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Mister O
Goofy, silent, one page gags crammed with little frames showing Mr. O, a round doodle of a man, desperately trying to get over across that darn chasm, yet somehow never quite making it over to the other side.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2002
3 people are currently reading
154 people want to read
About the author
Lewis Trondheim
524 books241 followersThe phenomenal Lewis Trondheim is never where you next expect him. As an artist and writer, Trondheim has earned an international following as one of the most inventive, versatile, and prolific graphic authors. From autobiography to adventure, from bestselling fantasy and children's books to visual essays, Trondheim's unique, seminal imagination consistently dazzles. His work has won numerous awards, including the Angoulême prize for best series with McConey and he also co-created the titanic fantasy epic Dungeon with Joann Sfar.
He is one of the founding members of the alternative publishing house L'Association, a proving ground for many of the greatest talents in European comics working today. He is also the editorial director of a new imprint called Shampooing, dedicated to comics for all ages.
Lewis lives in the South of France with his wife, Brigitte Findakly, and two children.
He is one of the founding members of the alternative publishing house L'Association, a proving ground for many of the greatest talents in European comics working today. He is also the editorial director of a new imprint called Shampooing, dedicated to comics for all ages.
Lewis lives in the South of France with his wife, Brigitte Findakly, and two children.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
October 8, 2009
What a perfect collection of comics. It amazes me how much can be mined from such a simple premise, over and over again. I love just picking this up and flipping to a page at random. It's one of the few comics that's consistently able to make me laugh out loud (for reals).
October 11, 2018
GRAND PRIX DU FESTIVAL D'ANGOUL7ME, FRANCE
L’auteur est un sadique vis-à-vis de son personnage, Mister O. Ce pauvre garçon veut passer d’un côté d’un précipice à l’autre et il essaie vraiment, littéralement et de façon exhaustive toutes les solutions qu’il peut imaginer ou concevoir avec le concours de tous ceux et de tout ce qu’il peut trouver sur son chemin. Mais page après page il finit au fond du précipice sauf à la dernière page, mais pas de chance il y a un second précipice juste après le premier. Il est donc sur un piton de roche au milieu d’une immense faille circulaire qui l’entoure tout autour de lui ; Il est sur l’aiguille Saint Michel du Puy en Velay mais avec tout autour une roche qui descend à pic et lisse comme une stalagmite géante. Et Mister O est assis sur la pointe de ladite chose géante qui sera dorénavant son mouroir où il mourra de faim, de soif et de solitude. J’imagine qu’alors des vautours viendront de Lozère le bouffer jusqu’aux os.
Mais si vous êtes un peu sadiques vous-mêmes n’hésitez pas. C’est amusant de voir ce pauvre Mister O persévérer envers et contre tous, envers et contre toutes les circonstances négatives imaginables, à perdre et à mourir en bas de la page dans la dernière case à droite. Ne posez surtout pas la question idiote de comment il peut bien faire pour être vivant à nouveau dans la première case en haut à gauche de la page suivante. C’est bien pour cela que je dis que l’auteur est un sadique tortionnaire, et même un vrai tortureur professionnel.
Et cela fait de vous … ? Un malade mental visionnaire et voyeur. Un livre à ne pas laisser entre les mains des enfants de moins de soixante-dix-sept ans. Après cet âge ce n’est pas grave s’ils essaient d’en faire autant et qu’ils finissent au fond du trou. De toute façon c’est là qu’ils finiront tous, ou en fumée.
Dr. Jacques COULARDEAU
L’auteur est un sadique vis-à-vis de son personnage, Mister O. Ce pauvre garçon veut passer d’un côté d’un précipice à l’autre et il essaie vraiment, littéralement et de façon exhaustive toutes les solutions qu’il peut imaginer ou concevoir avec le concours de tous ceux et de tout ce qu’il peut trouver sur son chemin. Mais page après page il finit au fond du précipice sauf à la dernière page, mais pas de chance il y a un second précipice juste après le premier. Il est donc sur un piton de roche au milieu d’une immense faille circulaire qui l’entoure tout autour de lui ; Il est sur l’aiguille Saint Michel du Puy en Velay mais avec tout autour une roche qui descend à pic et lisse comme une stalagmite géante. Et Mister O est assis sur la pointe de ladite chose géante qui sera dorénavant son mouroir où il mourra de faim, de soif et de solitude. J’imagine qu’alors des vautours viendront de Lozère le bouffer jusqu’aux os.
