Manny Rayner's book reviews

It was okay, but I didn't like it nearly as much as Happy Sex. Sort of a French cross between Calvin and Hobbes (though without Hobbes) and South Park.

The drawing is excellent, but I found most of the jokes rather feeble. Maybe the later numbers in this incredibly popular series are more fun? Though, to be fair, there are some good bits here too. Here's one I liked, "Abracadabra":



For non-francophones, the guy with the baseball cap comes in and asks his friends to guess what he got for his birthday. They're all wondering aloud. A gameboy? A Pin 3? A Cicolina video? (I think this is the early 90s). No! he says. A magic wand! Oh, I'm sorry, sympathizes Manu, the dopey kid with the glasses.

The birthday boy isn't fazed. Look, he says, there is nothing in my hand... Abracadabra... and voilà! Everyone is impressed except Titeuf, who immediately starts criticizing. That's nothing, he says disdainfully. A real magician doesn't do that crap. He makes people disappear, cuts women in half, conjures rabbits out of thin air...

Oh yeah? says the magician, properly pissed off. You try if you're so goddamn smart!

No problem, says Titeuf, who's now got the wand. I'll do one I've seen a dozen times. Manu, get into the trashcan...

Manu suspects that this isn't going to turn out well, but he's the Charlie Brown of the series and is no match for Titeuf. It's not dangerous, is it? he asks anxiously as his friend lowers the lid. Don't worry, says Titeuf, worst that can happen is that your component molecules will disappear for ever into the cosmos. Now, François, could I borrow your bike lock... and HAH! I throw away the key... and now, hocus pocus, I command you to emerge!

But, to no one's surprise, it doesn't work. Frantic thumps and cries from the trashcan. Help! I'm still inside! I can't get out! Titeuf is puzzled. Shit! he mutters. Must be a defective wand...

Manu is really losing it. Titeuf! he bawls, when I get out I'm gonna punch you one! Take it easy, says Titeuf absent-mindedly. Otherwise, I'll turn you into a rabbit...