Feeling silly? Nick Maandag sure is in his latest collection of absurdist comics, Harvey Knight’s Odyssey!
Nick himself stars in two of the three stories. In The Plunge, he fascinates his co-workers with his French Press as they gather around his desk to witness his majestic plunging of the top down before pouring a cup of coffee. Oooo. And yes, that is the entire “story” - and yet, it’s not boring? It’s so determinedly mundane that it’s fascinating and becomes oddly amusing by the end. It’s not an amazing comic but it’s surprisingly not bad considering what it is.
Full Day follows a day in the life of Nick Maandag as he deals with surly street sweepers, an overly-sexed homeless old lady, and the inanities of office work. This one has a lot more going on than just pouring coffee (what a statement) but it’s about as enjoyable and humorous as The Plunge. The homeless lady is the funniest part of it but most of it is fairly forgettable.
Harvey Knight’s Odyssey is the longest story here. It’s also the most surreal story of the bunch as we follow Harvey and his braindead assistant practice their bizarre religion of light and dark; search for a missing tanning bed; murder; go on cake-based TV interview shows; stage a play; open a pet-grooming shop - and so on in that vein.
It’s utterly bonkers and hit-or-miss with the comedy. Your mileage will vary but I liked the TV interview part and the science experiments Harvey’s assistant conducts. It’s like reading a comic about Blackadder and Baldrick if both characters were Baldrick. Nearly every scene set in that church was immensely dull (unfortunately there’s quite a few), as were the stage play parts, and when they got to the pet-grooming shop it definitely felt like the madness had gone on too long. As is the case with all of the stories here, a mixed bag of amusing and boring.
The stories aren’t the most impressive, in part because they feel so pointless, but they’re also notable for being unpredictable and original, as well as sometimes genuinely funny. I didn’t love it as much as The Follies of Richard Wadsworth but Harvey Knight’s Odyssey is worth checking out if you’re a fan of this creator or just oddball comedy along the lines of the sketches of Tim Robinson, David Cross and Tim Heidecker.
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