The creative team behind the hit Tales from the Crypt #8 “Diary of a Stinky Dead Kid” team up again to launch this new parody series from Papercutz! Following the killing of their mentor Dumb-as-a-door by the seemingly traitorous barista Frappe, Harry Potty, Don Measley and Whiny Stranger must find a way to defeat the nose-less dark lord Value-Mart (He-Whose-Prices-Can’t-Be-Beat) and his followers, the Odor Eaters in order to avenge the death of Harry Potty’s parents and bring balance to the world of magic.
If the goal of satire is to cut to the underlying cultural significance of its target with a keen edge of subversive humor, then Harry Potty has rather accomplished its mission. By renaming the main antagonist Valuemart (He-Whose-Prices-Can’t-Be-Beat) and zeroing in on the rampant commercialization of the product in question, the underbelly of the Harry Potter empire is surgically revealed. This is not to say that plenty of young readers won’t enjoy it simply for the same joke-crammed panels of irreverent silliness and goofy caricatures the same creative team delivered for Diary of a Stinky Dead Kid (2009). Indeed, the legacy of MAD magazine is much on display as Potty and stalwarts Don Measley and Whiny Stranger recap six previous adventures and race through the final installment. But when Harry keeps mistaking the story he’s involved in for countless other fictionalized epics of capitalist culture, from Star Wars to Lord of the Rings to—talk about subversive—the Iraq War, there’s little doubt what this slim but gleefully inflammatory volume is trying to get at. Grades 7-10. --Jesse Karp --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
About the Author
Stefan Petrucha has written X-Files comics and for Disney comics. He is the author of such YA series as “Timetripper" (Razorbill), "Wicked Dead" with Thomas Pendleton (Harper Collins) and “The Rule of Won,” which was published in September 2008 to rave reviews. Stefan has written every Nancy Drew Graphic Novel from Papercutz to date, and wrote both “Stinky Dead Kid” stories in Tales from the Crypt #8.
Rick Parker’s artwork has been seen in the NY Times, Village Voice, The NY Press, The Daily News, The Chicago Tribune, on 60 Minutes, CNN, Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Nickelodeon Magazine and in millions of MTV's Beavis and Butt-Head Comic Books worldwide. He illustrated both “Stinky Dead Kid” stories in Tales from the Crypt #8 and recently collaborated with comics legend Harvey Pekar on the online webcomic series “Project Pekar”.
