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Agony
Cartoons depict the strange adventures experienced by Jordan and Amy after they lose their jobs
173 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 84 reviews
June 12, 2016
Colson Whitehead's introduction is superb as a way of helping us understand what Beyer may have been trying to do with this comic, collected from the eighties. He notes identifying markers such as its inclusion in Raw, The fabulous Furry Brothers stoner comic, Charles Burns's Nutso Boy, even Beckett. Maybe Edward Gorey's work is another reference. It's a little like Corneilia's Mox Nox in its violence and comic horror, but that may be because I just read that.
And the artwork in this small book, one cartoon to a page format, is so wonderful. Black and white, just terrific.
The best way to understand this comic is to recall Mr. Bill from Saturday Night Live, to which I credit a mention from Whitehead, but I think it is key. If you thought Mr. Bill was hilarious as I did, you will appreciate some aspects of this comic. Good people, just trying to live life, always ending in misery. But you laugh at it.
But, oh, Mr. Bill! Here you go, you're welcome:
Thank you sir, may I have another?
The back cover has Daniel Clowes also say it beautifully: ". . . surely the most perfectly realized vision of urban despair ever to hit the comic page. A must for any fan of bleakness and misery." Hilariously and perfectly true. Agony is about the agony of life and a kind of ecstasy of agony. It is Beckett's Waiting for Godot and Laurel and Hardy (one of Becket's inspirations for Godot) all mixed together. They never win, and yet they are so likable
Amy and Jordan proceed hilariously from disaster to disaster to disaster. Things only get worse for them. And yet they are pluck and luck, they refuse to give up, or give in. They keep waiting for Godot against the odds, as we all do.
And the artwork in this small book, one cartoon to a page format, is so wonderful. Black and white, just terrific.
The best way to understand this comic is to recall Mr. Bill from Saturday Night Live, to which I credit a mention from Whitehead, but I think it is key. If you thought Mr. Bill was hilarious as I did, you will appreciate some aspects of this comic. Good people, just trying to live life, always ending in misery. But you laugh at it.
But, oh, Mr. Bill! Here you go, you're welcome:
Thank you sir, may I have another?
The back cover has Daniel Clowes also say it beautifully: ". . . surely the most perfectly realized vision of urban despair ever to hit the comic page. A must for any fan of bleakness and misery." Hilariously and perfectly true. Agony is about the agony of life and a kind of ecstasy of agony. It is Beckett's Waiting for Godot and Laurel and Hardy (one of Becket's inspirations for Godot) all mixed together. They never win, and yet they are so likable
Amy and Jordan proceed hilariously from disaster to disaster to disaster. Things only get worse for them. And yet they are pluck and luck, they refuse to give up, or give in. They keep waiting for Godot against the odds, as we all do.
March 31, 2017
This is a very low three for me. I tend to like existential comedy, and I adore Edward Gorey (some folks compare this work to Gorey) but this was just kind of repetitive and grotesque in a way that I didn't find terribly compelling. That said, if you enjoy optimistic sadsack existential comedy taken to absurd and cartoonishly bloody comic limits, there is a good chance you will enjoy this book.
Shelved as 'read-in-2018'
June 20, 2023This feels really 80s to me. A barely-thought-through punk garbage odyssey in what could be a series of controlledly messy album covers. But the bits about health care hold true. What are you going to do when all your flesh rots off and yet you don't have insurance?
June 25, 2016
This holds up surprisingly well for its age. For me, Agony will always be associated with Raw. I came to it too late to catch more than the last issue or two of the original run, but, through Read Yourself Raw, as well as various reprints and articles about it, I was able to make my acquaintance with that hallowed magazine, which was where I first encountered Agony. For some reason--financial, most likely--I never got around to reading this book when it was first published, so I was overjoyed to see it back in print.
No two ways about it: it's weird. That's half the fun, really: Mark Beyer's drawing style. It's the sort that inspires odd comparisons, like, "If Pablo Picasso and Yves Tanguy had a baby ..." or, "Two parts Mary Fleener to one part Mark Marek, sand edges until well rounded," but truthfully Mark Beyer is one of a kind. If it were drawn normally, though, it would be rather boring. Bad things happen to Jordan and Amy. And then worse things happen. Rinse and repeat. And it's all done perfectly deadpan. Somehow, it all becomes funny. It may be a case of laughing so one may not weep, but it's definitely laughter. Maybe I just have a cruel streak ... This is not going to be everyone's cup of tea. It's weird and strange and etc. But for those who've acquired the taste, it's irresistible.
No two ways about it: it's weird. That's half the fun, really: Mark Beyer's drawing style. It's the sort that inspires odd comparisons, like, "If Pablo Picasso and Yves Tanguy had a baby ..." or, "Two parts Mary Fleener to one part Mark Marek, sand edges until well rounded," but truthfully Mark Beyer is one of a kind. If it were drawn normally, though, it would be rather boring. Bad things happen to Jordan and Amy. And then worse things happen. Rinse and repeat. And it's all done perfectly deadpan. Somehow, it all becomes funny. It may be a case of laughing so one may not weep, but it's definitely laughter. Maybe I just have a cruel streak ... This is not going to be everyone's cup of tea. It's weird and strange and etc. But for those who've acquired the taste, it's irresistible.
November 7, 2016
normally I don't like stories where bad things just keep happening to people, but this little collection walks the line perfectly. It is so absurd, and amy and jordan keep narrating what is happening to them in the way that I like so much (see also: ) that makes the action sort of... like a deadpan play? and it is cut with small moments of good fortune and levity, or just resigned existentialism, and the characters try to take care of each other, so they are not part of the violence. So it works.
