"The Trumpets They Play!" is an 8-page

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 ...

Al Columbia Al Columbia (born 1970) is an American artist known for his horror and black humor-themed alternative comics. His published works include the comic book series ''The Biologic Show'', the graphic novel/art book '' Pim & Francie: The Golden Bear ...

. A cartoon interpretation of the

Book of Revelation The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament (and consequently the final book of the Christian Bible). Its title is derived from the first word of the Koine Greek text: , meaning "unveiling" or "revelation". The Book of R ...

featuring his recurring characters Seymour Sunshine and Knishkebibble the Monkey-Boy, it was published in ''

BLAB! ''Blab!'' was an anthology edited by Monte Beauchamp that featured a mixture of alternative comics and illustrated features focused predominantly on illustration, graphic design, and lowbrow art. The first two issues (1986–87) were published b ...

'' #10 in 1998. Its artwork took Columbia six months to complete. The title was taken from a song by his former roommate and Action Suits bandmate Andy Schmidt.

Synopsis

After a

title card In films, an intertitle, also known as a title card, is a piece of filmed, printed text edited into the midst of (i.e., ''inter-'') the photographed action at various points. Intertitles used to convey character dialogue are referred to as "dialo ...

introducing the upcoming feature as "Seymour Sunshine and Knishkebibble the Monkey-Boy's Big Budget Fiasco", the story begins with a

televangelist Televangelism (wikt:tele-, tele- "distance" and "evangelism," meaning "Christian ministry, ministry," sometimes called teleministry) is the use of media, specifically radio and television, to communicate Christianity. Televangelists are minister ...

reading aloud passages from the

describing the

seven seals The Seven Seals of God from the Bible's Book of Revelation are the seven symbolic seals (, ''sphragida'') that secure the book or scroll that John of Patmos saw in an apocalyptic vision. The opening of the seals of the document occurs in Rev Ch ...

and

seven trumpets In the Book of Revelation, seven trumpets are sounded, one at a time, to cue apocalyptic events seen by John of Patmos ( Revelation 1:9) in his vision ( Revelation 1:1). The seven trumpets are sounded by seven angels and the events that follow are ...

, accompanied by topical illustrations. The preacher's broadcast is interrupted by a newsflash on the impending end of the

millennium A millennium (plural millennia or millenniums) is a period of one thousand years, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting point (ini ...

. The panel view gradually zooms out slowly from the TV screen to the interior of a high-rise apartment, then out of a window to reveal a

panorama A panorama (formed from Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography, film, seismic images, or 3D modeling. The word was originally coined in ...

of debauchery and random

violence Violence is the use of physical force so as to injure, abuse, damage, or destroy. Other definitions are also used, such as the World Health Organization's definition of violence as "the intentional use of physical force or Power (social and p ...

. In the background, the

meteorite A meteorite is a solid piece of debris from an object, such as a comet, asteroid, or meteoroid, that originates in outer space and survives its passage through the atmosphere to reach the surface of a planet or Natural satellite, moon. When the ...

Wormwood flies across the sky. Meanwhile, Knishkebibble is shown in another apartment reading the Book of Revelation. He decides to take a bath to ward off "pre-millennium jitters". While he is drawing his bath the meteorite strikes the earth, causing all the faucets to spew inky black liquid. He runs out of the bathroom and awakens his sleeping companion, Seymour. They answer a knock at the door and are confronted by a pair of giant, armored

locust Locusts (derived from the Vulgar Latin ''locusta'', meaning grasshopper) are various species of short-horned grasshoppers in the family Acrididae that have a swarming phase. These insects are usually solitary, but under certain circumstanc ...

s. Escaping the apartment, they scramble across rooftops, leap into a conveniently placed roadster, and drive away in haste. The city is being ravaged by a massive

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

and an army of grinning creatures carrying long knives. As Seymour and Knishkebibble speed out of the collapsing metropolis, a colossal seven-headed Beast looms in the distance. An army marching under the Beast's flag captures the pair; Knishkebibble kisses the boots of an officer and denounces Seymour, who is dragged away. The Beast is shown seated on a

throne A throne is the seat of state of a potentate or dignitary, especially the seat occupied by a sovereign on state occasions; or the seat occupied by a pope or bishop on ceremonial occasions. "Throne" in an abstract sense can also refer to the monar ...

towering over a

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

-style rally of men giving the

Nazi salute The Nazi salute, also known as the Hitler salute (german: link=no, Hitlergruß, , Hitler greeting, ; also called by the Nazi Party , 'German greeting', ), or the ''Sieg Heil'' salute, is a gesture that was used as a greeting in Nazi Germany. Th ...

; Knishkebibble and the televangelist are among the throng. In the Beast's hand, a

pocketwatch A pocket watch (or pocketwatch) is a watch that is made to be carried in a pocket, as opposed to a wristwatch, which is strapped to the wrist. They were the most common type of watch from their development in the 16th century until wristwatc ...

labeled "Years of the

Christian Era The terms (AD) and before Christ (BC) are used to label or number years in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The term is Medieval Latin and means 'in the year of the Lord', but is often presented using "our Lord" instead of "the Lord", ...

" approaches 2000. On the outskirts of the city, where mass executions by gun and

guillotine A guillotine is an apparatus designed for efficiently carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secured with stocks at th ...

are underway, Seymour sits with his limbs tied up and a lit stick of

dynamite Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish people, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern Germa ...

balanced on his head. In the final page – the only one in full color – Seymour is shown in a white dress suit and hat, frolicking in a bucolic but strangely empty

paradise In religion, paradise is a place of exceptional happiness and delight. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical or eschatological or both, often compared to the miseries of human civilization: in paradis ...

Critical reception

"The Trumpets They Play!" has been cited by critics as an outstanding work, both within Columbia's own output and within the comics medium generally. In a 2002 essay on Columbia,

Paul Gravett Paul Gravett is a London-based journalist, curator, writer, and broadcaster who has worked in comics publishing since 1981. He is the founder of ''Escape Magazine'', and for many years wrote a monthly article on comics appearing in the UK magaz ...

called it his "most alarming output yet ..a cartoon apocalypse, a black and white

Fleischer Brothers Fleischer Studios () is an American animation studio founded in 1929 by brothers Max and Dave Fleischer, who ran the pioneering company from its inception until its acquisition by Paramount Pictures, the parent company and the distributor of ...

animated film as designed by

Hieronymus Bosch Hieronymus Bosch (, ; born Jheronimus van Aken ; – 9 August 1516) was a Dutch/Netherlandish painter from Brabant. He is one of the most notable representatives of the Early Netherlandish painting school. His work, generally oil on oa ...

." The 2011 book ''1001 Comics You Must Read Before You Die'' listed it at position number 86, and ''Paste'' magazine included it in a 2015 article on the seven best

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

-inspired comics. It was included on the

syllabus A syllabus (; plural ''syllabuses'' or ''syllabi'') or specification is a document that communicates information about an academic course or class and defines expectations and responsibilities. It is generally an overview or summary of the curric ...

of a 2008 literature course on "The Imagination of Disaster" at

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

.Syllabus for LIT 20S.01 (Fall 2008), "The Imagination of Disaster", Duke University, Instructor: Gerry CanavanArchived
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trumpets They Play!, The Comics by Al Columbia Short comics Horror comics Black comedy comics Apocalyptic comics 1998 comics debuts 1998 comics endings