Cousin Joseph: A Graphic Novel

by Jules Feiffer

Overview

Meet Big Sam Hannigan. Tough, righteous, a man on a mission. Only problem is, it's the wrong mission.With the New York Times bestseller Kill My Mother, legendary cartoonist Jules Feiffer began an epic saga of American noir fiction. With Cousin Joseph, a prequel that introduces us to bare-knuckled Detective Sam Hannigan, head of the Bay City's Red Squad and patriarch of the Hannigan family featured in Kill My Mother, Feiffer brings us the second installment in this highly anticipated graphic trilogy.Our story opens in Bay City in 1931 in the midst of the Great Depression. Big Sam sees himself as a righteous, truth-seeking patriot, defending the American way, as his Irish immigrant father would have wanted, against a rising tide of left-wing unionism, strikes, and disruption that plague his home town. At the same time he makes monthly, secret overnight trips on behalf of Cousin Joseph, a mysterious man on the phone he has never laid eyes on, to pay off Hollywood producers to ensure that they will film only upbeat films that idealize a mythic America: no warts, no injustice uncorrected, only happy endings.But Sam, himself, is not in for a happy ending, as step by step the secret of his unseen mentor's duplicity is revealed to him. Fast-moving action, violence, and murder in the noir style of pulps and forties films are melded in the satiric, sociopolitical Feifferian style to dig up the buried fearmongering of the past and expose how closely it matches the headlines, happenings, and violence of today.With Cousin Joseph, Feiffer builds on his late-life conversion to cinematic noir, bowing, as ever, to youthful heroes Will Eisner and Milton Caniff, but ultimately creating a masterpiece that through his unique perspective and comic-strip noir style illuminates the very origins of Hollywood and its role in creating the bipolar nation we've become.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781631490651
Publisher:	Liveright Publishing Corporation
Publication date:	07/26/2016
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	8.90(w) x 10.50(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Jules Feiffer is a cartoonist, playwright, screenwriter, children's book author and illustrator, and member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He teaches a humor-writing class at Stony Brook Southampton College and lives in East Hampton, New York.

Hometown:

New York, New York

Date of Birth:

January 26, 1929

Place of Birth:

New York, New York

Education:

The Pratt Institute, 1951

Editorial Reviews

It's classic noir narrative to its bones…all drawn in Feiffer's signature dancing scribble…Feiffer skates around characters, circling closer, retreating and returning to them, weaving the plot tighter until the pieces fall into place. This is pulp at its best. The book is subversive in a lot of ways—from its occasional bursts of unflinchingly awkward content to its neat commentary on the graphic novel form itself, but it embraces its popular culture influences without irony or apology. That may be the most subversive thing about it, actually. And the most romantic. Feiffer's fluid style…works particularly well here; everyone looks rumpled and in motion. Feiffer, for his part, takes full advantage of the form, using the comic book toolbox to make very cool choices…Two books in and Feiffer's noir graphic novel trilogy is starting to feel like a life's work. Smart, weird, political, engrossing; it's exactly the kind of morally complex story Cousin Joseph would have hated. But Feiffer knows better.

The New York Times Book Review - Chelsea Cain

★ 05/09/2016
Master cartoonist Feiffer has crafted a worthy noir thriller prequel to the critically acclaimed Kill My Mother. The year is 1931. Det. Sam Hannigan is a proud American and a member of fictional Bay City’s finest. When he and his partner aren’t fighting crime or getting their “Red Squad” to suppress the local trade unions, he’s off to do the bidding of the mysterious Cousin Joseph, an unidentified bigwig who wants to rid Hollywood of what he considers anti-American propaganda films. Soon, Sam finds himself in over his head and on both sides of the law as he tries to keep track of the various forces at work against him. Feiffer’s strength as a graphic novelist is in creating a range of fascinating characters, from Sam’s partner, Neil Hammond, who’s planning to retire from the force and become a PI, to Valerie Knox, the daughter of the local factory owner, who has a pathological interest in young men. This complex series of character studies forms a densely woven narrative that is deftly written and expertly illustrated. (July)

