cover:
left: People want to come in - / normal people - strangers.
They understand that we / cannot guarantee their /
safety beyond this point.

right: Oh let them in! People here are just / odd - that’s all -
not dangerous!

p 1
I’m the head of security for Weirdsville.
See my face? I run this place! I’m kind of like the police chief,
the sheriff and God the father all
rolled into one. People think that
someone like me has no feelings.
But I’m a very sensitive man.
Every night I dream that I’m ma boy
again, riding a magical horse that
carries me away from all of this.
But the city always calls me back…
I act the way I do because I have
strong feelings for this city and its
people. I will use all the force at my
disposal to keep the people of
Weirdsville safe and happy.

p 2
top, right: The Head of Security’s Dream

p 3
top, right: Want a ride? I can show / you the sights up close /
and personal! This is / Albert, my beloved child. /
We’re very close.

right, lower down: Come on in!

bottom: Bertha grew up here and knows everybody
and his brother. She can show you around, introduce you
to some colorful people, and bring you back when you’ve
had enough.

p 4
top: Sheila Slice is a really nice girl, loves kids, cooks like a dream,
But men are afraid to get involved with her / because of
her father, who is shall we say very protective of
his only child. See there in front? / They’re fixing up a guy who looked the wrong way at Sheila. But she can’t wait forever….

p 5
lower right: NO PICTURES!

bottom: Sammy Slice is a powerful and scary man who runs the rackets in Weirdsville. Word is that the Head of Security and the Mayor report to him. / Sammy loves his wife, his daughter, and his church, the Blessed Vision of the Skinless Savior.

p 7
top, center: We are all God’s Children!

bottom: The Reverend Marie Kandahar founded a church that worships a flayed Jesus and various prophets. / She preaches
Four nights a week and on Sundays, using a self-edited version of the New Testament. / She often has visions.

p 8
bottom: Peter Happenoff has been singing all his life
and has become famous for it, but outside the concert hall, people avoid him and he’s never understood why.

center: Whew! That guy / smells like the bottom / of a bird cage!

p 9
bottom: Skully and his son Bob the Bearded Stoneworm are
the town astrologers.

p 10
top: Big Annie has such a pretty face! She’s of those women who dress to hide their bodies and then feel compelled to tell everyone
about them anyway.

p 11
bottom: It is common knowledge that the Reverend Hottyne secretly worships women. / When deprived of them, he will conjure one
to lust after.

p 12
top, right: I put tinted fondant over / a cake base. Some of /
the details are made of / marzipan.

bottom: The Bearded lady Baker with her famous Sleeping Child Cake. There is always a waiting list for her creations.

p 13
bottom: This woman, otherwise apparently normal, was violently seized by a desire to right all wrongs. / Doctors studying her mania disagree as to whether her symptoms are pathological or not.

p 14
bottom: George Trout, a local lush - too much to drink, not enough to eat, and no sleep for three days, / and you’d feel this way too. As soon as he recovers, he’ll do it again.

p 15
bottom: Nancy Franchot sees and appreciates every little detail. /
It wears on her family and friends, but she can’t help it.

p 16
middle right: His friend may be / strange, but he’s kind / of cute and he’s got a really hot body!

bottom: Love in Weirdsville…

p 17
top left: Who’s she? I wonder / what kind of music / she likes.

bottom: Nice people, even if they’re a little weird. Let’s wish them luck!

p 18
top, left: The hole in my right / hand complicates things / a little, but I really can’t / complain…

bottom: Richard Broccolli is a real go-getter, sells insurance all around town.

p 19
middle left: But what does this / mean? And who / decides?

bottom: Bryn Deal, the local philosopher, at his customary table by the window, asking questions.

p 20
bottom: Bonnie Day, a local beauty, with her best friend Louise Ammons. They’ve known each other since first grade.

p 21
top left: Don’t tease the lion, Danny!

bottom: Sally and Danny Trinket with their fortune-telling lion.
It is made of brass with gears inside that moves its jaws and right front leg. Sally swears that it can move on its own.

p 22
bottom: Lawrence Pettigrew, lawyer and fixer.

p 23
bottom: Channa Poisonelle, a discreet enforcer.

p 24
bottom: The staff at the biggest house in town.

p 25
bottom: They work for Mrs. Amston-Bunion, who isn’t any nicer than she looks, but pays a decent wage.

p 26
bottom: It didn’t take long for Fashion to catch up with the uber-weird. / When bat-faced Barbara felt too plain to run with her crowd, /
she bought a suitably gruesome prosthesis to out on for parties.

p 27
mid-right: HA! HA! HA!

bottom: Under his mask and prosthetic hand this man is entirely normal!

p 28
top left: When did you say / it started hurting?

bottom: Doctor Wannatonna is a good listener.

p 29
bottom: Carol Coral and Izzy Blister visit Washington, D. C.

p 30
bottom: Meanwhile, back home, George Docksfeld work like a dog to buy new charms and amulets / for his collection of idols, retrofitted to repel every fresh disaster…

p 32
bottom: Freddy Bentsen likes extreme forms of strip-tease and knows where to find it.

p 34
top: One of the highlights of the fall season in Weirdsville is a bare-knuckled knock-down-drag-out fight / between Walter Grim, a professor of geometry at the local university, and a giant turkey.

left, immediately below: Dumb Professor! Stupid Turkey!

bottom: As awful as it looks, no one has ever gotten badly hurt.

p 35
far right: Others seek amusement in theatres and concert halls, /
in books, and in galleries and museums.

p 36
top: People here know how to have a good time. Clubs, bars, and other places of entertainment / are always filled to capacity. As might be expected, some of the acts are odd.

bottom: The Dance of the Ballerina Bird

p 38
top down: In the countryside beyond Weirdsville, /
Life is more peaceful, but just as odd. / Potatoes and onions grow / above ground and ripen / in the sun. Monkeys wearing /
sunglasses and overalls / pick and pack the vegetables. /
Rutabagas are the cash crop.
Lemuel Hutchens raises / giants turkeys. He reserves / the biggest and smartest / one for the annual fight / with Walter Grim.

Some farmers dream / of moving into town / and living the high life. /
But where would they keep / their horses, cows, pigs, / chickens, and monkeys? / And who would harvest the rutabagas?

Others like the quiet / nights in the country / where they can see /
all the stars and / dream in peace.

p 39
top: Anybody home?

p 40
top: Meanwhile, back in town, things are only getting stranger…