I read this book because it is on a list of best graphic novels, so my review may be lower due to my expectations. I only read the 1st quarter of the comic strips in the book. It is just not a style I enjoy and I did not find it funny. I also feel I should clarify I understood most the jokes as I am familiar with topics, it just isn't my style of comedy. If I read these as a daily comic, I might have a different review. In a book it just feels exhausting as a compilation. Sly and irreverent, Beaton's "Hark! A Vagrant" takes history and literature down a peg or two, with hilarious results. As a lifelong fan of newspaper comics, this book is the perfect example of the more radical possibilities of the gag strip format.The jokes are whimsical and often profane. The artwork is purposefully sloppy. The tone is often unsettlingly modern... "Hark! A Vagrant" shouldn't work as well as it does but, somehow, Beaton gets it all right. Her commentary is both informative and amusing in its own right.Most of the content of this book is available online but it's totally worth buying; a unique work by a unique talent always deserves to be supported.
Do You like book Hark! A Vagrant (2011)?
So glorious and funny--Kate Beaton is by far one of the best comic artists out there.
—kristyrae
