TBC: He Shoots... He Skewers!

I've been negligent in posting a few reviews of some excellent books, so I plan on posting a few of these over the next week or two. I have to say that today's book featured on Teebz's Book Club is one that I haven't seen in my neck of the woods, and it was found by my mom who spent some time in Ottawa recently. Teebz's Book Club is proud to present He Shoots... He Skewers!, written and illustrated by Randy Duncan and published by Summit Studios. While there aren't many books of cartoons, comics, or caricatures of hockey, He Shoots... He Skewers! is a pile of caricatures of some of the more recognizable faces and people in hockey in various situations that may be a little outside their normal hockey lives. Nonetheless, Mr. Duncan's artistry blends well with the funny situations he puts NHL players in via these caricatures.

Paring down the biography on the Summit Studios site, Randy Duncan grew up on a farm near Ormstown, Quebec. When his parents weren't driving him to minor league hockey games he was playing hockey on the iced-over fields and creeks, or watching Les Habitants work their magic on the television screen. Duncan discovered at a young age that drawing big heads on small bodies was quite humorous, and later went on to study Fine Arts at Champlain College and graphic design at Concordia University. He's had his caricatures published across the country in newspapers such as the Montreal Gazette, the Winnipeg Free Press, the Edmonton Sun, and the Ottawa Citizen. Ultimately it was these cartoons that provided inspiration for the recently released book of hockey caricatures, He Shoots... He Skewers!

He Shoots... He Skewers! was actually published in 2009 so some of the caricatures are a little dated in terms of players having switched teams, but it doesn't detract from Mr. Duncan's excellent artistry and funny comments.

The problem with a book of pictures? The thousand words won't do the caricatures justice. Instead, Summit Studios has some examples up on their site, and I'll post one here so you can have an idea as to why these are so good.

As you can see, Mr. Duncan's caricatures are very accurate in the portrayal of various NHL players, and he inserts them into situations that are quite funny like the handshake incident that went on between the Penguins and Red Wings in 2009. I'm not sure I'd shake Kris Draper's hand if it was presented as Mr. Duncan has drawn either.

There are lots of caricatures over the 160 pages in He Shoots... He Skewers! and no one is safe from Mr. Duncan's pencil and paper. Gretzky, Lemieux, Orr, Tretiak, Bettman, the Staals, Mats Sundin, Roberto Luongo, and so many more players are included in a pile of humorous images that were spawned from the mind of Randy Duncan. They're pretty funny and the caricatures are done exceptionally well. I thoroughly enjoyed flipping through the pages of He Shoots... He Skewers! and chuckling at Mr. Duncan's twisted realities for some NHL players, and I think you'd enjoy it too. Because he's an amazing artist and combines his artistry with some great humour, He Shoots... He Skewers! absolutely deserves the Teebz's Book Club Seal of Approval!

You may have to search a number of places to find He Shoots... He Skewers!, but the bigger stores such as Chapters should be able to order it in at the very least. Otherwise, order it from the Summit Studios site!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!