#stray toasters

[atomic-chronoscaph]

Stray Toasters - Artwork by Bill Sienkiewicz (1988)

[vertigoartgore]

1988's Stray Toasters Vol.1 #3 cover by artist Bill Sienkiewicz.

[paljordan]

i obviously love straightforward cape comics, but have always had a special place in my heart for wacky, sci fi dystopian, and over the top satire comics. more than anything, i love a story that leaves you staring at the last page feeling unbalanced and full of questions

so under the cut are some subversive/straight up absurd favorite comics i don’t see much on here (but i think are worth a read!)

x-statix (milligan & allred)

a darkly satirical lens through which the extreme visibility/celebrity of superhero life fundamentally changes heroes’ self perception as well as their relationships

kid eternity (morrison & fegredo)

a narrative collage of seemingly unrelated characters’ life events as catalysts to a greater plot devised by the lords of chaos; a cosmic horror whirlpool a la morrison

animal man (morrison & truog)

morrison’s sandbox for approaching metafiction, spirituality, madness, philosophy, reality, etc. within the context of the superhero story

the seeds (nocenti & aja)

aliens work to harvest the last valuable “seeds” of earth driven by the belief that humanity has run its course; grim, grimy, desperate snapshot of those survivors on earth as they face the end

stray toasters (sienkiewicz)

murder mystery noir set in a dystopian new york; atmospherically driven and centered around the conflicts between characters’ psyches

some others i didn’t list but also greatly enjoy are: elektra assassin (miller & sienkiewicz), we3 (morrison & quietly), planetary (ellis & cassaday), and transmetropolitan (ellis & robertson)

for explanation — i personally find miller’s writing to be a bit infuriating (especially about women), we3 makes me sob more than it gets me thinking philosophically, and warren ellis is a waste of organic material flaming dog shit sex pest

[busterkuris-reviews]

Stray Toasters

4/5

Sienkiewicz’s art is always incredible, and the way he shifts styles here is masterful. The book goes from standard 9-panel pages to full or two page spreads unlike anything you’ve ever seen. His writing might be a little too ambitious? A surreal sci-fi horror/black comedy satire, even with 50 page issues there’s a lot going on and it doesn’t always come together. The Harvard Chalky and demon subplots feel like maybe too much when you’re still wrapping your head around what’s going on in the main plot. But the themes it’s tackling are fascinating, alluding to childhood trauma and the messed-up dynamic of nuclear family structures. Props to the lettering for helping to sift the confusion, as the constant narrator switches are clearly marked, even when the order of dialogue is sometimes a mess. Maybe not the best book but also not one we’ll easily forget.

GoodReads

[tomoleary]

Bill Sienkiewicz “Stray Toasters” (Marvel, 1988)

[ladyrobot6]

I rlly love how this comic was done. I like the art of this, how the writing and story feel like it was all that never ending thought loop, a racing mind that doesn’t stop after one thought but keeps going. The writing feels almost impulsive/ compulsive, like a thought that needed to get out;Not in a broken way I cannot follow along but the right kind of way. It feels like a broken mind made this, someone that knows hurt.

The art is absolutely stunning and it is every single page and panel I am in love. Bill Sienkiewicz, The artist for this comic, did not leave his work space and put his all into this comic. He submerged himself in this comic and I think it really shows in the art. The exaggeration of the mouths and eyes along with the mood set in colors and atmosphere when showing the flashbacks of parents really shows the intensity of the parents especially from a child’s perspective. The mood and atmosphere in those same panels make give the feeling of pain, a distant but strong feeling. Everything in this book feels so distant but so strong, like a dream or memory.

Small rant but overall rlly love this series!!! If you have any recs pls do let me know would love to explore more comics with art like this. Or rlly anything outside of the more traditional stuff.

[smashedpages]

Happy birthday to Bill Sienkiewicz!

[panelswithoutpeople]

Stray Toasters No. 2

by Bill Sienkiewicz