Tales Of Woodsman Pete

by Lilli Carré

From one of the bright new faces in the indie comix scene comes a collection of vignettes and stories about a solitary albeit gregarious woodsman with a loose grasp on his own personal history and that of the outside world. He forms relationships with his inanimate surroundings and muses to a dead audience, specifically his bear rug Phillippe. His own tales eventually become entangled with that of the legendary Paul Bunyan, and the two become indirectly intertwined, illuminating the discrepancy between the character of the storyteller and the character within his stories. The lives of both Paul and Pete encounter such things as the questionable origin of an ocean and the desire for preservation of everything from a fallen bird to an overused expression that has strayed a stone's throw from its original meaning.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Humor, Short Stories, Novels

80 pages, Paperback

First published June 27, 2006

About the author

Lilli Carré is an artist and illustrator currently living in Chicago. She primarily works in the forms of experimental animation, comics, and print. Her animated films have shown in festivals throughout the US and abroad, including the Sundance Film Festival, and she is the co-founder of the Eyeworks Festival of Experimental Animation. Her books of comics are The Lagoon, Nine Ways to Disappear, Tales of Woodsman Pete, and a new collection of stories, Heads or Tails. Her work has appeared in The Believer Magazine, the New Yorker, The New York Times, Best American Comics and Best American Nonrequired Reading.

Source: Lilli Carré | ABOUT/CONTACT

Reviews

[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carré presents some adorably tiny tales about Woodsman Pete, his hunting trophy pals, and his amazing, quick-grow beard.



We also get to hang out with Paul Bunyan as he philosophizes about his job as a tree-kicker-downer, and bemoans his rotten luck with the ladies.



This little book offers big ideas for ways to get one's life centered. Sometimes all you gotta do is shuck off yer skivvies, and dance nekkid.



If you like consorting with woodsy, back to nature, occasionally lonely guys, pay a visit to Woodsman Pete. (Better knock first - he might be armed and/or au naturel.)

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a charming collection of odds-and-ends comix strips featuring the endearingly wistful Woodsman Pete, a hermit who finds companionship in his bear-skin rug named Philippe and his taxidermied animals. Guest starring Paul Bunyan and his blue ox, Babe.

[lucy black · Rating 3 out of 5]

lovely and lonely and beardy

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

“I guess there were a few holes in that story. It’s hard to remember all the details — you just gotta tie together what you haven’t forgotten and hope it can stand on its own two feet.” — Woodman Pete telling a story about Paul Bunion

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this! The art is really well do rand the style suits the stories. Darkly funny and a fun read! Highly recommended!

[Nitoy Gonzales · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the opening story, the humor is a dark and a bit disturbing, so this is not for kids. Woodsman Pete reminds me of Ice King doing a having conversation to his pets. In this graphic novel, to inanimate objects. Nevertheless, the stories, monologues and conversations are pretty interesting and would suck you in but with a twisted end. I thought Paul Bunyan and Babe would be some sort of "break" to the stories of Pete but it delivers the same dark silliness Pete is dishing out. I enjoyed it in a weird way.

[হাঁটুপানির জলদস্যু · Rating 4 out of 5]

বিদঘুটে সব গল্প, কিন্তু সব মিলিয়ে মজার।

[Laura B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

really cute little book, absolutely loved it

[Soteralzobooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.8

[Idyll · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so glad I didn't know what I was getting into. It's dark, quirky and hilarious. I was moved!

[Rabbit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Art ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Story ⭐️⭐️

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lilli Carre recently had an exhibition at Chicago's MCA (Museum of Contemporary Art) http://www2.mcachicago.org/exhibition... where you can see the range of her work in film, comics, sculpture. Completely unique and quirky and refreshing and strange and colorful and cute and bizarre and funny and artistically amazing and all of that.

Woodsman Pete is sort of like quirky folk tales where you expect Paul Bunyan kind of stories and you get a bizarre Bunyam kind of giant who lives alone with a bear rug and moose head he talks with, and where, when he gets to kiss regular sized girls he basically drowns or crushes them… so the point is just quirky, funny, odd, spoofing on folk tales with morals. I liked it a lot, actually, though it feels slight and kinda silly. But if you look at the range of her work in comics alone, there is a wide range of stuff she does, from very sophisticated modern stuff to these faux old fashioned tales… Pretty cool and wildly yet quietly inventive...

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Edited later. I thought about this more over the course of the day, and read through it again, and the more I thought about it, the more I really like Woodsman Pete. Parts made me chuckle, parts made me say "ew," and on the whole it's just really well done and I kind of hate that Carre is only a year older than me because she's really good. I'm still not sure if I liked that it wasn't overly weird or was disappointed that it didn't get all that weird. But it was weird enough -- I mean, Pete talks to a freaking bear skin rug most of the time, and at one point dances around naked ("Saturday Night"). It's a small book but there's a lot in it and what is in it is done exceptionally well. Highly recommended.

Top Shelf says it pretty well in their catalog copy: http://www.topshelfcomix.com/catalog....