Mais si vous êtes un peu sadiques vous-mêmes n’hésitez pas. C’est amusant de voir ce pauvre Mister O persévérer envers et contre tous, envers et contre toutes les circonstances négatives imaginables, à perdre et à mourir en bas de la page dans la dernière case à droite. Ne posez surtout pas la question idiote de comment il peut bien faire pour être vivant à nouveau dans la première case en haut à gauche de la page suivante. C’est bien pour cela que je dis que l’auteur est un sadique tortionnaire, et même un vrai tortureur professionnel.
Et cela fait de vous … ? Un malade mental visionnaire et voyeur. Un livre à ne pas laisser entre les mains des enfants de moins de soixante-dix-sept ans. Après cet âge ce n’est pas grave s’ils essaient d’en faire autant et qu’ils finissent au fond du trou. De toute façon c’est là qu’ils finiront tous, ou en fumée.
Dr. Jacques COULARDEAU
February 17, 2020
By far, one of the worst gag strips I've ever read...
November 19, 2009
I'm not sure why this is better than
Mister I
but it is. Where Mister I is about a greedy hotdog doodle who is always hungry and always trying to steal pies (and endlessly dying for his troubles), Mister O is about a circle doodle who just wants to get to the other side of a chasm. Tons and tons of other doodles easily get across, but he just can't do it. It's laugh out loud funny, yet sad. How the hell can a wordless joke comic featuring a little doodle be sad? I dunno. But it is.
June 17, 2013
I'm a huge Trondheim fan, and this one didn't disappoint. This book is really a study in technique: 30 very large pages, each with about 60 small, perfectly gridded panels, with an extremely minimal drawing and color technique. Each page is a self-contained story, and in fact all the stories are the same: the titular character trying to cross a ravine. But of course, there are lots of Wile E. Coyote-style mishaps, and tragedy ensues. You can read the whole book in 30 minutes or so, like lots of Trondheim's work. Very cute.
February 1, 2015
This was a very fun book. I have no idea how I came across it, but it was really quite an enjoyable book.
Basically, every page of this book is a mini-story about Mister O, who is a character in the shape of an O. Every story revolves around Mister O trying to cross the same chasm. Every story ends poorly for Mister O.
It's not a long book, but it's pretty funny to see the myriad ways Mister O tries to get across, and it's incredible how expressive Trondheim manages to make each tiny illustrated face.
This is well worth your time - check it out!
Basically, every page of this book is a mini-story about Mister O, who is a character in the shape of an O. Every story revolves around Mister O trying to cross the same chasm. Every story ends poorly for Mister O.
It's not a long book, but it's pretty funny to see the myriad ways Mister O tries to get across, and it's incredible how expressive Trondheim manages to make each tiny illustrated face.
This is well worth your time - check it out!
January 18, 2013
Ryan asked if I didn't think this got a little monotonous. I said it was too short to get monotonous. It's like a ten minute read. Plus all the punchlines are so uniquely disastrous. The repetition lends itself to the comedy. Maybe my experience with other Trondheim colors my perspective of "Mister O," but I found this a quaint, brief slice of adorable brutality.
September 29, 2016
No words, just many pictures on each page of poor Mr. O who cannot cross from one cliff to another. At first I thought it was funny, then I thought it was redundant, then I thought it was frustrating, then I thought it was stupid, and then I stopped reading it.
My husband loved it.
I would have given it a 2, he would have given it a 4 - so I compromised and gave it a 3.
My husband loved it.
I would have given it a 2, he would have given it a 4 - so I compromised and gave it a 3.
