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Beards Of Our Forefathers By David Malki !
A brainwavez.org Literary Review

by Gideon Joubert
Posted: 8 September 2008

Recently another anthology of Wondermark, the world's only web comic, was published. This hardcover collection features about 120 strips, the eight-page short story Treachery!, and bonus material that is not available anywhere else.

Beards Of Our Forefathers

This slim hardcover volume contains a selection of comic strips culled from the web comic Wondermark (wondermark.com).

For Wondermark fans, no further explanation is necessary. This spectacularly entertaining book is bound to provide fierce competition for the top spot on a significant number of birthday wish lists. However, for those who have not had the pleasure of experiencing David Malki !'s unmistakable, albeit bizarre humour first hand, perhaps some additional detail would be in order.

The principle behind Wondermark is not new. Adding captions to old illustrations has probably been around about as long as the written word. Nevertheless, Mr Malki ! brings his own style to the medium by combining 19th Century engravings with anachronistically modern dialogue and pop-culture references. Somehow it works, although this is due in no small part to Malki !'s well-honed sense of the utterly ridiculous. The situations vary from the farcical to the philosophical, but they are always very, very funny. It is little wonder that Wondermark has built up such an enormous fan base in the five years since its inception.

Beards of Our Forefathers is essentially a "best of" collection, but it also features a number of comics that haven't been seen online, a generous helping of explanatory material and a handy pocket-guide for the keen facial-hair spotter.