Perry Bible Fellowship Moves and Introduces More Dimensions of its Creator

If you’ve never heard of the Perry Bible Fellowship, it’s probably not what you think. PBF is arguably the most intriguing comic strip out and is the product of the multi-talented Nicholas Gurewitch. Not only is PBF philosophical, thoughtful and comical in one fell swoop, it encompasses a wide range of artist styles from stark, raw geometrical figures to highly detailed exquisitely rendered paintings. Gurewitch’s sense of humor is equally eclectic ranging from “go for the laugh” punchlines to oblique concepts that sink in upon reflection. “A Hit for Bobby”, sets up the classic B-Movie scenario of a professional baseball player promising a “hit” for a bed-ridden child, then ends with the player (a pitcher, we discover) beaning a batter which erupts into a televised brawl... all to the glee of the hospitalized kid. In another strip, a dragon sleeping on mountain-side has it’s paw dipped into a cauldron of warm liquid by local villagers. The third panels shows the village being washed away in a yellow flood. This simple toilet humor is elevated by being beautifully rendered in an artistic parody of classic Chinese scroll painting. Gurewitch’s world encompasses everything from the microscopic to the cosmically universal, sometimes resulting in collisions in what the late Douglas Adams might call “a terrible miscalculation of scale.”

The move to the new site, www.thepbf.com (if you get the “moving very soon” page just click on the stilltemporary link) not only makes it more accessible (I sometimes had problems with certain browsers on the old site) but offers several new features. Aside from the comics, there are added bio, links and contact pages. The real payoff are the links to Gurewitch’s non-comic art and a small collection of fascinating short films and videos. Many of the films are or could be extensions of his comics. However, his mini-documentary “SEW” (about obsessive compulsive disorder) and an 11 minute epic, “The Liars”, are the definite highlights.

PS: Thanks to Frippy who turned me on to the PBF some time back.