- The Trumpets They Play!
"The Trumpets They Play!" is an 8-page comic by
Al Columbia . It was published in "BLAB! " #10 in1998 .ynopsis
After an opening
title card describing the coming feature as "Seymour Sunshine and Knishkebibble the Monkey-Boy's Big Budget Fiasco", the story begins with atelevangelist reading aloud passages from theBook of Revelation describing theseven seals and seven trumpets, accompanied by topical illustrations. The preacher's broadcast is interrupted by a newsflash on the impending end of themillennium . The panel view zooms out slowly from the TV screen into a high-rise apartment and out of a window to reveal apanorama of debauchery,perversion , and randomviolence . In the background, a glowingmeteorite (Wormwood) flies across the sky.Meanwhile, Knishkebibble the Monkey-Boy is shown in another apartment reading the Book of Revelation. He decides to take a relaxing bath to ward off "pre-millennium jitters". However, while he is drawing his bath the meteorite strikes the earth, causing all the faucets in the bathroom to spew inky black liquid. Knishkebibble runs out of the bathroom and awakens his sleeping companion, Seymour Sunshine. Answering a knock at the door, Seymour and Knishkebibble are confronted by the giant armored
locust s described in Revelation. Escaping the apartment, the two scramble across rooftops, leap into a conveniently placedroadster and drive away in haste.The city is being ravaged by a massive
earthquake and an army of grinning homunculi carrying long knives. As Seymour and Knishkebibble speed out of the collapsing metropolis, the beast from the sea is shown looming in the background. An army marching under the flag of the beast has taken over the world. Knishkebibble kisses the boots of an army officer and denounces Seymour to him; Seymour is promptly seized. The seven-headed beast from the earth is shown seated on athrone towering over a crowd of men in white shirts and suspenders giving theNazi salute , along with Knishkebibble and the televangelist. In the beast's palm, apocketwatch labeled "Years of theChristian Era " approaches 2000. On the outskirts of the city, where mass executions by gun andguillotine are underway, Seymour sits with his limbs tied up and a lit stick ofdynamite balanced on his head.In the final page (the only one printed in full color) Seymour is shown in a dapper white dress suit and hat, happily frolicking alone in a lush bucolic setting.
Critical reception
"The Trumpets They Play!" has been cited by reviewers and fans as an outstanding work, both within Columbia's own output and within comics generally. [http://www.fantagraphics.com/blog/labels/Al%20Columbia.html] [http://www.yaleherald.com/archive/xxviii/1999.12.03/ae/p11design.html] [http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/briefings/commentary/1148/] In an essay on Columbia's work,
Paul Gravett characterized the story as Columbia's "most alarming output yet ... a cartoon apocalypse, a black and whiteFleischer Brothers animated film as designed byHieronymus Bosch ." [http://www.paulgravett.com/articles/045_columbia/045_columbia.htm]
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