BOOK REVIEW

By Sean Bieri
6/14/00

Loving the alien...eww!

Bill Plympton accidentally shot his first animation, a promo for his college yearbook, upside down. His films have come from strangely skewed perspectives ever since. He may be best known for his contributions to animation festivals, such as the shorts How to Kiss and 25 Ways to Quit Smoking, with their rubbery characters and wildly exaggerated sex and violence.

His new graphic novel serves up more of Plympton’s trademark weirdness. Long-lost astronaut Earl Jensen assembles a collection of freaky monsters to take revenge on corporate creep Dr. Frubar, who sabotaged Earl’s capsule and stranded him in outer space. Before coming home, Earl battles big galloping eyeballs, suffers a literal tongue-lashing and has some unseemly sex with, among other things, a giant nose. Back on Earth he teams up with his foxy and faithful daughter to keep the evil doctor from turning the stratosphere into a colossal billboard.

Mutant Aliens the graphic novel is sort of a cheat, since it’s more or less just the storyboard for Mutant Aliens the animated film, the author’s next feature. But so what? It’s vintage Plymp-toon silliness, and the penciled art captures well the sketchy, vibrant feel of his movies and the Silly Putty malleability of his characters. Goofy fun.

Sean Bieri is Metro Times Sr. Graphic Designer.