Written by Alan Grant
Illustrated by Jon Haward
Letters and colours by Jamie Grant
Additional inks and letters by Dave Alexander
Published by Renegade Arts
the three cents.
This uproarious comedic work of wonder is the ultimate collection of Tales of the Buddha stories, containing a wealth of additional materials and all vibrantly remastered and digitally colored to present the origin story of one of the bigger orthodox religion’s most popular trademarks! Follow along as the chubby one traverses time and space of the world he loves so much, experiencing a range of plot points as he himself learns the ways of his own later path to enlightening! Learn why the Buddha doesn’t eat meat! Learn why the Buddha frowns upon gambling! From stoning gourds with Merlin the Magician and Elvis the Presley to shagging the holy HELL out of Cleopatra, Hera, and the Delphic Oracle, our endearing hero prevails!
Grant is exuberantly hysterical in this book, keenly rabbit-punching the absurd to be found among such theological mythologies as Buddhism, Christianity, Babylonian, Greek, Egyptian, Arabic, Celtic, and even scattershots of the Americas, though with the insights playing second fiddle to the basic fun-loving misadventures of the Buddha. Ably putting the fun back into fundamentalism, the youthful spirit embraces shared drinks and shared tokes and maybe even a spot of shared blow with some of history’s most provocative personalities in a mind-numbing array of settings, illuminating old stories with new revelation left and right. Genius and witty and imaginative as all get out, and only offensive to those looking to be offended anyhow. Absolute chuckle inducing material. Maybe chortles too.
Haward’s efforts are a perverted labor of love, with truly fun illustrations that breathe new life into these dusty old figments of our collective imagination. From thoughtfully-designed page borders to his complete mastery of facial expressions, every aspect of the artwork is as wise as Solomon and as horny as Jezebel and as colorful as all the candy one might possibly buy with 30 pieces of silver. There is a very genuine charisma to what lies inside these many panels and frames, and though jabs are made at the jab-worthy there is nothing smarmy or snide to the content, and indeed these images rank among the most imaginative the medium has offered in a spell. Jamie Grant’s colouring is particularly effective, offering more brightness and grandeur than all of the shock and awe of every known Muslim sex joke combined. And I myself was smitten to learn that the lettering was in fact digitally-rendered, being incorporated into the art as casually as a virgin birth. Verily, this comic is a one of a kind ode to the underground comix of the feisty 1960s as much as it’s an ode to our own needs to take things in life way way way too seriously.
Among the additional backmatters is a pinup gallery featuring further blasphemes from such talents as Glenn Fabry, Dave Taylor, Cam Kennedy, and Simon Bisley, making this tome an extra sensational volume just screaming to be burned. Or famously enjoyed. Unconditionally fun reading, although the absence of Hinduism makes me pray for a possible sequel…
Tags: Alan Grant, comix, Dave Alexander, exegesis, Jamie Grant, Jon Haward
Posted by nilskidoo - 07/10/12 - 0 comments
Source:
http://thelotteryparty.com/tales-of-the-buddha-before-he-got-enlightened/