The funnies
By: J. Robert Lennon.
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Published: 1999
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 301
Subjects: Fathers -- Death -- Fiction.; Fathers and sons -- Fiction.; Cartoonists -- Fiction.; Brothers -- Fiction.
Genres: Fiction.
Description: As often poignant and insightful on the subject of sibling relations as it is laugh-out-loud hilarious, The Funnies is a bittersweet comedy that tells the story of the Mix family - dysfunctional, semi-estranged brood forever immortalized as wisecracking imps in their father's nationally syndicated Family Circus-esque comic strip. When Carl Mix dies, his estate is divided among four of his five children.

Instead of a cushiony bank account, Tim Mix, a struggling artist and our narrator, is given three months to learn to draw his father's strip. If he succeeds (which means selling out) he will have inherited a gold mine; if he fails, he will get nothing. Despite its creator's passing, the strip continues to tyrannize the family that inspired it.