Snapshot review: 4/5
Written and Illustrated by Doug TenNapel
288 pages, color
Published by GRAPHIX
I’ve always loved movies and stories like Gremlins. There’s a magical item, given by a mysterious salesperson, and there’s this one catch. In Gremlins, it’s not to feed Gizmo after midnight, and don’t get him wet. And we all know how these end.
Cardboard is a similar story. There’s a down-on-his-luck dad, Mike, who just wants to get a present for his son, Cam. A sketchy toy salesman sells the dad on a cardboard box, or as he calls it, “This is actually a father-and-son project in disguise!” And it’s the perfect price. Only there’s two strange rules… 1) He has to return any scrap pieces, and 2) He can’t have any more than this. Thinking it’s just a box, Mike accepts the strangers terms.
That night, he and Cam make the box into a man. A boxer, if you will. And they have a great time doing it and everyone goes to sleep… accept that at some point during the night, the boxer comes to life, and everything is great. They name him Bill, and he’s super-helpful and friendly. The problem is there’s a bully and when he sees Bill, he wants one too. So he steals the leftover pieces of cardboard they hadn’t returned. And we all know how these end…
This was one of my favorite stories from Doug TenNapel. It’s got a surprisingly quick pace and reads like a thrill ride. The action is intense, the cardboard machinations are creepy, and the whole climactic drive to the end is full of classic twists and turns. One of the wonderful parts of the whole thing is the story of Mike and his son, though. Watching them together is full of great, honest moments. Mike is clearly distraught over his inability to provide financially, and Cam just wants the love of his father. There’s plenty of terrific moments in here for parents and kids.
I’ve mentioned before that Doug TenNapel is one of my favorites, and this one is no different. He’s got his own class of archetypes he likes to put in, and they’re always fun to watch. He’s got the doubter (Mike, the dad), the flawed villain (the young bully), and the outsider with a heart (Bill, the boxer). They always work so well in his stories and we, as readers, love to read them. While books like Creature Tech have garnered more critical acclaim, I think Cardboard is a beautiful work and a little more entertaining to read because it’s not as abstract (no alien Jesus).
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