Almost Completely Baxter

April 11, 2016
Three men, all dressed in identical suits and wearing identical hairstyles, stand behind a table, gesturing to one another deferentially. Caption: “The twins introduced the imposter.” Such are the absurdist sensibilities of veteran English humorist Baxter (Trundling Grunts, Loomings over the Suet). This collection of single-panel cartoons (most in black and white, though some sections are in color) runs the gamut of his career, interrupted infrequently by flash fiction in the genre of literary nonsense. Baxter’s comedy is frequently found in the juxtaposition of an innocuous bit of text with a seemingly unrelated image; however, some moments of clarity can easily be read as social commentary. Baxter’s work resembles a series of classical plates for illustrated fiction, filtered through a sieve of Charles Addams, Gary Larson, and Monty Python (the last of which is especially felt in the running series “Fruits of the World in Peril”). This collection is a delightful compilation of fine modern absurdist humor.