They're both very emblematic of his general attitude and style and both very funny.Īnother good place to start is the Dungeon series, a ongoing, epic fantasy series he's currently working on (and will probably never finish) with Sfar and a revolving door of artists. These two thematically similar, deceptively simple books (O concerns a round-shaped creature who keeps attempting to traverse a short gorge and fails I deals with an elongated man who tries to find food only to meet one gruesome death after another) provide a good sense of Trondheim's black, dry wit, his love of formal play, his excellent sense of timing and his ability to convey action and emotion in just a few lines. The best place to begin is Mister O and Mister I, both easily available from NBM. American cartoonists looking to try a similar trick should look to his example. What's more, having produced over 30 books in as little as 10 years, he straddles genres - be it humor, autobiography, adventure, fantasy, children's books, historical fiction or experimental works - with uncanny ease. However, the ascension of Trondheim to the top ranks of European cartoonists and his ongoing success in a number of related fields and international markets symbolize the importance of the entire small press revolution and the transformation of the comic book field that it put into motion. Few cartoonists involved in the movement have yet matched his success, and his victories are not entirely shared. (Graphic novel.That an artist who, by his own admission, had no ability to draw could become one of the most prolific, popular and financially successful cartoonists of his generation was conceivable only given the redefinition of the field by the artists of the small press. Libraries that bought the first two chapters (which were issued by a different publisher) will need this as a value-added replacement.

Fans of Emmanuel Guibert’s Sardine in Outer Space series, which is illustrated by Sfar, will find his solo outings just as appealingly off-the-wall.

All three tales progress in small, brightly colored panels packed with brisk action, sight gags and dialogue in miniscule type. The third, titled “The Canine Defenders Club,” has the two buddies, with help from Little Vampire’s gruff, scarlet pooch Phantomato, breaking into a cosmetics-testing laboratory to rescue three captive dogs. In the second Michael receives kung fu lessons from an eldritch instructor in hopes of ridding himself of a bully. In the first, lonely Little Vampire meets Michael after going to his school at night, sitting at his desk and doing his homework. Three episodes-two of which were originally published in English separately in 2003-feature the diminutive, grey-skinned bloodsucker, his human friend Michael and a haunted-houseful of spectacularly lurid ghouls and creepies.

Tiny Tyrant by Lewis Trondheim