© Mike Mignola.

No one does comics quite like Mike Mignola. Once the purveyor of a more traditional comics art style, he simplified his technique to a point where everything is in high contrast, shadows and black areas dominate, and figures are defined in an almost abstract way. It’s deceptively simple, and only an artist with a firm grounding in all the structural basics could make it work.

So, perhaps Mike has been waiting for someone to parody him, but no one has the chops, and he’s decided to do it himself. This book is quite funny, as if Mignola was writing a National Lampoon version of his own work. The art is played straight, but the dialogue and storyline are silly in a quite amusing way. Even the concept is silly, which makes the serious art even funnier.

Also here are other works in the same vein, including this story co-written by Mike’s young daughter. It has the blunt honesty of youth that can be quite funny, too. Really, this entire book is a hoot, and rather than putting Mignola’s other work in a bad light, it merely shows his well-developed sense of humor. Kind of like reading an EC horror comic, then an early issue of MAD with some of the same artists. Good fun and recommended.