Cul De Sac: This Exit
by Richard Thompson
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Book Summary Information
Author: Richard ThompsonEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-09-01
ISBN: 0740776517
Number of pages: 128
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Book Reviews of Cul De Sac: This Exit
Book Review: A truly entertaining comic collection
Summary: 4 Stars
Cul De Sac is a newspaper comic chronicling the daily adventures of the Otterloops as seen primarily through the eyes of Alice, the family's 4-year-old daughter. While the basic idea of drawing a comic strip about a suburban American family is far from original, Thompson's interpretation of the genre is fresh and inviting. All of his characters have their own unique personality, each drawing you a little further into the microcosm he has created. The art is slightly crude in an attractive, practiced fashion that compliments the author's quirky sense of humor.
The first section of the book is devoted to the watercolor works created for a run in a magazine that predate the comic's introduction to the funny pages while the second moves on to the syndicated dailies. While the plot regression experienced when moving from section to section is slightly startling, I found I enjoyed being reintroduced to Cul De Sac midway. There was a bit of repetition and I find the lack of a page to separate the sections worrying (not everyone will read the forewarning in the forward, methinks) but, all in all, the transition wasn't at all bad.
Blisshaven Preschool's guinea pig, a most highly aspiring character, was one of the "secondary" features of the strip that truly pulls the reader in and gives the world in which the Otterloops meander a bit more depth. Alice's 8-year-old brother was another such character, punctuating his family's otherwise glass-half-full lives with his cynicism and his perpetual sense of impending doom (which he seems to have accepted at a young age).
The most intriguing and appealing characteristics of this comic are not the "main jokes" of each strip; you have to look slightly deeper for the whole picture. From Alice's preschool to the local shopping monstrosity, Thompson subtly paints a backdrop of suburban America that is both entertaining and horrifying. The way Thompson portrays the adult characters going through their day is full of an understated feeling of blissful ignorance. They look to sense nothing amiss as they struggle through intimidating big-box stores and drive their tiny cars to work, navigating the modern world as though it was the most natural way to live.
Overall, I highly recommend this to other lovers of funny, intelligent comic strips and will surely be loaning my copy out to friends and family in a dastardly attempt to hook them as I have been hooked.
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