by Kyle Baker

isbn: 1569248346
subject: Humor, Fiction and Literature, Graphic Novels
finished: 7/17/2000

The Cowboy Wally Show is a hilarious satire of the American popular media told through Cowboy Wally, a stupid, lecherous man who of course becomes famous and successful in showbiz. Kyle Baker tells the story using eloquent dialog and facial expressions -- this is a great example of a story that would be difficult to tell in a medium other than a graphic novel. Most of the humor comes from the way that Baker structures conversations: different characters in each scene are aware of different levels of meaning; typically one character is operating at the same level as the reader, throwing out meta-level comments that the rest of the characters ignore. Recommended.