Zonzo

I ran into Joan Cornellà's art by a random recommendation. Found it hilarious in its bizarreness. It's completely and utterly devoid of limits. It's entirely politically incorrect, but doesn't really rely on shock value. Once you've familiarized with Cornellà's work enough that you know what to expect, you'll still find it hilarious (provided that you did the first time, that is).Here's the general gist of Cornellà's comics: they're entirely devoid of dialogue. All of them depict visually bizarre, insane, over-the-top, disturbing and outright impossible situations where dark humor is at the order of the day. Set in a world where people have a perpetual smile regardless of the suffering they're causing and/or receiving, and only showing concern when they shouldn't, nothing is too much for this person: racism, infanticide, rape, all of those things are normal in these comics. Yet, you don't feel like the author is glorifying these things. All he does is revel in the absurdity of these crazy situations.Fans in his Facebook page tend to try to find a hidden message in all of Cornellà's comics. Whether or not those messages are meant to be there is up for debate, but they definitely have multiple ways to be interpreted. I reiterate, though, that you should never feel like this person is making fun of real victims. This should be evident by the way he goes out of his way to present a world so preposterous that it could never be taken as the real thing.After only checking a few of Cornellà's comics, I made myself a follower of his art on social media. Later I bought his first book, Mox Nox, which I loved. And now I purchased his second book, which I found... I don't wanna say "dissapointing", because it implies that the quality of the content is not as good. The problem is that I had already seen most of the comics in this book by the time of its release (even if I actually purchased it later). There's very little in the way of new material, which makes me feel somewhat as if I'm being punished for being a loyal fan. It really didn't feel this way with the first one.So, I recommend this book if you're a new fan or you're curious, and definitely if all you want to do is support the artist. But if what you're looking for is new material, there's really not much of it here.

i love this book, delivery was fast just as expected.

Bought as a present for a friend, who was unfamiliar with the artist. The quality of the book is very high. Nice gauge paper, bright and rich printing. Though one of the things that make the book unique is the lack of a proper spine on the book. I look forward to the artists next releases!

If you know the author and are familiar with the work and comics you won't be disappointed, one of my favorite books

Joan Cornellà is a master of Gonzo weirdness, and this one captures some of his best work. His colorful yet disturbing comics call to mind The Perry Bible Fellowship comics. This product is a bit on the short side, but still well worth it.

Combines dark themes, absurd and surreal visuals, and visual gags in a hilarious way. Everyone who's checked out the comic book on my coffee table laughed through the whole thing.

Constantly inventive, his mix of cheery colours with the darkest humour is eye-crack to me.

Beautiful art, amazing story, I only wish it were longer

I read this on the bus and a gang of young hoodlums berated me

Classic Cornella, great quality

Just the right amount of ridiculousness.

Super but the print appears to be a little bit faded

O título da única compilação de cartuns de Joan Cornellà publicada no Brasil (pela editora Mino) expressa bem o estado do leitor depois de fechar o livro. Depois de fechar não: ao abrir o livro já somos atordoados pelo sinistro senso de humor do catalão que é um fenômeno no Facebook.Com cores berrantes e personagens quase sempre sorridentes, Cornellà encena agressões, mutilações, atropelamentos, assassinatos, autoimulações e toda sorte de ultraje ao corpo e à dignidade humana.Com fartas doses de surrealismo e absurdo, diz verdades contundentes e retrata sem dó a realidade: somos propensos à violência, ao preconceito, à inveja, ao abuso, à escatologia, ao escárnio, à desonestidade.Esse espelho mudo (não há falas) faz um enorme barulho, chacoalha nossa cabeça, põe a gente a pensar: o que o artista quis dizer?Sentido, significado, propósito, objetivo: arrisco-me a dizer que o interesse de Cornellà é explorar limites _ os dele e os do público.Não há como ficar indiferente. A não ser que você já esteja anestesiado pela morte, pela brutalidade, pela... indiferença.No fundo, os cartuns de Cornellà não são uma celebração do grotesco. Pelo contrário: ao nos provocar sensações, ao nos tirar de uma posição passiva (somos instigados a preencher balões imaginários), ao nos estender um convite à interpretação e à empatia (sim, porque acabamos nos colocando no lugar dos outros - o autor e seus personagens), o catalão reafirma o poder da arte.