Publishers Weekly

It’s classic noir narrative to the bones, with all the required accouterments: the ceiling fans, the shadows, the tough guys, the morally ambiguous protagonist and the femme fatale, all drawn in Feiffer’s signature dancing scribble. . . . Feiffer skates around characters, circling closer, retreating and returning to them, weaving the plot tighter until the pieces fall into place. This is pulp at its best. The book is subversive in a lot of ways—from its occasional bursts of unflinchingly awkward content to its neat commentary on the graphic novel form itself, but it embraces popular culture influences without irony or apology. That may be the most subversive thing about it, actually. And the most romantic. . . . Two books in and Feiffer’s noir graphic novel trilogy is starting to feel like a life’s work. Smart, weird, political, engrossing; it’s exactly the kind of morally complex story Cousin Joseph would have hated.

Chelsea Cain - New York Times Book Review

05/15/2016
Strike-breaking, corrupt cops, anti-Semitism, and sexual precocity all figure in Feiffer's juicy prequel to 2014's Kill My Mother. Good cop Sam Hannigan is happy to rough up suspected "Reds." But when he sees he's been manipulated against his ideals, Hannigan switches sides and confronts his nastier partner on the force, the entire police hierarchy, and the mysterious Cousin Joseph. Amid minimal backgrounds, the characters predominate, including greedy industrialist Hardy Knox, his difficult daughter Valerie, barkeep Addie—whom Sam underestimates, to his peril—and resourceful kid Archie Goldman. All come across as relatable and realistic while still unpredictably goofy as the plot lurches in unexpected directions. Feiffer keeps his loose-limbed, elastic style honed through his Village Voice work, fight scenes choreographed in the form of his famous dancer figure, and all with pale color enhancements. The message here—how people with the best intentions can go astray—and Feiffer's writing remain excellent. VERDICT This fresh serving of classic noir with a social justice flavor is larded with Feiffer's trademark wit and neurosis, which will captivate his many fans. The forthcoming Archie Goldman and the Decline of the West concludes the trilogy.—MC

Library Journal

★ 2016-05-04
In this prequel to his graphic novel, Kill My Mother (2014), Feiffer delivers another noir fever dream, sending America right to the top of the flagpole with a hard-boiled, lyrical punch of immigrant stories, labor relations, and the almighty dollar.Detective Sam Hannigan is the biggest fist in the Red Squad, a crew of heavy-handed cops charged with breaking up a labor union at a cannery in Prohibition-era Southern California. On the side, Sam makes special deliveries to some of Hollywood's biggest producers on behalf of the mysterious Cousin Joseph, who fears the corruption of audiences by a "tribe of tricksters." Through payoffs and intimidation, Cousin Joseph steers "problem movies" away from subjects like the plight of the downtrodden and toward more wholesome fare with small-town values. On the other side of the anti-Semitic divide from Cousin Joseph, the oversexed daughter of the cannery owner finds her first Jewish penis to be absolutely charming, standing out as it does among the genitals of her many partners—from underage boys to union brutes. Things come to a head when the Red Squad is called upon to break a massive strike led by Sam's old high school chum while Sam and Cousin Joseph clash over creative differences. This second installment of what will be a trilogy answers the question that haunted the first book—who killed Sam Hannigan?—while also delivering early looks at major Kill My Mother characters (though the book stands perfectly well on its own). This new tale captures the frenetic energy and kitchen-sink attitude of the original, and Feiffer's gracefully chunky illustrations mesmerize. Even when his crumpled, balletic figures twist and lurch into a splash of bold lines, emotion cuts straight through the jumble with telltale flourishes: a striker's panicked eyes, the interlaced fists of a strikebreaker's haymaker raised high.Expertly off-kilter.

Kirkus Reviews