Houdini: The Handcuff King
Writer: Jason Lutes
Artist: Nick Bertozzi
Hardcover: 96 pages
Publisher: Hyperion Book CH (March 27, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0786839023
ISBN-13: 978-0786839025
We've all heard of the man. Houdini, today, is synonymous with magic and acts of daredevil stunts. There is something fascinating about him that draws people to read/write about him with a compulsion bordering on obsession. It is probably his ability to do superhuman acts. Or it is probably his romance with success that lasted a lifetime and more. His publicity stunts. His determination in and the dedication to whatever he took up that he was determined to be nothing short of a "king" in his field of expertise. His audacity to proclaim himself to be the greatest magician on earth. And proving himself right.
If you were a rival of his, and made the mistake of declaring yourself a "Handcuff King", Houdini might show up at your performance and put you into a set of cuffs from which you couldn't escape, ending your career.
Houdini: The Handcuff King is a short graphic novel. It takes more time to read the introduction and the panel discussions in the end than to read the actual story. The authors explores the life of the man with a single episode in his life - Houdini leaps off a bridge into the freezing waters of Charles river, handcuffed and chained! Thru this death defying stunt we get to know a lot about his life and the times he lived in. His showmanship, his skill of the craft, the love he had for his wife and also about a world before the advent of radio, cinema, television, internet, a world of thrill and possibilities.
image flicked from tsutpen.blogspot.com
In Houdini's times, there was not many forms of public entertainment. There was, as already stated above, no tv or movies. People had to go watch a play or a comedy show to get their regular dose of drama or laughs. Magicians were the main soource of thrills. Houdini realised this fully well, and capitalised on it. It is amazing to read about this short, stocky man who held thousands spellbound as he gave them "honest" delight.
The Handcuff King is a fast paced read. The simple panels, the straightforward narrative, the expressions on the faces, everything works in this GN. The success of this little book is in making you hear the clock tick as Houdini takes the plunge.
One or two interesting things that i learnt about Houdini:
1) Born Erik Weisz, he began calling himself Harry Houdini because he was a huge fan of Robert-Houdin, the French magician. He read his auto-bio and was totally impressed by him. But later, he lost his respect for him and went on to criticize him heavily for taking undue credit for other magicians' innovations. He even wrote a book titled - The Unmasking of Robert Houdin in 1908.
1) Born Erik Weisz, he began calling himself Harry Houdini because he was a huge fan of Robert-Houdin, the French magician. He read his auto-bio and was totally impressed by him. But later, he lost his respect for him and went on to criticize him heavily for taking undue credit for other magicians' innovations. He even wrote a book titled - The Unmasking of Robert Houdin in 1908.
2) After the death of his mother, he spent a lot of time debunking spiritualists. He became a member of Scientific American, and went around attending seances in disguise to expose them.
3) He was close friends with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but Houdini's stance on spiritualism (of which Conan Doyle was a firm believer) proved to be the cause for a public rivalry.
Read the first ten pages at http://www.nickbertozzi.com/comics/houdini/houdini.htm
Download GN at http://rapidshare.com/files/65065767/Houdini_-_The_Handcuff_King__2007___Minutemen-DTs_.cbz - 35617 KB
Fascinated by the man, I was reading the Wiki article top to bottom and discovered an interesting piece of trivia!
X's father owned a traveling show with Harry Houdini called the Mohawk Indian Medicine Company, which performed on stage and sold patent medicine on the side. According to X, he acquired the nickname "______" at about six months of age. Harry Houdini happened to be present one day when the young X took a tumble down a long flight of stairs without injury. After the infant sat up and shook off his experience, Houdini remarked, "That was a real _______!" According to X, in those days, the word _______ was used to refer to a spill or a fall that had the potential to produce injury. Thereafter, it was X's father who began to use the nickname to refer to the youngster.
Who's X and what is the nickname that he's known by??
X's father owned a traveling show with Harry Houdini called the Mohawk Indian Medicine Company, which performed on stage and sold patent medicine on the side. According to X, he acquired the nickname "______" at about six months of age. Harry Houdini happened to be present one day when the young X took a tumble down a long flight of stairs without injury. After the infant sat up and shook off his experience, Houdini remarked, "That was a real _______!" According to X, in those days, the word _______ was used to refer to a spill or a fall that had the potential to produce injury. Thereafter, it was X's father who began to use the nickname to refer to the youngster.
Who's X and what is the nickname that he's known by??
Anyway, do read the novel and the whole wiki article!
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