ReadItDaddy's Comic / Graphic Novel of the Week - Week Ending 5th June 2020: "The Attack of the Stuff: The Life and Times of Bill Waddler" by Jim Benton (Papercutz)

We are living in golden times my friends, even though it may not seem like it. In fact, as far as kid-friendly comics go, we truly are right smack bang in the middle of a golden age where 'grown ups' have finally realised that A) Comics are a really good thing and B) Comics for kids don't have to be as dumb as a box of rocks.

We've spoken many times of the ability for kids to completely soak up and accept surreality in all its forms, and there's none more surreal than the worlds that Jim Benton cooks up. Marvellous, original and inventive story worlds inhabited by completely kooky characters.

Such as the hero of "Attack of the Stuff: The Life and Times of Bill Waddler".

Bill is a duck destined for extraordinary things, though his life (from an observer's perspective) really sucks. You see, Bill has an ability - a super-power if you will - the power to know what ordinary everyday inanimate objects want and desire.

Bill's toilet, for example (whose name is Latoylat - never forget it!) wants to be a hollywood star, and definitely wants a hat. She's none too keen on all that 'toilet' business which forces Bill out into the big wide world every day to run his hay stall.

The problem with Bill's ability is that he just cannot switch it off. In fact soon Bill realises that there's only one course of action - to go and live as a wild man, embracing all that nature can offer.

That, of course, comes with its own pitfalls and hazards (Snakes for example). But soon Bill becomes a pivotal character in a worldwide drama - when the internet stops working, he may be the only person on the planet who knows what's wrong with it - and what it truly desires...

At times this graphic novel reminded me quite heavily of the excellent "Louis" series from two of our favourite creatives, Metaphrog. A guy stuck in a fairly thankless existence, a whole bunch of eclectic surreal characters (the orange juice salesman was hilarious - just make sure you specify WHAT SIZE JUICE YOU WANT!) and we loved the concept of the internet dying, and the fallout across the world when folk can no longer blither on over social media or...hah...blogs.

Sum this book up in a sentence: Absolutely brilliant stuff from Jim, inventive, charming and entertaining with the sort of message that kids will giggle and laugh at, but adults will knowingly nod and find themselves agreeing with.

"Attack of the Stuff: The Life and Times of Bill Waddler" by Jim Benton is out now, published by Papercutz (kindly supplied for review).