Title: The Splendid Magic of Penny Arcade (The 11½ Anniversary Edition)
Publisher: Del Rey, Ballantine Books
Commentary by: Mike Krahulik, Jerry Holkins, Chris Baker, Kristin Lindsay, Robert Khoo, Kiko Villaseñor
Review by: Bill Jones
For the video game fanatic, Penny Arcade’s Tycho and Gabe (or Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik) have been the go-to commentators for more than a decade. The duo started posting webcomics (or as they somewhat coldly refer to them as, jpegs) in 1998, at the same time satirizing and displaying their undying love for the gaming medium in often brilliant three-panel work that has become a standard for webcomic publishing. They’ve never shied away from any topic (or person), and while busy capturing the attention of gamers with their sense of humor, they’ve also managed to start a children’s charity and two gaming fan expos.
The Splendid Magic of Penny Arcade sees them working with the publisher of their webcomic collections, Del Rey, to produce a retrospective of the last 11½ years, or as anyone who slips off the dustcover will find it referred to, “nearly 12 years of bullshit.” (more…)
