Jim Benton is a bestselling cartoonist and author. Elementary aged audiences know him for Catwad, Dear Dumb Diary, Clyde, Dog Butts and Love, Franny K. Stein, his Victor Shmud books or something else that’s most likely funny, cartoonish or creative. In Attack of the Stuff, Benton offers up a standalone all-age graphic novel that is unlike anything you’ve ever read. Some readers’ fingers will burn with anticipation through the pages of the book so quickly you’ll need a cup of ice next to it to cool them down at the end of it. Other readers will simply laugh at the puns, illustrations and sheer ridiculousness of the plot. We’re firmly in the first camp and have read the graphic novel several times, finding something new to laugh about each time.
Bill is the main character in Attack of the Stuff. He’s a duck who’s having a bad day. Actually it’s been a long time since he had a good day. You see, things talk to him. More specifically, inanimate objects complain to him, belittle his appearance and make jokes at his general expense. Sometimes the items have harmless requests, like the toilet who wants a hat. Other times they’re surly, like the alarm clock who won’t let him sleep or the chair in the living room.
For his job Bill sells hay. He sells some to a pig and then he goes to the orange juice store. As Attack of the Stuff moves along we see the fabric of our everyday world start to wear thin. The internet is not working, nobody can get a connection and Bill has taken a potentially bad time to go commune with nature. Thankfully for the world Bill is being attacked by snakes, but we know that because on the very first page of the book we see Bill on the forest floor being assaulted by dozens of red and yellow snakes.
That is where the book hooks you. Why is this anthropomorphic duck being attacked by snakes in the forest? It’s after that when we read about the fact that objects can complain to him and the graphic novel plots its course to Trip Town, USA, population, whoever is reading Attack of the Stuff.
In the first chapter, older readers will debate their inner self about whether or not Bill is insane. As the graphic novel continues you’ll think that it’s an allegory about modern technology and how dependent we are on it. Is it possible that this is just a silly story about a duck that can tame snakes, use them as musical instruments and who just might save the world (and the internet)?
It could be best to just simply enjoy Attack of the Stuff and don’t over think it. Adult readers will see shades of The Far Side in its absurdity. They might also channel scenes from Monty Python. There’s one character in particular who could be played by a young John Cleese. Younger readers will draw parallels to Laser Moose and Rabbit Boy. This graphic novel brings the unpredictability of that series, but ramps up the oddness to an 11 on the Spinal Tapometer.
There is more to the plot than I’ve mentioned here. Much like you don’t want to spoil things in a movie for those that haven’t seen it, we’re keeping some of the plot points left for you to discover. Unlike Benton’s elementary favorite graphic novel, Catwad, this is long form storytelling. At 116 pages, he manages to craft a story that you’ve never seen before into a graphic novel that you won’t forget.
At times the humor is dry, so those elementary fans of Catwad might scratch their heads at some of the jokes that you older readers get. Its humor is in line with his cartoon collection, Dog Butts and Love. There are moments where it smacks you over the head with a pun and there are some simple frames with only subtle eye movements.
It’s an all age graphic novel that will entertain-at some level, those readers aged 8 and up. We enjoyed the book more than our 10 year old. The 8 year old enjoyed the physical gags and puns that were in the book. After reading Attack of the Stuff I tried to introduce them to The Search for the Holy Grail, but was met with moans of “we’re going to watch a movie from 1974?”. Attack of the Stuff is like that, but years ahead of its time.
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