The Bizarre Adventures of Gilbert and Sullivan

With amazing success, this collection of brief skits mixes 19th-century British history and manga artwork. Although the real-life Gilbert and Sullivan feuded vigorously, they also collaborated on a popular series of comic operettas that mocked contemporary stage melodramas. In this comic, the pair battle each other while running afoul of other celebrities. Jacques Offenbach, for example, plants a subliminal anti-G&S message on the knickers of his can-can dancers. In another episode, Godzilla takes offense at G&S's Japanese-influenced show, The Mikado. In still another, the fact that the police profile of Jack the Ripper fits Sullivan ("Short... mustached... attracted to whores . . .") forces the two to track down the villain, who proves to be a giant lobster. It's all wildly absurd. The text is literate and witty, and Howell's art nicely sets fusty, strait-laced Victorian England against manga's zany physical comedy. History fans will love this smart and very, very funny compilation. (July)