'Non Sequitur’s Beastly Things'

Andrews McMeel Publishing, 1999, 256 pages

Written and Illustrated by Wiley Miller

If a cartoonist successfully captures life's humorous and ironic moments in three short panels, readers applaud. When Wiley does the same in his single-scene format, they roll on the carpet laughing. Seven years ago, Wiley exited the editorial pages of the San Francisco Examiner with the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award in his pocket and began a career as the preeminent solo panel creator working today. Non Sequitur readers were ready for his wild and unpredictable takes on an untamed world. Non Sequitur not only breaks the three-panel mold, it succeeds without regular characters, standard settings, or repeat situations to fall back on. Each piece, in other words, hangs out there as Wiley's snapshot of the worlds of work, leisure, and life's many crossroads. Following the solid success of his last collection, The Non Sequitur Survival Guide for the Nineties, Wiley's newest collection is destined to continue his sardonic tradition. Non Sequitur's Beastly Things, as guided by Rolf the dog, promises to keep readers howling, growling, and scratching for more. They will delight, for instance, in crocodiles luring fishermen with dollar bills, Randy the science lab kid who announces that his homework ate his dog, and the desert dweller who celebrates the change of season by raking needles beneath his cacti.