Weird Al Yankovic And Z2 Comics Come Together For ‘The Illustrated Al: The Songs of Weird Al Yankovic’
by Richard Bruton
New from Z2 Comics and available to pre-order now, Weird Al Yankovic and a who’s who of top talent brings you The Illustrated Al: The Songs of Weird Al Yankovic.
This one’s got a stellar list of artistic collaborators to celebrate one of America’s pre-eminent musical parodists, including Drew Friedman, Mike & Laura Allred, Bill Plympton, Peter Bagge, Sam Viviano, Aaron Augenblick, Danny Hellman, Michael Kupperman, and more
“It’s such an incredible honor to see my song lyrics brought to life by some of my all-time favorite cartoonists and illustrators. I’ve actually been playing the long game—the only reason I spent four decades in the music business is so that one day I could have my very own graphic novel.” – Weird Al Yankovic
The graphic novel will be written by Weird Al Yankovic and features top cartoonists and illustrators bringing 20+ of Weird Al’s classic songs to comic life. The artistic role call includes Bill Plympton, Aaron Augenblick, Peter Bagge, Steve Chanks, Sam Viviano, Felipe Sobreiro, Gideon Kendall, Michael Kupperman, Wes Hargis, Ruben Bolling, Fred Harper, Ryan Dunlavey, R. Sikoryak, Jeff McClelland, Jeff McComsey, Hilary Barta, Johnny Sampson, Tom Richmond, and Bob Fingerman and will feature two covers by Drew Friedman and Mike & Laura Allred.
“I don’t remember a time in my life before ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic and, frankly, I don’t want to. His music, lyrics, artistry, and humor have been a constant influence in my career. Having Z2 assemble this all-star roster of the greatest living cartoonists to collaborate with Weird Al has been a dream come true. I hope both new and long-time Al-fanatics appreciate the love, care, and insane art that is going into this project. As always, we dare to be stupid.”- Project editor and Z2 Comics Chief Business Officer, Josh Bernstein
The Illustrated Al: The Songs of Weird Al Yankovic will be released in both softcover and hardcover formats, as well as oversized hardcover deluxe, and an oversized hardcover deluxe hand-signed edition. Deluxe editions include a wax pack of collector’s cards illustrated by Danny Hellman, a 3-piece art print set from Jesse Philips, a vinyl slipmat, drink coasters, and, in the Super Deluxe Edition, Al-signed books as well as a Weird Al Yankovic branded mini-accordion.
Now, if you don’t know who Weird Al is, then your cultural knowledge is lacking – something you can rectify here over at YouTube. Since starting out in 1976, his music and film parodies have become legendary – the likes of ‘Eat It’, ‘Like a Surgeon’, ‘Smells Like Nirvana’, ‘Amish Paradise’, ‘White & Nerdy’ and ‘Word Crimes’ winning him fans, accolades, awards and over 12 million in career sales.
