Like so many of my favorite books, Mary Tyler MooreHawk is near-impossible to categorize. Part dystopian literary fiction, part biographical magazine, and part nine-panel comic, Mary Tyler MooreHawk refuses to settle for just one genre. Dave Baker has succeeded in creating a multimedia masterpiece that has a lot to say about art, the pursuit of creativity, and cults of personalities. Come for the bubblegum pink sci-fi adventure; stay for the avant-garde art and discussions on the ownership of ideas.

Top Shelf Productions / Amazon / Goodreads

Synopsis:

Jonny Quest meets Infinite Jest ! This mind-bending book—half graphic novel, half postmodern mystery, and 25% footnotes—is a thrilling tribute to the ways we build meaning out of disposable pop culture.

WHO IS MARY TYLER MOOREHAWK? How did she save the world from a dimension-hopping megalomaniac? Why was her TV show canceled after only nine episodes? These are just a few of the questions that young journalist Dave Baker begins to ask himself as he unravels the many mysteries surrounding the obscure comic book Mary Tyler MooreHawk . However, his curiosity grows into an obsession when he discovers that the reclusive creator of his favorite globe-trotting girl detective…is also named Dave Baker.

WHAT IS MARY TYLER MOOREHAWK ? A compilation of long-lost gee-whiz adventure comics in which the world’s strangest family fights to avert Armageddon… and a bundle of magazine articles from a dystopian future where physical property is banned and entertainment is broadcast on dishwashers. It’s a document-based detective story that weaves back and forth between worlds, touching on everything from corporate personhood to mutant shark-men to the meaning of fandom and reality itself. It’s a show you don’t remember…and a book you won’t forget.

WAIT, IS THIS REAL? Good question.

Review:

There are two Dave Bakers in Mary Tyler MooreHawk – Dave Baker, the journalist, and Dave Baker, the artist. Mary Tyler MooreHawk is a story of these two Dave Bakers and their connection to the titular cult-classic television show. Chapters of the comic come between articles from a mysterious magazine called “Physicalist Today.” These alternating sections combine to create a dystopian world with two Dave Bakers (probably) and one fictional teenage superhero.

The comic portion of this book is a phantasmagoria of bubblegum pink, and I mean that in the best way possible. The comics are shades of pink and white – completely pink and white. Imagine black and white newspaper cartoons, but make them pink and white. Should this work? It does when it comes from Dave Baker. Mary Tyler MooreHawk is a teenage superhero, super-sleuth, and all-around incredible character. Landing somewhere between Indiana Jones and the Justice League, these comic chapters were delightfully fun and incredibly heartfelt.

The Physicalist Today magazine sections were my favorite part of the novel. I loved the photos and felt drawn to the world they depicted. The juxtaposition of the corporatized world against its surrealist subculture is striking. The magazine sections have underlying themes of both commercialism and corporatism, which I found particularly poignant. Details of the near-future world are drip-fed throughout the novel, leading to satisfying reveals of what physicalist means, who the audience of Physicalist Today is, and what Dave Baker’s world looks like.

Final Thoughts:

Mary Tyler MooreHawk is everything I never knew I needed in a graphic novel. It’s a philosophical, speculative triumph.

Rating: A huge 5/5 Stars.

Challenges:

#COYER

Thanks to Top Shelf for providing me with an advanced review copy. All the above thoughts are my own.