Amazing Facts and Beyond!

From January 31, 2008, to October 30, 2012, the St. Louis Riverfront Times carried a weekly strip that gave new meaning to trivia. The strip’s host, the bespectacled nerd Leon Beyond, enthusiastically guides readers through a wide-ranging world of trivia, some real and some clearly very, very false. Zettwoch and Huizenga’s flagrant disregard for the truth makes each strip a fresh exercise in trying to decipher what is real and what is not. Topics are numerous and delightful, including spotlights on the Museum of Leftover Masterpieces, the Secret History of Dogs as Weapons, and an account of a Jesuit missionary in China who fused the art of kung fu and the Bible into a single gospel. The majority of the strips are not confined to panels, and Zettwoch and Huizenga exploit this, loading each one with vivid illustrations and intricate detail. Taken as a whole collection, the over-the-top format can be overwhelming, meaning the reader may have to spend more time with it. But since this is a book to be savored, that’s not a bad thing. (May)