May 4, 2019
Imaginez une BD. C’est fait ? Ok, maintenant enlevez tout scénario ne tenant pas en moins d’une page. Enlevez le texte aussi, c’est superflu. Bien. Enlevez à présent tout excès de dessin, c’est-à-dire ne gardez que les lignes qui permettent d’identifier clairement ce que vous voyez. Voilà, mais ce n’est pas fini : ne prenez pas le luxe de grandes cases ou de géométries variables, adoptez plutôt… 60 petites cases carrées et collées par page. Là. Vous y êtes !
Si tu as déjà entendu parler de Lewis (Les formidables aventures de Lapinot, Donjon, Ralph Azham, L’Atelier Mastodonte…) ça ne t’étonne peut-être pas tellement : il est en effet un des cofondateurs de l’Association et de l’OuBaPo (équivalent BD de l’OuLiPo). Certains diront même que c’est un génie qui se révèle sous la contrainte, un maitre dans l’art. C’est sans doute pour ça qu’on peut retrouver Mister O et Mister I (oui, c’est le deuxième tome) traduits dans plusieurs langues.
Pour se recentrer quelque peu sur la BD, c’est un peu comme un Game Over au final : toujours le même héros, le même but (ici de passer un ravin) et le même inéluctable échec… sauf à la dernière planche. Mais je ne vais pas te spoil. Quant à la narration, certaines planches sont vraiment drôles, d’autres sympas. En revanche, tout lire d’un coup peut être plutôt indigeste. Je finirai par louer certains passages où il suffit au lecteur de quelques cases, anodines mais efficaces, pour s’imaginer un petit film d’animation ou voir le personnage passer d’une case à l’autre.
Si tu as déjà entendu parler de Lewis (Les formidables aventures de Lapinot, Donjon, Ralph Azham, L’Atelier Mastodonte…) ça ne t’étonne peut-être pas tellement : il est en effet un des cofondateurs de l’Association et de l’OuBaPo (équivalent BD de l’OuLiPo). Certains diront même que c’est un génie qui se révèle sous la contrainte, un maitre dans l’art. C’est sans doute pour ça qu’on peut retrouver Mister O et Mister I (oui, c’est le deuxième tome) traduits dans plusieurs langues.
Pour se recentrer quelque peu sur la BD, c’est un peu comme un Game Over au final : toujours le même héros, le même but (ici de passer un ravin) et le même inéluctable échec… sauf à la dernière planche. Mais je ne vais pas te spoil. Quant à la narration, certaines planches sont vraiment drôles, d’autres sympas. En revanche, tout lire d’un coup peut être plutôt indigeste. Je finirai par louer certains passages où il suffit au lecteur de quelques cases, anodines mais efficaces, pour s’imaginer un petit film d’animation ou voir le personnage passer d’une case à l’autre.
September 19, 2019
I always adore comic books without words, which you need to use your imagination and cognitive ability to figure out what's going. This spices things up a little and makes reading comics more enjoyable.
This Mister O comic book is all about how this little Mister O wanted to jump over the gap from left side to the right in numerous attempts and failed, even though there were so many other people showing him successful ways to get to the other side. At the end of the comic book, Mister O finally got to the other side, but then he realised that the other side wasn't what he thought it would be. Read till the end and you will figure out why. I particularly like the subtle moral in the story - as Mister O was treating others kinda bad, he always got taken back to the original side accidentally. Be nice and kind-hearted.
This Mister O comic book is all about how this little Mister O wanted to jump over the gap from left side to the right in numerous attempts and failed, even though there were so many other people showing him successful ways to get to the other side. At the end of the comic book, Mister O finally got to the other side, but then he realised that the other side wasn't what he thought it would be. Read till the end and you will figure out why. I particularly like the subtle moral in the story - as Mister O was treating others kinda bad, he always got taken back to the original side accidentally. Be nice and kind-hearted.
August 31, 2018
Really funny wordless comic strips; imagine if Stephen King and Kafka had teamed up to write the Woodstock Peanuts panels, this is something like that.
November 15, 2021
Best comic book ever.
April 10, 2022
Lo tiene todo.
August 30, 2023
This book took me by surprise. I have had it for years and just recently rediscovered it. When going through it, it made me laugh. I don't recall the last time a book made me laugh. Well done.
