Matthew Buchholz

For what is essentially a single-gag book, it's carried off nicely.
The text assumes that dealing with monsters, zombies, and aliens has been a commonplace part of human history and weaves passing references to such into otherwise largely straight descriptions of notable events and landmarks. Here and there a running character (such as 'Vilnar the Destroyer' ... vaguely reminiscent to me of Scarfolk's Mr Johnson) is introduced.
Some nice little inversions here and there of the tropes of existing classics of the genre, such as where Tokyo is described as the only major world city NOT to have a 'local' monster of any sort, and Orson Welles' radio company's attempts to report an ongoing Martian invasion being mistaken by listeners for a mere play.
Other subtle in-jokes for those familiar with the field are dotted around (a 19th-century map of zombie outbreak locations accompanied by the text "The grandson of the original Victor A. Romero would later go on to produce a series of educational documentaries about the zombie menace in the United States"; a photo of Martian leader Kzztsruyyx 31's 'Little red Book' showing the title TO SERVE MAN).
The accompanying illustrations feature said creatures and their artefacts Photoshopped (sometimes subtly, sometimes less so) into historical photos, lithographs, paintings, posters, etc. I particularly liked the Rosetta stone, with FOUR languages: Egyptian hieroglyphics and demotic script, Ancient Greek, and Classical Martian.
Minor detractions: a few typos in the latter pages, and (sorry, but I'm a type nerd) one or two iffy font choices in the doctored images: Helvetica dropped into a 1914 Houdini advertising poster? Ouch. Still, the vast majority of it's very nicely done.… (mehr)