Overview

"Tenor saxophone maestro Jimmy Watts leads his talented band of bugs from the swing era into the uncharted maelstrom of Bebop. As he and his band mates claw their way to the top of the jazz world, they must fight the temptation to be consumed by addiction to a substance known as ""Bug Juice."" Inspired by the postwar explosion of Bohemian cultural stylings from artists as diverse as jazz trumpeter Miles Davis and Beat avatar William Burroughs, cartoonist Steve Lafler delivers his indigo-tinged masterwork graphic novel, BugHouse. Comics writer Tasha Lowe-Newsome describes BugHouse: This volume collects the BugHouse books (BugHouse, Baja: A BugHouse Story and Scalawag: BugHouse Volume 3 ) as they grapple with the problems of addiction in the context of the creative life. Sax player and bandleader Jimmy Watts struggles with the substance ""bug juice"" - which can symbolize anything from booze to heroin. Inspired by Miles Davis's autobiography and Lafler's own increasing dependence on alcohol at the time, the books are set in a slightly surreal 1950s Manhattan peopled by characters with human bodies and insect heads. Yes, there is a nod to William S. Burroughs, and the Cronenberg adaptation of Naked Lunch. This might sound creepy, but it is actually very engaging. One of the most delightful things about this series is that Lafler sets up many possible pitfalls for his characters, then takes a different, more interesting, and less predictable path. The moralistic lessons so often found in stories of addiction are passed over. There are consequences, there are lessons learned, but not in the way that Hollywood would do it."

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9781734108767

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Reviews

"""I'm going to recommend a graphic novel that is great because it is good, solid and delivers in spades what I most enjoy in a comic book; a comfortable mastery of the form, fun, surprises, a story I can get into and a light touch. In short its the kind of book you can flop down on the couch with of an afternoon, lie back and enjoy."" - Jim Woodring, commenting on BugHouse for Boing Boing ""Many years ago, when I was drawing in gramma and grandpa's living room on Cape Cod, Uncle Steve asked me if I wanted to see his new cartoon character. He borrowed my blue marker and drew Jimmy Watts holding a saxophone-and the excitement I felt back then as a boy is renewed today at the news of a Complete BugHouse book."" -Dan Bandit aka GHOSTSHRIMP created and designed the world for Adventure Time ""Stop! Stop! My sides are aching! You're driving me to Buggyland with this stuff!"" -Lux Interior, the late, great lead singer for legendary Psychobilly punk band, The Cramps. ""I love BugHouse. I'm fond of the little bug-creatures that inhabit it. With his masterful storytelling, Steve Lafler has created an alternate universe. His characters are not particularly cute (well, some of them are), but one can easily emphasize with their meaty human struggles with addiction, love, power, greed, and lust. Check it out!"" -Phoebe Gloeckner, The Diary of a Teenage Girl"

I'm going to recommend a graphic novel that is great because it is good, solid and delivers in spades what I most enjoy in a comic book; a comfortable mastery of the form, fun, surprises, a story I can get into and a light touch. In short its the kind of book you can flop down on the couch with of an afternoon, lie back and enjoy. - Jim Woodring, commenting on BugHouse for Boing Boing Many years ago, when I was drawing in gramma and grandpa's living room on Cape Cod, Uncle Steve asked me if I wanted to see his new cartoon character. He borrowed my blue marker and drew Jimmy Watts holding a saxophone-and the excitement I felt back then as a boy is renewed today at the news of a Complete BugHouse book. -Dan Bandit aka GHOSTSHRIMP created and designed the world for Adventure Time Stop! Stop! My sides are aching! You're driving me to Buggyland with this stuff! -Lux Interior, the late, great lead singer for legendary Psychobilly punk band, The Cramps. I love BugHouse. I'm fond of the little bug-creatures that inhabit it. With his masterful storytelling, Steve Lafler has created an alternate universe. His characters are not particularly cute (well, some of them are), but one can easily emphasize with their meaty human struggles with addiction, love, power, greed, and lust. Check it out! -Phoebe Gloeckner, The Diary of a Teenage Girl

Author Information

Steve Lafler is a maverick graphic storyteller, marching to his own intuitive beat. He has created several graphic novels including Death Plays a Mean Harmonica, a fictional report on his decade living in Oaxaca, Mexico, and BugHouse, a history of bebop jazz with an all-insect cast.

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