''Mr. Amperduke'' aka ''Mister Amperduke'' is a fictional

comic a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...

and

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

created by

Bob Byrne Bob Byrne is an Irish comics writer, artist, and independent publisher, based in Dublin. Biography Byrne's first published comics were the self-published series ''MBLEH!'', which ran to 3 issues and was the first Irish comic to be distributed by ...

. Sherman Amperduke is a

retired Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

senior citizen whose hobby is creating and tending to the miniature

world In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

he has created and keeps in his basement. The inhabitants of Amperville closely resemble

Lego Lego ( , ; stylized as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys that are manufactured by The Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of variously colored interlocking ...

minifigures due to the plastic casing that is applied to them, yet they are living,

sentient Sentience is the capacity to experience feelings and sensations. The word was first coined by philosophers in the 1630s for the concept of an ability to feel, derived from Latin '' sentientem'' (a feeling), to distinguish it from the ability to ...

creatures. The buildings and vehicles are also made from a Lego type building system. He has appeared in three stories: a six-page story in issue 3 of ''MBLEH!'' published by Clamnut Comix in 2003, a 160-page A5 size graphic novel released in 2008 (which also included the original story), and a six-page story in 2009, in issue 271 of the '' Judge Dredd Megazine'' (which had reprinted the first story in issue 247 (2006)). The original story deals with the reaction of the larger community when three new citizens are introduced without the casings. The graphic novel deals with Mr Amperduke begrudgingly taking care of his young grandson, Scampi, one summer. After a disagreement, Scampi throws a garden vermin, a Nechradon, into Amperville as revenge. The creature causes havoc among the mini

utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', describing a fictional ...

. The stories are notable as they are all told silent, without words and use the same 16-panel layout for each page.

Themes

The original six-page story has been described as a "powerful allegory", dealing with racism and intolerance. The graphic novel features themes of man's willingness to play God, and the role of science and

eugenics Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior or ...

(the sophisticate technology used to create and sustain life for Amperduke's simple "hobby") versus Mother Nature (the Nechradon, the unstoppable force that ruins Amperville and ultimately devours its inhabitants).

References

* ''Comics International,'' November 2003

External links

Original preview of the Mr. Amperduke graphic novel

Video Trailer for the book
2008 graphic novels {{2000s-graphic-novel-stub