The Comical Tragedy of Mister Punch

I never could understand why Punch and Judy are a kiddie show act. Not only are they the creepiest puppets ever, but the plots of the stories deserve an R rating; punch spends the whole show beating his wife, throwing the baby down the stairs, and tormenting everyone he can. I used to see Punch and Judy shows in England, and I sat through them out of stubbornness. The urge to run away was overwhelming.

The story here is equally creepy; a little boy spends the summer with his grandfather at his creepy seaside amusement park, and along comes a creepy Punch and Judy showman to make things creepier. In contrast to the boy is the showman’s assistant, a teenager who looks as though the job is the only thing keeping him out of jail (and not for too long, judging by his outlook.) While the boy is both fascinated and frightened by the showman and the carnival (and his grandfather, for that matter) the teen sees right through the whole thing. He knows that the show and the carnival are relics of a bygone era.

Only Dave McKean could illustrate something as frightening as this. By combining photos with hand-drawn illustration, he creates a haunting, lurid backdrop reminiscent of Jan Svankmajer’s animation. For those of you unfamiliar with Dave McKean, he’s the guy that did the Sandman covers in the 1990’s, and those things used to give me nightmares. Sandman was DC’s foray into mature-themed material, and Mister Punch would fit right at home in there.

A little research tells me that Punch comes from Pulcinello, a character from Italian puppet shows, and his name means “chicken” thanks to his massive nose and a voice like a rooster’s squawk. He’s violent, deceptive, and when confronted with something he’s done, he’ll feign ignorance and/or stupidity. He’s usually paired with Arleccino (or Harlequin in English), his agile trickster alter-ego, who I might add is descended from a more demonic character of legend (hence the multicolored costume.)

No matter how much English kids love this guy, I can’t look Punch in the face without getting creeped out. Those beady eyes, the leering grin, he is scary.