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The Best of Gahan Wilson
Sure to incite a quiver of laughter or a shiver, The Best of Gahan Wilson features a macabre collection of the best and most hilarious examples of the jaundiced humor that got Wilson published in publications such as Playboy, The New Yorker, Esquire, and National Lampoon. Not content to chronicle just a collection of cartoons, this retrospective includes Wilson's wry, illustrated essays on such topics as childhood fears and human tourists in space. A unique creator, Wilson straddles humor markets ranging from art enthusiasts to sci-fi junkies with offbeat aplomb.
144 pages, Paperback
First published October 14, 2004
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About the author
Gahan Wilson
285 books50 followersGahan Wilson was an American author, cartoonist and illustrator known for his cartoons depicting horror-fantasy situations.
Wilson's cartoons and illustrations are drawn in a playfully grotesque style, and have a dark humor that is often compared to the work of The New Yorker cartoonist and Addams Family creator Charles Addams. But while both men sometimes feature vampires, graveyards and other traditional horror elements in their work, Addams's cartoons tended to be more gothic, reserved and old-fashioned, while Wilson's work is more contemporary, gross, and confrontational, featuring atomic mutants, subway monsters, and serial killers. It could be argued that Addams's work was probably meant to be funny without a lot of satirical intent, while Wilson often has a very specific point to make.
His cartoons and prose fiction have appeared regularly in Playboy, Collier's Weekly, The New Yorker and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. For the last he also wrote some movie and book reviews. He has been a movie review columnist for The Twilight Zone Magazine and a book critic for Realms of Fantasy magazine.
His comic strip Nuts, which appeared in National Lampoon, was a reaction against what he saw as the saccharine view of childhood in strips like Peanuts. His hero The Kid sees the world as a dark, dangerous and unfair place, but just occasionally a fun one too.
Wilson also wrote and illustrated a short story for Harlan Ellison's anthology Again, Dangerous Visions. The "title" is a black blob, and the story is about an ominous black blob that appears on the page, growing at an alarming rate, until... He has contributed short stories to other publications as well; "M1" and "The Zombie Butler" both appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and were reprinted in Gahan Wilson's Cracked Cosmos.
Additionally, Gahan Wilson created a computer game titled Gahan Wilson's The Ultimate Haunted House, in conjunction with Byron Preiss. The goal is to collect 13 keys in 13 hours from the 13 rooms of a house, by interacting in various ways with characters (such as a two-headed monster, a mad scientist, and a vampiress), objects, and the house itself.
He received the World Fantasy Convention Award in 1981, and the National Cartoonist Society's Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005.
Gahan Wilson is the subject of a feature length documentary film, Gahan Wilson: Born Dead, Still Weird, directed by Steven-Charles Jaffe.
Wilson's cartoons and illustrations are drawn in a playfully grotesque style, and have a dark humor that is often compared to the work of The New Yorker cartoonist and Addams Family creator Charles Addams. But while both men sometimes feature vampires, graveyards and other traditional horror elements in their work, Addams's cartoons tended to be more gothic, reserved and old-fashioned, while Wilson's work is more contemporary, gross, and confrontational, featuring atomic mutants, subway monsters, and serial killers. It could be argued that Addams's work was probably meant to be funny without a lot of satirical intent, while Wilson often has a very specific point to make.
His cartoons and prose fiction have appeared regularly in Playboy, Collier's Weekly, The New Yorker and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. For the last he also wrote some movie and book reviews. He has been a movie review columnist for The Twilight Zone Magazine and a book critic for Realms of Fantasy magazine.
His comic strip Nuts, which appeared in National Lampoon, was a reaction against what he saw as the saccharine view of childhood in strips like Peanuts. His hero The Kid sees the world as a dark, dangerous and unfair place, but just occasionally a fun one too.
Wilson also wrote and illustrated a short story for Harlan Ellison's anthology Again, Dangerous Visions. The "title" is a black blob, and the story is about an ominous black blob that appears on the page, growing at an alarming rate, until... He has contributed short stories to other publications as well; "M1" and "The Zombie Butler" both appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and were reprinted in Gahan Wilson's Cracked Cosmos.
Additionally, Gahan Wilson created a computer game titled Gahan Wilson's The Ultimate Haunted House, in conjunction with Byron Preiss. The goal is to collect 13 keys in 13 hours from the 13 rooms of a house, by interacting in various ways with characters (such as a two-headed monster, a mad scientist, and a vampiress), objects, and the house itself.
He received the World Fantasy Convention Award in 1981, and the National Cartoonist Society's Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005.
Gahan Wilson is the subject of a feature length documentary film, Gahan Wilson: Born Dead, Still Weird, directed by Steven-Charles Jaffe.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 3, 2014
This book's got a few humorous and poignant cartoons. It's also got a lot of cartoons that are neither of those things, and some that seemed entirely pointless to me.
Still, it was fun to read some of the historical stuff about Gahan Wilson's career. Also, ending on an illustrated version of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Conqueror Worm" was great. (Mostly just for the text, but whatever.)
Still, it was fun to read some of the historical stuff about Gahan Wilson's career. Also, ending on an illustrated version of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Conqueror Worm" was great. (Mostly just for the text, but whatever.)
May 8, 2012
I don't giggle. I find it unbecoming in a man...
Gahan Wilson makes me giggle.
Wilson's work is dark, devious, and hilarious - he's a more sinister Silverstein, and this book's got the goods.
Gahan Wilson makes me giggle.
Wilson's work is dark, devious, and hilarious - he's a more sinister Silverstein, and this book's got the goods.
April 28, 2016
A perfect blend of morose, sardonic, and dark humor. Very poignant stuff.
HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION
HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION
May 15, 2020
2004 paperback. Goes beyond the magazine cartoons and into Nuts from National Lampoon and others, as well as Classic Illustrated illustrations for Edgar Allan Poe.
Macabre, beautiful, hilarious.
I've always found it amazing that some of his more gruesome cartoons were published in Playboy, opposite airbrushed Playmates splayed nude on top of pool tables.
Wilson is an American treasure. There will never be another.
Macabre, beautiful, hilarious.
I've always found it amazing that some of his more gruesome cartoons were published in Playboy, opposite airbrushed Playmates splayed nude on top of pool tables.
Wilson is an American treasure. There will never be another.
October 21, 2019
Weird subversiveness ensues.
May 11, 2023
Read:
The Sea Was as Wet as Wet Can Be - 3/5
The Sea Was as Wet as Wet Can Be - 3/5
December 3, 2007
Next to Charles Addams, one of the greatest cartoonists ever.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews