The Fun Never Stops!: An Anthology of Comic Art, 1991-2006

The Fun Never Stops is a comprehensive collection of premiercaricaturist Drew Friedman's best comic strips, illustrations, and mugshots dealing with all the familiar Friedman themes the world has cometo love: showbiz has-beens, ugly old white men, nefarious politicians,debauched celebrities, the ubiquitous Lord of Eltingville, etc. Most ofthe work is from the 1990s, and show Friedman's gradual phasing out ofhis famous (and amazing) black-and-white stipple look to his current(and equally amazing) lush watercolor style. In addition to the workswritten by Friedman, Fun includes many collaborations with his longtime partner K. Bidus, as well as Harvey Pekar (American Splendor), Mark Newgarden (We All Die Alone), and Bruce Handy, among others. Also included is artwork from the notorious Topps Bubble Gum Card series Toxic High, as well as art from the card sets Beauties and Cuties and Ed Wood Players. Comic strip highlights include "Everybody's Buddy" (RAW), which examines the legendarily combustible temper of drummer Buddy Rich; "Where's Johnny?" (Entertainment Weekly), a journey into what would have become of Johnny Carson's career had he never hosted the "Tonight Show"; "Hey, Academy!" (NY Observer),a demand from Friedman that Jerry Lewis be awarded a lifetimeachievement award by the Motion Picture Academy; "The 10 Least PowerfulPeople in Hollywood" (Details); "Howard Stern & Al Sharpton run for political office in NY" (The New Yorker); and "Kasablanca" (Esquire), which imagines Casablancaas directed by Oliver Stone. The book is topped off with a detailed,career-spanning biographical introduction by Ben Schwartz and aforeword by Daniel Clowes.