''The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch'' or simply ''Mr. Punch'' is a
graphic novel
A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...
written by
Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gra ...
, illustrated and designed by
Dave McKean
David McKean (born 29 December 1963) is an English illustrator, photographer, comic book artist, graphic designer, filmmaker and musician. His work incorporates drawing, painting, photography, collage, found objects, digital art, and sculp ...
. It was published in
1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nels ...
.
Synopsis
The book, which takes place mostly in
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most d ...
, follows the childhood memories of the narrator, illustrating various experiences in his life: fishing on the beach at dawn; his grandparents and how one grandfather went mad; a
hunchback
Kyphosis is an abnormally excessive convex curvature of the spine as it occurs in the thoracic and sacral regions. Abnormal inward concave ''lordotic'' curving of the cervical and lumbar regions of the spine is called lordosis. It can result ...
great-uncle; the betrayal of children by adults; fear of the unknown; an
unwanted pregnancy
Unintended pregnancies are pregnancies that are mistimed, unplanned or unwanted at the time of conception.
Sexual activity without the use of effective contraception through choice or coercion is the predominant cause of unintended pregnancy. W ...
, violence, possibly even murder.
The general story is paralleled with the traditional story of the
Punch and Judy
Punch and Judy is a traditional puppet show featuring Mr. Punch and his wife Judy. The performance consists of a sequence of short scenes, each depicting an interaction between two characters, most typically Mr. Punch and one other character ...
show, "The oldest, the wisest play." The narrator is first introduced to Mr. Punch when fishing with his grandfather, but encounters it, and a mysterious "professor" (Punch & Judy man), during various other activities. The story of Mr. Punch is that he kills his baby, then his wife Judy, and the
police officer
A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...
who comes to arrest him. He outwits a
ghost
A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to re ...
, a
crocodile
Crocodiles (family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to include all extant me ...
, and a doctor, convinces the hangman to be hanged in his place, and, at the play's end, even defeats the devil himself.
Publications
It has been published a number of times:
* UK 1994,
Gollancz, paperback, , hardback,
* USA 1995,
Vertigo
Vertigo is a condition where a person has the sensation of movement or of surrounding objects moving when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. This may be associated with nausea, vomiting, sweating, or difficulties w ...
, paperback, , hardback,
* 2006,
Bloomsbury Publishing
Bloomsbury Publishing plc is a British worldwide publishing house of fiction and non-fiction. It is a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index. Bloomsbury's head office is located in Bloomsbury, an area of the London Borough of Camden. It has a U ...
, paperback,
* 2017, Urban Comics, hardback,
Adaptations
Future Bible Heroes
Future Bible Heroes is an American indie pop group led by Stephin Merritt, best known for his work with The Magnetic Fields. Merritt shares vocal duties with fellow Magnetic Fields member Claudia Gonson, who sings on the entirety of 2002's ''Ete ...
wrote and performed a song about the character, called "Mr. Punch". It was released on the compilation album ''
Where's Neil When You Need Him?'' which also featured
Tori Amos
Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...
,
Aurelio Voltaire
Aurelio Voltaire Hernández (born January 25, 1967), professionally known as Aurelio Voltaire or simply as Voltaire, is a Cuban-American musician, singer, and composer. His professional name is Voltaire, his given middle-name.
Name
In the past, ...
, and
Rasputina.
In 2005,
BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also featuring. The sta ...
broadcast a one-hour radio adaptation of ''
The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch
''The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch'' or simply ''Mr. Punch'' is a graphic novel written by Neil Gaiman, illustrated and designed by Dave McKean. It was published in 1994.
Synopsis
The book, which takes place mostly in Portsmo ...
'', adapted by Gaiman with music by McKean and
Ashley Slater
Ashley Slater (born 1961) is a British trombone player and best known for his narration on the television series Boo! as well as his work with Norman Cook (a.k.a. Fatboy Slim) in the band Freak Power.
Career
In 1983 after leaving the army, Sl ...
.
The
Rogue Artists Ensemble Rogue Artists Ensemble is a theater company based in Los Angeles, California that specializes in “Hyper-theatrical” performance. According to the mission statement on the company’s official website:
Rogue Artists Ensemble is a collective of ...
also have mounted ''Mr. Punch'' as a stage play.
Gaiman & McKean's "Mr. Punch" on Stage
Comic Book Resources
''Comic Book Resources'', also known by the initialism CBR, is a website dedicated to the coverage of comic book–related news and discussion.
History
Comic Book Resources was founded by Jonah Weiland in 1995 as a development of the Kingdom Co ...
, August 26, 2008
See also
* ''The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Punch and Judy'': "set down in 1828 by John Payne Collier
John Payne Collier (11 January 1789, London – 17 September 1883, Maidenhead) was an English Shakespearean critic and forger.
Reporter and solicitor
His father, John Dyer Collier (1762–1825), was a successful journalist, and his connection ...
, now edited with an introduction by Paul McPharlin Paul McPharlin (1903-1948) was a puppeteer who created some twenty productions in Detroit between 1928 and 1937. He is remembered as a skillful performer and inventive puppet maker. He is a founding member of the Puppeteers of America. In 1929, McPh ...
and illustrated with collotype
Collotype is a gelatin-based photographic printing process invented by Alphonse Poitevin in 1855 to print images in a wide variety of tones without the need for halftone screens. The majority of collotypes were produced between the 1870s and ...
reproductions of the original etchings by George Cruikshank
George Cruikshank (27 September 1792 – 1 February 1878) was a British caricaturist and book illustrator, praised as the "modern Hogarth" during his life. His book illustrations for his friend Charles Dickens, and many other authors, reache ...
and of twenty-four sketches in color by Mr. Cruikshank never before printed." New York: Limited Editions Club
George Macy (1900–1956) was an American publisher.
Career
George Macy was born in New York City in 1900.
In 1926, he founded Macy-Masius, which was sold to the Vanguard Press in 1928.
In 1929, he founded the Limited Editions Club, publis ...
, 1937.
* ''Violent Cases
''Violent Cases'' is a short graphic novel written by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Dave McKean. It was McKean's first published work in comics. Though drawn by McKean in shades of blue, brown, and grey, when it was first published by Escape Boo ...
'', an earlier work by Gaiman and McKean
Notes
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch, The
1994 graphic novels
1994 comics debuts
Comics by Neil Gaiman
Fiction about the Devil
Vertigo Comics graphic novels