The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch

   I never could understand why Punch and Judy are so popular with British kids. Not only are they hideous to look at, but the plot of the show should be R-rated. First off, Punch spends the show beating his wife, throwing the baby down the stairs, and tormenting everyone he can. Secondly, he talks in a creepy voice that sounds like the squawk of a panicked chicken. Lastly, when he’s not beating his wife or killing their child, he’s trying to deceive his wife any way he can. I used to see Punch and Judy shows in England, and I sat through them out of stubbornness. The urge to run away was overwhelming.

The story here is equally creepy; a little boy spends the summer with his grandfather, at the old man’s creepy seaside amusement park, and then an old “professor” with an old-school Punch-and-Judy act shows up. The contrast, however, is that the “professor” has a teenage assistant (his last one is now doing time) who isn’t creeped out at all. On the contrary, he sees the old showman as a pathetic old fossil. It’s hinted that the assistant (or Bottler, as they’re known) is a juvenile delinquent who might get into crime, but I have to wonder if it’s the boy’s own lack of morals that makes him unafraid? While the protagonist is both fascinated and frightened by these creepy old men, the teenage Bottler sees right through them.

Enough about the story (everything Neil Gaiman writes is brilliant) so I can say how much I loved the pictured. Only Dave McKean could illustrate something as frightening and wonderful as this. By combining photos with hand-drawn illustration, he creates a haunting, lurid backdrop reminiscent of Jan Svankmajer’s animation. For those of you unfamiliar with Dave McKean, he’s the guy that did the Sandman covers in the 1990’s, and those things used to give me nightmares. Sandman was DC’s foray into mature-themed material, and Mister Punch would fit right at home in there.

A little research tells me that Punch comes from Pulcinello, a character from Italian puppet shows, and his name means “chicken” thanks to his massive nose and a voice like a rooster’s squawk. He’s violent, deceptive, and when confronted with something he’s done, he’ll feign ignorance and/or stupidity. He’s usually paired with Arleccino (or Harlequin in English), his agile trickster alter-ego, who I might add is descended from a more demonic character of legend (hence the multicolored costume.)