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Mister Wonderful
Mister Wonderful
Nov 17, 2024 3:30 PM

Author:Daniel Clowes

Mister Wonderful

Shortlisted in the 2012 Angoulême Official Selection

Meet Marshall. Sitting alone in the local coffee place. He's been set up by his friend Tim on a blind date with someone named Natalie, and now he's just feeling set up. She's nine minutes late and counting. Who was he kidding anyway? Divorced, middle-aged, newly unemployed, with next to no prospects, Marshall isn't exactly what you'd call a catch. Twenty minutes pass. A half hour. Marshall orders a scotch. (He wasn't going to drink!) Forty minutes. Then, after nearly an hour, when he's long since given up hope, Natalie appears- breathless, apologising profusely that she went to the wrong place. She takes a seat, to Marshall's utter amazement.

She's too good to be true: attractive, young, intelligent, and she seems to be seriously engaged with what Marshall has to say. There has to be a catch. And, of course, there is.

During the extremely long night that follows, Marshall and Natalie are emotionally tested in ways that two people who just met really should not be. Not, at least, if they want the prospect of a second date. A captivating, bittersweet, and hilarious look at the potential for human connection in an increasingly hopeless world, Mister Wonderful more than lives up to its name.

Reviews

Innovative… And then you're hooked. Each snapshot carries you forward a little further, bouncing you around the room, showing you different perspectives, before you bounce out the window and into the world. Your mission? Solve the mystery.

—— Kadhin Shubber , Wired

A paper and digital product: hello future.

—— Emerald Street

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—— Hugh Armitage , Digital Spy

Palestine is utterly compelling, and as affecting as the work of any war photographer or poet.

—— Annie Forbes , Varsity

This is a memorable household, seemingly passed over by history yet given their rightful place on these pages – and recommended by us as well worth meeting.

—— thebookbag.co.uk

Superstar in the making…as affecting as Raymond Briggs, as beady as Posy Simmonds, a truly fantastic debut… I cherished Winterhart’s drawings. These Bagnolds are well-observed to the point of cruelty, and yet his affection for them is never in doubt.

—— Rachel Cooke , Observer

Remarkable…beautifully observed and balanced. It’s thought-provoking, entertaining and real without being sycophantic… You should make time for this book..

—— Forbidden Planet Blog

If like me you’re new to graphic novels then trust me when I say this is the perfect starting point, and if you’re a regular graphic novel reader then please give this little volume a chance. It may be small but it has so much heart inside that you’ll never quite be able to leave it behind.

—— bookmonkeyscribbles

Heartfelt and often heartbreaking.

—— Dog Eared Discs

The First World War is often described as a literary war, but it was also the first great photographic war. This book is an extraordinary collection of photographs from the archives of the Imperial War Museums. Depicted are the machines of destruction, the battlefields, the trenches, the beaches but above all the soldiers. Nothing reveals the face of war quite so vividly as the faces of the warriors.

—— Ben Macintyre , The Times

A mini-masterpiece.

—— Independent on Sunday

His silence first mirrors and then amplifies our own horrified stupefaction – and his inky crosshatching speaks for itself, sorrow and rage in every dogged line.

—— Rachel Cooke , Observer

Unlike anything you've ever seen before...renders the destruction on an epic scale but each of the thousands of soldiers is depicted with humanity and detail.

—— Metro

Unfolds in breathtaking detail… Haunting and beautifully rendered.

—— Sunday Times

One of the finest pictographic achievements in recent years… A vivid portrait of courage and honour which will astound you.

—— Haverhill Echo

The "comic book journalist" has gone into a new realm with this, a book that folds out into a single piece, 24ft wide, wordless pen and ink drawing of soldiers leaving the trenches.

—— Shane Hegarty , Irish Times

[Sacco’s] ability to cram in detail is extraordinary. And it is the details that linger.

—— The Economist

When stretched to its 24ft length in the Saga Magazine office, we pored over it for ages. We predict you will want to do the same.

—— Saga Magazine

About Joe Sacco’s The Great War, one can write only essays or short, ecstatic sentences... A beautiful accordion-book, it unfolds on the Western Front, with all its monotony and misery: simple, but intricate; wordless, but vocal; brutal, but beautiful. A masterpiece of quietly affecting numbers, the thousands of lines, dots, and crosses that demarcate the thousands of lives, deaths, and crises.

—— Reggie Chamberlain-King , Quietus

The detail in this work is phenomenal, capturing the aloof generals, death in the trenches, and the wounded... [Sacco] makes visceral one of the bloodiest days in history.

—— Socialist Review

Wordless and brilliant.

—— Donal O'Donoghue , RTE Guide

Sometimes words and photographs are not enough… [An] astounding book.

—— Michael Hodges , Mail on Sunday

A unique and unforgettable experience.

—— Matthew Turner , Ask Men

A meticulous visual depiction.

—— Observer
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