[Felipe Chiaramonte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Woodsman Pete mora sozinho em uma cabana perdida na imensidão de uma floresta, com seus tapetes de urso, cabeças de viado e passarinhos cantantes que por vezes lhe servem de jantar. A vida é solitária e repetitiva, mas apesar de sua morte e ressurreição diárias, como a lua que ressurge no céu, Pete prossegue com suas lembranças nebulosas e singelos momentos predatórios, dia após dia.
Ao mesmo tempo, Paul, um habitante gigante da natureza e de contornos míticos, passa seus dias com seu enorme companheiro touro falante, derrubando árvores com os pés e brincando de frisbee com enormes rochas esmagadas.
Em um livro pequeno mas singelo e com arte muito bonita, Lilli aborda os mistérios que harmonizam, rompem e esmagam o homem e sua essência.

[Lily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Woodsman Pete is a lonely, but contented solitary mountain man who talks to his hunting trophies, including a bear rug and weaves tales about Paul Bunyan, while often forgetting his wife is dead or how exactly she died. Paul Bunyan has a lot of trouble with women, due to his large stature. This is a farcical comic about the American mountain hermit and westward expansion, with a dark and subtle humor.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short collection about two loners: Woodsman Pete, and Paul Bunyan. Both are in two different states of mind regarding their lonesome lives, and this provides a great contrast. The stories range from funny, to heart breaking, to ridiculous. The art is fantastic, with great use of light in such a simplistic style.

It’s a very short read, and I highly recommend it.

[Jeremy Matters · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great art, and very introspective stories about Pete the Woodsman and Paul Bunyan. Moves from just plain silly to deeply thoughtful and introspective. Carre's creation of a new American folklore is clever, entertaining, and completely unique.

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick and painless, this graphic novel had kind of an artsy feel to it. There's no real plot, but it was still fun to read (but not usually laugh-out-loud funny) and it made some interesting points, though I can't remember what any of them were. Take that as you will.

[Jessica Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This tiny book shows Lilli's humour off more than her other books. It's a quick read and full of giggle moments from Woodsman Pete and Paul Bunyan and his ox. They'll tug on your heart strings and make you think! Never thought I'd get that from characters such as these.

[MeinKampfy · Rating 3 out of 5]

makes a cute little gift--except the recipient must be able to Appreciate Stuff Without Much Analysis, because these vignettes are deceptably cute in that the tone itself is, in fact, that of bearded ridicule (ie. a directed mean-spiritedness combined with verbal or situational irony). oy vey.

[Matt Hartzell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed Woodsman Pete for what it is, a small collection of strips that tell the story of Woodsman Pete, as well as Paul Bunyan. The humor reeks of Far Side. I didn't fall out of my seat laughing, but the various stories drew a chuckle or two. I really enjoyed the cartooning style.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable little jaunt into the life of Woodsman Pete, a recluse who maybe once had a wife and now maintains a friendly relationship with his bearskin rug. Featuring cameo panels by Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox. And, lest it go unmentioned, these stories also feature a lot of plaid. Hurrah!

[Michelle Cano · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5
No tengo idea de cómo encontré este libro o cómo fue que termine leyéndolo, pero definitivamente fue muy extraño, con un humor muy negro en algunas partes y algunas (muy poquitas lamentablemente) escenas muy lindas, pero igual muy muy raro.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute little short little book of comics. Darkly funny, lots of themes of loneliness and searching for love. I enjoyed the longer arcs involving Paul Bunyan and his alienation. All in all a good read on the el in this morning.

[Mantsch · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this up today, and really loved it. The two stories starring Paul Bunyon stand out, and he is now forever defined in my head by this book, he is so tragic, I never realized it.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the delicate, fine lines Carre uses in her comics. I liked the absurdist nature of the Woodsman Pete strips, and I really enjoyed the somewhat melancholy Paul Bunyan stories.

[Hannah Garden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Damn, so good. I keep reinforcing the horror that everyone is better prettier and younger than I am. Fuck. I'm gonna read some Richard Yates next at least he's dead.

[Alasondro Alegré · Rating 3 out of 5]

★★★½

[MechaComicReviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tales of Woodsman Pete with Full Particulars is one of my classic favorites partially for nostalgia’s sake and also because it’s really good. I took a break from comics between being a kid and then when I was an older teen (same thing for Pokemon… I have no idea what I did during those inbetween years). One of the first things I read when I was getting back into comics was this book, and it showed me that not all comics have to be about superheroes.

The book is broken up into short snippets and gags that last anywhere from 1 to 16ish pages. It primarily tells two ministories: Woodsman Pete’s life keeping entertained in isolation and Paul Bunyan searching for love with normal sized women. The stories are snapshots into their lives rather than a sequential retelling of them. Overall, they are lighthearted and funny. Woodsman Pete’s beard collection is one of the funniest gags in small press comics as well as Paul Bunyan’s attempt to kiss women a hundred feet shorter than him.

The art is fantastic with Lilli Carré’s careful linework intermixing brushes with fineliners, which gives the art a lot of detail and weight. Her blocking is lighthearted and fun with whimsical poses. The art will just put a smile on your face because everything is so earnest and delivered with care and respect (even when Woodsman Pete dances naked to his own whistling).

The comic still holds up despite my nostalgia. Does it hold the same magic now that I’ve read so much more? Almost. It makes a delightful present for anyone interested in charming their friend or loved one.

[Olivia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A delightful read. It was just the right mix of dark humor and playfulness that you’d expect from Carré. The majority of the book features a collection of comics detailing the antics of Woodsman Pete alongside his wall of stuffed moose heads, a large bear rug with a good listening ear, and his dead wife Martha, who died several deaths. Paul Bunyan also makes an appearance with his pet ox Babe, with whom he shares an existential crisis and dating mishaps.