March 19, 2024
Collection 'Humour de Rire' ¦ A.I. 04/2002 ¦ D.L. 05/2002 = eo
Just 30 one-pagers of the same tragic gag played out to death.
Just 30 one-pagers of the same tragic gag played out to death.
October 23, 2015
Voici une BD hors du commun. Le pitch est d'une simplicité absolue: Mister O, qui est une boule avec deux bras et deux jambes, tente de se rendre de l'autre côté d'un ravin. La couverture illustre d'ailleurs parfaitement ce scénario. Mister O n'est pas du genre à baisser les bras et va déployer des trésors d'ingéniosité tout au long de la trentaine de pages qui compose cette oeuvre pour parvenir à ses fins. Bien sûr, il va jouer de malchance et le sort va s'acharner jusqu'au dénouement final...
C'est une très bonne idée qu'a eu Lewis Trondheim, en déclinant systématiquement sur des planches de soixante cases sans aucun dialogue et avec un graphisme réduit à sa plus simple expression les mésaventures de Mister O. Le cahier des charges, difficile à tenir au départ, tient toutes ses promesses. Ca fonctionne et on se prend à beaucoup rire en suivant les mésaventures de ce personnage entêté. Si les dessins ne sont pas détaillés, les expressions des différents protagonistes sont à mourir de rire et les couleurs, bien choisies, confèrent à chaque saynète un charme particulier. Avec ce volume, Trondheim démontre qu'il y a, en marge des standards, une voie pour le talent et l'humour. Trondheim a depuis décliné ce concept, avec un peu moins de réussite, en créant un Mister I. http://www.aubonroman.com/2010/08/mis...
C'est une très bonne idée qu'a eu Lewis Trondheim, en déclinant systématiquement sur des planches de soixante cases sans aucun dialogue et avec un graphisme réduit à sa plus simple expression les mésaventures de Mister O. Le cahier des charges, difficile à tenir au départ, tient toutes ses promesses. Ca fonctionne et on se prend à beaucoup rire en suivant les mésaventures de ce personnage entêté. Si les dessins ne sont pas détaillés, les expressions des différents protagonistes sont à mourir de rire et les couleurs, bien choisies, confèrent à chaque saynète un charme particulier. Avec ce volume, Trondheim démontre qu'il y a, en marge des standards, une voie pour le talent et l'humour. Trondheim a depuis décliné ce concept, avec un peu moins de réussite, en créant un Mister I. http://www.aubonroman.com/2010/08/mis...
July 18, 2011
Lewis Trondheim, Mister O (Nantier Beall Minoustchine, 2004)
Meet Mister O. He's a circle, with arms, legs, and a very expressive face, especially given how minimal it is. And in these thirty-two strips, he faces a challenge: he needs to get across a gap. It's the same setup in each strip, and it usually leads to the same punchline (he does, rarely, make it to the other side before something awful happens to him), and I know I have recently castigated another graphic novel for that, but here it works. I have no idea why this is. But I laughed out loud (guiltily) at this more than I have at any other book I've read recently. The repetition does great once in a while, and by the thirtieth or so strip, you'll wonder if the final one is going to offer any resolution to this painful drama. I'm not going to spoil the answer to that for you, but I will tell you this: the final panel of the entire book is absolutely, positively worth the entire price of admission on its own. *** ½
Meet Mister O. He's a circle, with arms, legs, and a very expressive face, especially given how minimal it is. And in these thirty-two strips, he faces a challenge: he needs to get across a gap. It's the same setup in each strip, and it usually leads to the same punchline (he does, rarely, make it to the other side before something awful happens to him), and I know I have recently castigated another graphic novel for that, but here it works. I have no idea why this is. But I laughed out loud (guiltily) at this more than I have at any other book I've read recently. The repetition does great once in a while, and by the thirtieth or so strip, you'll wonder if the final one is going to offer any resolution to this painful drama. I'm not going to spoil the answer to that for you, but I will tell you this: the final panel of the entire book is absolutely, positively worth the entire price of admission on its own. *** ½
November 19, 2008
(see also mister i.) This book acheives something completely unique. Its slapstick sysiphus. But instead of reading the myth, you get to watch it played out over and over again. What is the feeling you get when you see a simply drawn fellow violently fail to acheive a simple goal after trying time and time again? After the first several times you laugh. Its like slapstick sisyphus. But then after a few hundred times of seeing mister o fail, it just gets so absurd that you don't know how to respond. And after a few thousand times you just let the wave of violence and absurdity and humor wash over you and . . .
