seethesome to resort to his fail-safe, an initiative designed to wipe humanity from the planet. Will Orry save the day? And if he does, can Orry survive a final showdown with a nemesis he never saw coming?
Special note: The content of this series is satirical and not for kids nor those who are easy to offend—and maybe not even for those who are hard to offend.
*An ungraphic novel proceeds panel by panel like a classic comic book, except the imagery traditionally portrayed via penciling, inking, and coloring is instead expressed through words. If a picture is worth a thousand words, this story proves it (actually, per panel, just tens of words)!
272 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 23, 2016
About the author
Seth Levens
21 books5 followersIs he the love child of J. K. Rowling and Stephen King? Or is it a pseudonym for the Watson supercomputer? Or perhaps he's an attention-starved, thin-skinned alcoholic (but aren't all authors?)? Find out by e-mailing seth.levens@gmail.com!
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 17, 2017
There’s a lot of like about this series. It’s quirky and comical and has some very, verrrry clever phasing.
The characters are all very distinctive, and considering that there are so many characters, it was great that I remembered all of them. One of my favorite things about the book was the little phrases at the top of each book cover, such as, “Highly Unlikely to be a New York Times Bestseller,” and “Little Chance at the title of National Book Award Winner.” So hilarious. In fact, a lot of the names of characters are also very witty. It’s really nice to read a comedy that isn’t 100% farce.
I truly believe that this book would be an absolute riot if it becomes a graphic novel, and I hope that it happens someday. I think it would be especially great for the action sequences. (Subliminal message… Make this a graphic novel...message ended.)
In the synopsis of the book, I recall there being a comment about how the humor can potentially offend just about anybody. I agree. I did feel that some of it crossed the line and I was personally offended by the religiously abrasive and obscene humor. I feel that if the author had omitted those things, the book could appeal to a wider audience.
Also, I felt that pacing the jokes was crucial. The book is back-to-back comedy, and at times I felt that was not necessary. After I while, I was becoming desensitized to the humor. In fact, I have found in other comedies that when there is breathing time between the jokes, it gives each joke more impact.
All in all, the story was entertaining and it had an imaginative and fun conclusion!
The characters are all very distinctive, and considering that there are so many characters, it was great that I remembered all of them. One of my favorite things about the book was the little phrases at the top of each book cover, such as, “Highly Unlikely to be a New York Times Bestseller,” and “Little Chance at the title of National Book Award Winner.” So hilarious. In fact, a lot of the names of characters are also very witty. It’s really nice to read a comedy that isn’t 100% farce.
I truly believe that this book would be an absolute riot if it becomes a graphic novel, and I hope that it happens someday. I think it would be especially great for the action sequences. (Subliminal message… Make this a graphic novel...message ended.)
In the synopsis of the book, I recall there being a comment about how the humor can potentially offend just about anybody. I agree. I did feel that some of it crossed the line and I was personally offended by the religiously abrasive and obscene humor. I feel that if the author had omitted those things, the book could appeal to a wider audience.
Also, I felt that pacing the jokes was crucial. The book is back-to-back comedy, and at times I felt that was not necessary. After I while, I was becoming desensitized to the humor. In fact, I have found in other comedies that when there is breathing time between the jokes, it gives each joke more impact.
All in all, the story was entertaining and it had an imaginative and fun conclusion!
December 6, 2016
Seth Leven’s book about a man turned into a living piece of paper was was very clever, unique, and hilarious! Poor Mr. Thitchafer, and all his troubles! Finding himself no longer a three dimentional person, but a thin piece of paper, (due to the combination of some toxic waste [provided {accidentally} by Ms. Unsavory] and an unfortunate accident in a paper mill) Mr. Thitchafer finds himself significantly changed. But does he let that stop him? Goodness no! He takes on the evil MALefactory, Dr. Seethesome, Ms. Unsavory, and all, as the new somewhat superhero, Origamiac!
For my personal tastes, I didn’t care necessarily for the format, with the panels, rather than told in a traditional narrative form. That’s just a personal thing, though. The story itself was very clever and funny. There was some strong and/or suggestive language here and there, for those who might be concerned about that.
For my personal tastes, I didn’t care necessarily for the format, with the panels, rather than told in a traditional narrative form. That’s just a personal thing, though. The story itself was very clever and funny. There was some strong and/or suggestive language here and there, for those who might be concerned about that.
March 13, 2017
This book is absurd! In a good way.
It is full of witty humour with a healthy dose of scepticism.
I think I may have worked for MALefactory?!
Mr Thitchafer becomes a talking piece of paper (I don't think that's a massive spoiler).
The results would be hilarious if evil wasn't trying to dominate the world.
I love the original plot line. I'm a sucker for quirky.
However, as much as I like the idea of 'panels' it made it quite hard for me to read. My brain was trying to construct the image of a comic book the words were trying to portray, but I was left a bit confused.
I got used to the style though, and found myself enjoying this odd tale.
It is full of witty humour with a healthy dose of scepticism.
I think I may have worked for MALefactory?!
Mr Thitchafer becomes a talking piece of paper (I don't think that's a massive spoiler).
The results would be hilarious if evil wasn't trying to dominate the world.
I love the original plot line. I'm a sucker for quirky.
However, as much as I like the idea of 'panels' it made it quite hard for me to read. My brain was trying to construct the image of a comic book the words were trying to portray, but I was left a bit confused.
I got used to the style though, and found myself enjoying this odd tale.