May 19, 2017
aggressively unpleasant. clearly purposely, so I'll give it a star for that. it just made me sad, though. i can have a morbid sense of humor but...come on. also their constant narration of all the awful shit they were experiencing was weird. like, who does that? people whose antics include (spoilers i guess) getting terrible head infection so their head swells hella big and their partner has to pop it with a needle and their room fills with blood and they have to flee...apparently. idk man. I'm just not cool enough to hang with this.
February 17, 2008
Suffering can be funny,
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 28, 2016
Suffering, hold the meditation.
Read
January 12, 2017why is amy always the target of violence.
February 18, 2022
Life is hard.
May 20, 2021
The aimless adventures of two narcissistic deadbeats. The whole thing is redundant: Almost all of the dialogue is devoted to deadpan description of what’s happening in that panel. This starts off feeling like a kitsch gag, then as the pages drag on it seems to denote mental deficiency, and then you wonder if there’s a meaningful difference between terminal irony and mental illness. Description like this deadens every event, and deadened violence is punk, just as hating yourself is punk, just as hating hating things is.
Nicer than it seems, because it turns irony on itself.
Nicer than it seems, because it turns irony on itself.
July 7, 2008
This smallish yet longish cartoon novel depicts the agony of modern human. Nothing is spared. The characters literally fall through the cracks, get substandard treatment from medical professionals, try to run away from it all by retreating to an island where folks are living the simple life. But they are always attacked and forced to again flee. Sometimes from one another. Ultra existential angst in comic form.
May 11, 2007
A documentary.
December 7, 2007
Agony has the "if I keep drawing, surely something will happen" pacing of so many 80s alternative comics. I like it's murkiness. When I turn the pages, I expect my fingers to come away inky.
April 25, 2017
So absurd that it's comical again!
November 19, 2018
Hilarious as Hell
January 3, 2019
A beautifully-crafted, bleak romp through a slice of Amy and Jordan's lives. The absurdity of it all actually gives me a little hope for how to survive the dystopian hellscape unfolding around us.
September 3, 2021
—I don’t know what our problem is anymore. We just seem to fail at everything!
—We’ve just got to keep trying harder. It’s a struggle, but what else can we do?
This was fun to read; however, it reminded me of a certain philosophical discussion I once held with some friends: why would one want to live forever if that means enduring who knows what misfortunes? At least Amy and Jordan have each other; I liked that the most.
I also think the art style is perfect for the story.
—We’ve just got to keep trying harder. It’s a struggle, but what else can we do?
This was fun to read; however, it reminded me of a certain philosophical discussion I once held with some friends: why would one want to live forever if that means enduring who knows what misfortunes? At least Amy and Jordan have each other; I liked that the most.
I also think the art style is perfect for the story.
July 1, 2017
The absurdity of hope!
While the message of 'Agony' has been said before in other forms of literature, the unique artwork and the horrifyingly funny adventures of the two hapless heroes of 'Agony' at the least gives the reader an opportunity to laugh at the human propensity to try to make personal tragedies meaningful in what is essentially a meaningless universe.
Make lemonade from lemons? Sometimes it is too difficult, especially when running for your life!
Not laughing now, actually.
While the message of 'Agony' has been said before in other forms of literature, the unique artwork and the horrifyingly funny adventures of the two hapless heroes of 'Agony' at the least gives the reader an opportunity to laugh at the human propensity to try to make personal tragedies meaningful in what is essentially a meaningless universe.
Make lemonade from lemons? Sometimes it is too difficult, especially when running for your life!
Not laughing now, actually.
March 20, 2017
This is like if you dropped a married couple onto a planet filled with the creatures from the Star Wars cantina. The people and animals are arbitrarily kind an cruel, as are Jordan and Amy themselves. Food is very prominent, as is healthcare coverage (or maybe I'm projecting... no, I'm not... medical bills for some really amazing treatments factor very heavily in Jordan and Amy's itinerant lifestyle). Anyhow, it was very disorienting and I enjoyed it.
January 3, 2011
I have a lot of so-called "underground" comics, but this one is about the most disturbing of anything I've ever seen, including Sue Coe and Chris Ware(whose stuff is more depressing than disturbing, but there is some really dark shit in there, such as the Acme Novelty Lib. #10) and Charles Burns.
Mark Beyer out-creeps them all.
Mark Beyer out-creeps them all.
September 29, 2016
I feel like certain pages can be blown up and put on a wall as art. These panels can be read as a separate joke in life just standing alone. Depending on what's going on in your life, these panels could make you smile in many different ways. I really enjoyed reading this.
March 24, 2013
Loved the absolute freedom in Beyer's take on narrative, and what's acceptable within the frame. The most freeform nightmare of a book I've ever read.
March 16, 2016
This one... pretty dark. Kind of disturbing.
May 17, 2016
I laughed inappropriately. :-)
July 19, 2016
The one and only ... It was great to read all of these strips together in book format although admittedly they were more cryptic and mysterious when issued week by week.
September 14, 2016
I was not expecting to love this but I did!
October 10, 2017
Wonderfully crude in its execution and exposition. Nihilistic and violent to say the least, but surprisingly fun and uplifting.
January 6, 2018
2-D black and white characters struggling with life, and the agony of just living. It’s dark, humorous, and shows the reader how optimist they can be about the hard times in life.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 84 reviews
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