Fred's Book Club: Toy Gory?

Welcome to Wednesday (a.k.a. Hump Day), and thus another of the seemingly endless schleps into Fred's Library for the Humpback Writers feature. The writers probably are humpless, although today's writer/artist, Tony Millionaire (a.k.a. Scott Richardson), has a twisted sense of humor that would make any Igor proud. 

With Christmas officially looming, there is a lot of talk about toys -- which makes some people think about Toy Story, the Disney property that doesn't bear thinking about, considering its horrible implications. I was once at a wake where the deceased was in the coffin with a Woody doll -- I don't know if Woody went into the ground with the mortal remains, but think about it in Toy Story terms for a moment. Tony Millionaire is a man would appreciate that.

I first encountered the artist's fantastic work in the late free weekly NYPress, run by Russ Smith. Millionaire's comic strip Maakies was almost an anti-comic strip. Starring a seafaring monkey called Uncle Gabby and the suicidal alcoholic Drinky Crow, its bloody adventures were grotesquely and gorgeously rendered in ink. Like most alternative humor, it could be hilarious and depressing at the same time. Often the little strip-below-the-strip was the funniest thing in the newspaper.

When I saw that Millionaire had published a children's book featuring a sock monkey that looked like Uncle Gabby, I found it difficult to believe. I figures it would be a "children's book" like Edward Gorey's or (at best) Roald Dahl's, with unbelievable cruelty inflicted on nasty children.

I was wrong. It is a charming book about toys come to life, especially the classic title toy, a monkey made of old socks.  

Sock Monkey is strange, don't get me wrong. It opens with a real-life monkey having a toothache, which is eased when the monkey pulls out the tooth. The tooth lands in an orchid, which is brought home by an explorer called the Captain. The Captain plans to give the plant to his young granddaughter, Ann-Louise, and brings it back from his butterfly expedition. 

Then the plant and its glass cover run into peril due to his granddaughter's toys, led by one Mr. Crow. 

"FLUKES AND FLAMES! What is all the consarn racket in here?" bellowed the Captain, as he rushed into the greenhouse, swinging a broom. "Here I am, peacefully sleeping after a months-long voyage, only to find magical dolls and crows disturbing the tranquility of the night! Away with you!" and he swept them out the door! "Blasted come-to-life toys! If it wasn't for all the magic around here, we wouldn't be having all this infernal chaos all the time!"

The monkey's tooth lands in his sock, which is turned into a sock monkey, which comes to life extra-fast because of the tooth now concealed inside. 

The next day was Ann-Louise's birthday, and it was the happiest birthday she ever had. For once her grandfather had not surprised her with one of his dusty curiosities, this year she opened her present to find a beautiful, soft, cotton sock monkey. She hugged him to her cheek and to her delight the monkey started to whisper all about his adventures in the house. 

"I'm going to name you Uncle Gabby, because you gab so!" she laughed. 

Mr. Crow is at first frightened by the sock monkey, but they become friends. Later the story sort of comes full circle as Mr. Crow and Gabby team up to shoo off a goldfish that is after a tooth fairy, and Ann-Louise thus gets a dime for her baby tooth. 

It's a sweet book, peculiar in its way but never scary. I was startled to see a G-rated version of Uncle Gabby and Drinky Crow, but it works. And, I just love Millionaire's drawings. The Great Lileks has been running some work from cartoonists of the past who put a lot of time and detail into their art, and Millionaire is one of few living cartoon artists I know who does so as well.  

Maakies came to an end in 2016 when the free-weekly market faded away. But Tony Millionaire continues on. There were more Sock Monkey books, as well as books featuring character Billy Hazelnuts and of course Maakies collections. For my money, he is the true artist for the toys-come-to-life genre, a one-man Island of Misfit Toys, whether G- or R-rated.