March 16, 2017
The Complete Origamiac Chronicles is a collection of five vignettes detailing the adventures of Origami Man. Let me just say upfront, I don’t get it. If you want to develop a graphic novel, then do so, but in my humble opinion, writing a verbal description about a comic book or graphic novel is like writing a script with no intention of making the movie or show. Maybe there is an intention to do so and if that’s the case, then I highly encourage it, but the right now it’s like reading a book describing a comic book. That reminds of a line from No Country For Old Men when Anton Chigurh explains the true nature of the lucky coin: Which it is. The characters are either parodies or crude stereotyped. I write this specific to General Balz—who is the belief that he, as an Army Officer, needs to create problems so he can then solve them as a card carrying member of the Military-Industrial Complex. Ho-hum. About the time I read Fire any employee named Brian, I get the point that this is a farce or parody of various elements of society centered on government and large corporations. And then a strange thing happens—I find myself being drawn into the story. It’s a quick read and saying it’s quirky is an understatement. The stories are mildly amusing and inventive. If you’re up for an off-beat read, give it a look.
December 12, 2016
Often, humour is served using a scattered approach… load up dozens of bullets, line them up, fire, and hope that some of them make the mark. This happened here in this book. The ratio of hilarious hits to the fire-away arsenal wasn’t as high as I hoped, but there were some chuckles. I particularly liked those blurbs:
"Sorry to disappoint… but this is Accounting, and the staff work in cubicles. We benchmarked Fortune 500 companies and found modern office design to be oppressive enough that nothing additional was required to improve upon its dehumanizing effects."
"Okay, Mr. Termite. Prepare to be termite-inated. Or terminate-ited. You get the idea.”
When I saw the title of the book and the book cover, I thought it would be a graphic novel, illustrating a paper man in comic-style panels with text in speech balloons. Or, I thought, maybe photos of an origami man, in different and funny poses, from actual origami handiwork. Instead, it is in the style of a play script, with each scene described. I’m wondering if a more graphic approach might be more successful.
The author takes on a bewildering range of topics to satirize, and the diversity is huge, from politics to human foibles to corporate trench war. Actually, now that I think of it, the paper man sort of faded away from all the stories when the author trained his sights on objects of derision.
"Sorry to disappoint… but this is Accounting, and the staff work in cubicles. We benchmarked Fortune 500 companies and found modern office design to be oppressive enough that nothing additional was required to improve upon its dehumanizing effects."
"Okay, Mr. Termite. Prepare to be termite-inated. Or terminate-ited. You get the idea.”
When I saw the title of the book and the book cover, I thought it would be a graphic novel, illustrating a paper man in comic-style panels with text in speech balloons. Or, I thought, maybe photos of an origami man, in different and funny poses, from actual origami handiwork. Instead, it is in the style of a play script, with each scene described. I’m wondering if a more graphic approach might be more successful.
The author takes on a bewildering range of topics to satirize, and the diversity is huge, from politics to human foibles to corporate trench war. Actually, now that I think of it, the paper man sort of faded away from all the stories when the author trained his sights on objects of derision.
January 12, 2017
I found this collection of stories/issues to be reasonably funny, and very original. There are many inconsistencies, but as they are used to move the story along and add to the humor, that's not actually a complaint. There are qualities to like about the hero, Mr. Thitchafer, qualities to hate about the villain, Dr. Seethesome, and a properly deus-ex-machina quality to the ending. Various other characters add to the fun, especially Ms. Unsavoury, who seems of two minds about the whole good versus evil thing. The format is a non-graphic graphic novel (the images in each panel are described, not drawn). The format was clever, and it fit nicely with the overall irreverence. There is some nice satire here. Warning, if you are allergic to puns, this may not be the book for you. Otherwise, enjoy.
March 29, 2017
I can't say that I enjoyed this collection. I don't think I am the intended audience and it just couldn't connect with the plot. I found the writing to be awkward and a bit stilted. If this was the intention I think it could have been done a little more seamlessly. It took me about 10-15 pages before I could truly say I had a handle on what was going on. I won't go so far as to say that I don't think this is a recommendation-worthy book because that's probably not the case - I just don't think it was for me. What I can say is that there were more than a few laugh-out-loud quips and puns that were extremely clever. In addition, a lot of the socioeconomic and geopolitical references were brilliantly couched in banter between the characters. But some of the asides that were meant to be clever actually seemed to be insulting or sophomoric, which made me a little uncomfortable and the Holocaust joke was enough to give me serious ethical pause about finishing the book. If your sense of humor is a little more callow than cautious then I think you may very well enjoy this book.
April 10, 2017
Actual rating 3.5 stars
So this was quite possible one of the most unusual and funny novels I've ever read. There are 5 different parts to this and they all revolve around Origami Man, who is really a man that is turned into a piece of paper. It was a very clever book and I will admit that some of the humor is not for everyone. Some of it could be considered crass and offensive (honestly I didn't mind it). But if that's your cup of tea, then you've come to the right place.
The one thing I will say is that I was having trouble visualizing everything. It was a lot of telling and I wanted pictures, not words so much. This story needs to be turned into a graphic novel or comic for it to really work. Other than that, I think it was a fun and different read and overall, I enjoyed it.
So this was quite possible one of the most unusual and funny novels I've ever read. There are 5 different parts to this and they all revolve around Origami Man, who is really a man that is turned into a piece of paper. It was a very clever book and I will admit that some of the humor is not for everyone. Some of it could be considered crass and offensive (honestly I didn't mind it). But if that's your cup of tea, then you've come to the right place.
The one thing I will say is that I was having trouble visualizing everything. It was a lot of telling and I wanted pictures, not words so much. This story needs to be turned into a graphic novel or comic for it to really work. Other than that, I think it was a fun and different read and overall, I enjoyed it.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews