Product Description

Jen Sorensen returns with her Xeric Award-winning Slowpoke: Café Pompous, a collection of alternative newsweekly strips. Jam-packed with gags, Slowpoke tackles the absurdities of present-day American life with rib-tickling gusto. Café Pompous is, of course, located at the corner of Malaise and Ennui. The strips deal with three main recurring characters: Drooly Julie, about which more later; Little Gus, perpetually bored and weighed down by a heavy shock of dark hair; and Mr. Perkins, a generic authority figure. He's very tall, with a skinny head and usually an umbrella and a tweedy suit. The cartoons cover such subjects as creeping consumerism, brainwashing by TV, technology toys as trendy accessories, and the never-ending cycle of navel-gazing coffeehouse commentators. Many of the pieces are reflective of life in a university town, such as the bizarre series of strips where Mr. Perkins attempts to infiltrate a sorority. Drooly Julie is a fascinating character. The first strip in the book sets her mood, with Julie coming up with sex-based background stories about everyone she sees, even a priest. It's rare to see female lust, let alone to have it caricatured in a meaningful yet funny way. Ms. Sorensen's characters, like those in many strips, are based around one particular characteristic, but her choices for that distinguishing tendency are unusual and refreshing.There's a lot of technology-oriented commentary, especially on how it affects trends and daily life. Ms. Sorensen's ideas are new and clever; for example, Little Gus attends a festival of ennui. She pokes fun at the oddball individual, but in an accepting way.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1821463 in Books
• Published on: 2001-06-22
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 64 pages

Review
"Jen Sorensen is a terrific cartoonist!" -- Peter Bagge - Hate

"it's a riot and a half...almost every joke is hysterically funny. Sorensen's art is simple and perfect..." -- Greg McElhatton - iCOMICS

From the Publisher
Jen Sorensen is the creator of Slowpoke, a weekly comic strip that appears in several alternative newspapers throughout the US, for which she was nominated for the Friends of Lulu Kimberly Yale Award for Best New Talent. Slowpoke, which serves up political and social commentary with an absurdist twist, grew out of a popular daily strip she drew while a student at the University of Virginia. Jen was recently awarded a Xeric Grant to publish her latest cartoon collection, "Slowpoke: Cafe Pompous." Jen Sorensen's work has also appeared in several other publications, including The Big Book of the '70s (DC/Paradox Press), Action Girl Comics, Dignifying Science, Empty Love Stories, the Small Press Expo anthologies, and will be featured alongside such luminaries as Matt Groening and Tom Tomorrow in Ted Rall's upcoming book on alternative political cartoonists. Jen Sorensen lives in Charlottesville VA, where she also does web design.

About the Author
Jen Sorensen is the creator of Slowpoke, a weekly comic strip that appears in several alternative newspapers throughout the US, for which she was twice nominated for the Friends of Lulu Kimberly Yale Award for Best New Talent. Slowpoke, which serves up political and social commentary with an absurdist twist, grew out of a popular daily strip she drew while a student at the University of Virginia. Jen was recently awarded a Xeric Grant to publish her latest cartoon collection, "Slowpoke: Cafe Pompous." Jen Sorensen's work has also appeared in several other publications, including The Big Book of the '70s (DC/Paradox Press), Action Girl Comics, Dignifying Science, Empty Love Stories, the Small Press Expo anthologies, and will be featured alongside such luminaries as Matt Groening and Tom Tomorrow in Ted Rall's upcoming book on alternative political cartoonists. Jen Sorensen lives in Charlottesville VA, where she also does web design.

Customer Reviews

Pure brilliance
Everyone I know who has read this book thinks it's superb. Jen Sorensen is the equal of any of your so-called modern cartooning "greats"; Cafe Pompous is laden with beautifully weighted satire - and it's very, very funny. For $6, not to buy this book borders on nutty behaviour.

Highly Recommended!
Intelligent, well-written, hilarious, and original, Ms. Sorensen creates a collection of political comics strips that provoke thought and tickle the funny bone. If you enjoy political satire, Slowpoke is the book to purchase. I purchased the work September 2002 and still have it to this day! This graphic novella is for individuals who desire comics that are different.