Punch and Judy: Twice Told Tales

    (Slave Labor, 2005)
™ and © Slave Labor Graphics

The use of violence to service an entertainment function has roots that stretch back to antiquity. Social contexts may change, but it seems the visual delight of a good thwacking remains eternal, especially for children. Hailing from 19th century English puppet shows (with European narrative origins going back the Renaissance), the indiscriminately abusive Mr. Punch, his wife Judy, and friend/antagonist Scaramouch remain icons of absurdist violence that continue to interest audiences today.

This volume collects and reprints the graphic novellas The Comical Tragedy of Punch and Judy and Punch and Judy: A Grand Guignol, by Christopher P. Reilly and Darron Laessig. In both stories, Punch delightedly truncheons any and all who bedevil his daily progress. Judy and Scaramouch suffer as a result of their associations with Mr. Punch. In Comical Tragedy, Mr. Punch’s large nose puts him on an escalating collision course of violence and Grand Guignol deals with the aftermath. After taking over Hell, Punch has no one left to clobber except Santa Claus. As noted in the forward by Colin Miller, creators Reilly and Laessig reach beyond antic comedy to hint at Mr. Punch’s deeper themes: misery, loneliness and spiritual desolation.

— Leland Burrill
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