Petey & Pussy

Petey and Pussy, John Kerschbaum's new graphic novel, reads very much like a Looney Tunes cartoon--if all of the anthropomorphic animals were kvetching, balding, foul-mouthed misanthropes. Each character is articulate (and, in fact, can speak directly to humans, well enough to order a beer) but still recognizably have the traits associated with their respective species: Pete, the dog, is happy-go-lucky; Pussy, the cat, is self-centered; and Bernie, the bird, is high-strung and constantly a-twitter. Together, they are the pets of a sweet old lady whose obliviousness to the lunacy unfolding around her is second only to her own hygienic repugnance. The Sisyphean struggles of the characters is brought to the fore--the cat is compelled to try and catch the mouse, the bird struggles to escape his cage--as the trio engage in slapstick adventures that are simultaneously given an edge and made hilarious by a twisted combination of mundane realism and insouciant gross-out humor.

Kerschbaum cheerfully includes all the blood and guts that are left out of the cartoons, and lovingly renders his motley crew in a densely textured urban setting. And like the animated cartoons it echoes in an oddly surreal way, when the mayhem dies down, the characters come to the realization that their identities' are defined by the way they relate to the others, and that one's opponent might be one's truest friend when both face a true threat.

"Although its protagonists are an anthropomorphic dog and cat with foul mouths and balding human heads, this graphic novel by magazine illustrator Kerschbaum somehow offers a rather realistic and very funny look at New York City residents. Petey (the dog) roams the streets when not popping through the pet door to visit his bespectacled buddy Pussy, who lives with an ancient crone who puts various objects and food items found around her apartment to questionable uses. Also sharing the apartment is a bird named Bernie who longs for nothing so much as the tender release of death, a state of non-being denied him by Pussy, who keeps him alive because he enjoys messing with him. Though they're animals, the cast could easily be just another trio of schlubs on the street; their world brings to mind the human/animal interaction found in animated cartoons, only with actual gore and recognizable profanity (no 'razzin-frazzin' here). Filled with content that would send Walt Disney and other purveyors of funny animal cutesiness into a state of apoplexy, think of this as what your pets would be getting up to if they could talk and enjoyed hanging out in dive bars." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

This graphic novel debut reads very much like a Looney Tunes cartoon--if all of the anthropomorphic animals were kvetching, balding, foul-mouthed misanthropes. A twisted combination of mundane realism and gross-out slapstick.

John Kerschbaum lives in Brooklyn, NY, and online at fontanellepress.com.