The tale revolves around a Punch n' Judy show at a seaside carnival and how it acts as a trigger for a young boys memories of his family. As with much of Gaiman's work, there are tales within tales here, and the real story he tells is more implied than elucidated upon.

Dave McKean's art underscores this theme beautifully, with the "real" characters in the story as cartoon caricatures while the puppets look like photographs, exactly the focus with which young children would concentrate their memories. Can we not all remember a favorite toy more easily than our parents faces when we were little?

A marvelous and poignant tale well worth your time and money.


Wonderful, extraordinary, superb, great, etc. and so on.   July 31, 1999
 25 out of 25 found this review helpful

Neil Gaiman is my hero. I always have, and always will be intrigued by Punch & Judy. Therefore, Gaiman's Mr. Punch is one of the greatest works I've ever read. Though it is unfair to say "Gaiman's Mr. Punch", as it is equally Dave McKean's, for without him, I'm sure Mr. Punch would lose part of its eerie, strange, subtle power. Mr. Punch is an odd book. I read it in a single sitting, and afterwards, I was actually at a loss for words trying to describe what it is. This was a first; I can praise Neil Gaiman for hours on end, but I was stuck with Mr. Punch. I've seen it classified as Horror, Science Fiction, normal Fiction, and just as a Comic. But it is much more. It sent something through me - something that I am also at a loss of words about. This is a really great story, much like a dream (or nightmare, depending) it is surreal, yet uncommonly realistic; it is disturbing, but also soothing. It's more of an experience than a reading. McKean's artwork and Gaiman's words send you into something of a trance, where you enjoy yourself, get disturbed (actually, more troubled, as the young protangonist would say), and subtly reminded of your own childhood. A must read for any Gaiman or McKean fan, and also a must read for any Punch & Judy enthusiast, or anyone looking for a great read.


Not up to Gaiman's usual standards   March 7, 2004
 17 out of 26 found this review helpful

I do love Neil Gaiman's work, but Mr. Punch is not one of his better efforts, in my opinion.

It was loosely put together, and failed to offer up the blurbed promises of "A nightmarish world of violence and betrayal." Though the artwork is good, and Mr. Gaiman's prose is good, the book simply was unable to create even a low-level dread of the creepy Punch & Judy puppets.

It is simply a bland story of a young boy's memories of his Grandfather's failing arcade off the main attractions of a seaside business area.

The boy is sent to stay with his Grandparent's while his mother is due to deliver his baby sister, and he meets and old puppeteer who is not very mysterious and witnesses his grandfather have an argument with a young lady he is involved in. No real violence or threatening situations, merely a vaguely distorted view of some old puppets.

The prose is good, but rather pointless; the artwork is good and strangely done, but when put together to form the whole it came out rather unfulfilling and anticlimactic. A rather generic musing of a mundane summer.

If you have everything else by Neil Gaiman, then go ahead and fill up your collection with Mr. Punch, but this is not a good place to start to introduce yourself to Gaiman, and not recommended unless you are a die hard fan.

Pick up one of his novels first, or his Sandman series or Black Orchid which was beautifully done.


Quietly brilliant   December 13, 1998
 13 out of 13 found this review helpful

Mr. Punch is a difficult piece to review. It may be Neil Gaiman's finest work, but it is certainly his darkest. It is hard to describe the plot of Mr. Punch without giving anything away; suffice to say it is not the kind of work you would expect in a comic, and not what you would simply be able to put down and go on with your life once you have finished.

Dave McKean's always innovative artwork enhances the nightmarish quality of the piece, and Neil Gaiman's prose is captivating as always. Mr. Punch is at the very least worth a read, and will likely find itself on your bookshelf next to all the other books that quietly changed the way you look at things.


Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean are GODS!   February 21, 2000
 7 out of 10 found this review helpful

I am 18 years old and I don't read alot of books. But occasionally I buy books just for the pure joy of owning a piece of art. I found Mr Punch in a bookstore and it's unique artwork immediately hinted me to buy it. I've heard Gaiman from DC Vertigo's Sandman and Death series but now i'm motivated to get the entire collection of Gaiman/McKean novels. There's no way to discribe the imagery and moody metaphors of the memories of life and death. If and when I would own my own little bookstore by the sea side, I would fill it all with books of such influence.