Sock Monkey Treasury: A "Tony Millionaire's Sock Monkey" Collection
Millionaire’s Sock Monkey comics feature a pair of stuffed toys—the eponymous Uncle Gabby and his friend Mr. Crow—who dwell in a large Victorian mansion with their young owner, Ann-Louise. (The duo are family-friendly versions of the scurrilous stars of Millionaire’s Maakies strip.) The two chums share adventures around the house—confronting a thieving blue jay, playing matchmaker between an invading bat and a widowed mouse living in the basement—and in the wider world, as when they journey to Borneo to return a shrunken head to its home. Millionaire’s old-fashioned, lushly delicate drawing style is the ideal vehicle for these faux-nostalgic tales, which frequently end in devastation or take a disconcertingly dark turn. This handsome omnibus collects all 12 of the Sock Monkey comic books, plus the picture book The Glass Doorknob (2002) and the melancholy graphic novella Uncle Gabby (2004). While the Sock Monkey strips bear a surface resemblance to classic children’s comics, their actual audience is adults who fondly recall the comics of their youth but now require edgier fare. --Gordon Flagg