October 5, 2009
This book was like a little break for me! This book is about this little guy who's name is Mister O. He is trying to get to the other side of a cliff and so he tries all these ideas, and always until the end he falls all the way down to the bottom of the cliff. This book is really funny and sometimes weird. This book is a comic on every page. At the end I'm not telling you it because it is so funny you couldn't believe it. recommend this book to people who like comics and funny comics. So go to your library and see if they have Mister O!!! You'll love it!!!
August 26, 2009
Our hero, Mister O, is a little stick figure with an O-shaped body who needs to cross a cliff gap. On each of 30 pages he tries a new way of doing so, with varying levels of failure. And failure there is. If you think you might feel squeamish about the death of a a circle with legs, you should probably not read this.
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June 16, 2011This is as close as you can get to a Road Runner cartoon in book form.
In unvarying panels, Trondheim wordlessly shows Mr. O trying to cross a chasm. He always fails, often spectacularly and then the next page he starts over and tries again. It's like endless variations on a single gag and it actually made me laugh out loud once or twice.
It's amazing how much humor Trondheim gets out of a very basic looking character.
In unvarying panels, Trondheim wordlessly shows Mr. O trying to cross a chasm. He always fails, often spectacularly and then the next page he starts over and tries again. It's like endless variations on a single gag and it actually made me laugh out loud once or twice.
It's amazing how much humor Trondheim gets out of a very basic looking character.
December 1, 2008
E' un regalo che mi ha mandato il mio amico Alvaro di Goodreads. GRAZIE!!!!!!
Mamma mia! Povero Mister O! Vive in un mondo cinico, sadico, egoista, e alla fine della storia, quando ottiene quello che vuole, che cosa ottiene?
Grande idea quella di Trondheim di usare solo le espressioni facciali dei personaggi per raccontare una storia che non ha parole!!!
Mamma mia! Povero Mister O! Vive in un mondo cinico, sadico, egoista, e alla fine della storia, quando ottiene quello che vuole, che cosa ottiene?
Grande idea quella di Trondheim di usare solo le espressioni facciali dei personaggi per raccontare una storia che non ha parole!!!
April 19, 2013
A simple cartoon strip about Mister O trying to get to the other side of a chasm. Although a few ideas are reused over and over, on the whole it's very well done. Like most simple drawing, the ideas actually become more powerful through the simplicity, and you start to think " wow, Mr O's experience really says something about people" followed by "Haha, he just poopied".
June 20, 2008
I read this before sending it to my friend's son for his birthday. It's amusing in a Wil E. Coyote kind of way. Mister O is determined to cross the ravine, and will try any number of futile schemes or dirty tricks to do it. And he succeeds about as often as the coyote too.
March 30, 2010
32 pages. 1920 panels. The simplest concept of any comic strip in the history of mankind, done and redone, stretched to its absolute breaking point. Worth checking out at your local library if you need to spend fifteen minutes laughing.
November 11, 2007
A little circle man tries to cross a chasm and fails in a variety of bleak-yet-hilarious ways. Essentially, it's an existential French Roadrunner cartoon on paper. Brilliant stuff.
December 1, 2008
It has no words, is sometimes crude, and strange. but I think the sence of the comic is always Mr. O trying to get to the other side of thebroken cliff.
October 17, 2009
A hilarious collection of simple, wordless cartoon strips following the attempts of Mister O at traversing a crevasse in the ground.
October 21, 2009
This book is very funny. I wouldn't call it a book, though. A comic.
November 13, 2009
How could a book with no words make me laugh so much???
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews