Step Away from the Tub of Happiness

Howard Tayler: The Tub of Happiness (Tayler Corporation; 2007; ISBN 978-0-9779074-0-3; cover by Howard Tayler); The Teraport Wars (Tayler Corporation; 2008; 978-0-9779074-1-0; cover by Howard Tayler); Under New Management (Tayler Corporation; 2006; 0-9779074-2-2; cover by Howard Tayler); The Blackness Between (Tayler Corporation; 2006; 0-9779074-3-0; cover by Howard Tayler); The Scrapyard of Insufferable Arrogance (Tayler Corporation; 2009; 978-0-9779074-4-1; cover by Howard Tayler).

I've been struggling on how to review this strip for a while since buying the books earlier in the year (I had been reading it online for a while, the publication of the most recent volume, The Scrapyard of Insufferable Arrogance, spurred me into buying the whole set.

How to review something that has been going on as long as this...published seven days a week...365 days a year...argggggghhhh..

O.K., start here. Then go here. Then go to the archives and start reading.

Done? Amazing stuff, isn't it?

Three to five or so panels a day, seven days a week, each individual strip ending in a joke. All working towards a storyline and even an arc that stretches across years. Not every story is a winner, not every joke makes you laugh. But the guy keeps it up, day after day after day.

Amazing!

Tayler was nominated for a Hugo this past year and lost to the folks behind Girl Genius. Pretty good company to be in! I'm sure he'll get a Hugo this year or soon after, the stuff is that good.

One interview with Howard Tayler. Another interview with Howard Tayler.