Weird Al Yankovic, the legendary parody/humor songwriter known for such classics as “Eat It” and “Amish Paradise,” will have his songs adapted into comics by some of the industry’s best talent.
Z2 Comics will release The Illustrated Al: The Songs of “Weird Al” Yankovic as a softcover and hardcover, featuring cover art by Drew Friedman and Mike & Laura Allred.
“It’s such an incredible honor to see my song lyrics brought to life by some of my all-time favorite cartoonists and illustrators,” Yankovic said. “I’ve actually been playing the long game—the only reason I spent four decades in the music business is so that one day I could have my very own graphic novel.”
Artists contributing to the Al-thology include: Bill Plympton (Your Face, Guard Dog), Aaron Augenblick (Superjail!, Ugly Americans), Peter Bagge (Hate), Steve Chanks (Revolver Magazine), Felipe Sobreiro (Luther Strode, Death’s Head), Gideon Kendall (Megaghost), Michael Kupperman (Tales Designed to Thrizzle, The New Yorker), Wes Hargis (My New Teacher and Me!, When I Grow Up), Ruben Bolling (Tom the Dancing Bug, Super-Fun-Pak Comix), Fred Harper (The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal), Ryan Dunlavey (Action Philosophers), R. Sikoryak (The Unquotable Trump), Jeff McClelland (The Tick), Jeff McComsey (The Fourth Man), Hilary Barta (Plastic Man), Johnny Sampson (MAD Magazine), Tom Richmond (MAD Magazine, Cracked Magazine) and Bob Fingerman (Minimum Wage). Emo Philips provides the foreward.
“I don’t remember a time in my life before ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic and, frankly, I don’t want to. His music, lyrics, artistry, and humor have been a constant influence in my career,” project editor Josh Bernstein said. “Having Z2 assemble this all-star roster of the greatest living cartoonists to collaborate with Weird Al has been a dream come true. I hope both new and long-time Al-fanatics appreciate the love, care, and insane art that is going into this project. As always, we dare to be stupid.”
The graphic novel is expected to arrive in November. It can be pre-ordered on the Z2 website.