Jump to content

MythAdventures

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from MythAdventures (comics))

MythAdventures or Myth Adventures is a fantasy series created by Robert Lynn Asprin. After twelve novels by Asprin, published 1978 to 2002, he and Jody Lynn Nye continued the series with seven more books that they wrote together. After his death in May 2008,[1] Nye has continued the series on her own.[2]

The Myth Adventures are noted for and popular for their whimsical nature, myriad characters, and liberal use of puns. After the first book, every title turns on the similarity between the word "myth" and the prefix "mis-" or the word "miss". The inaugural title, Another Fine Myth, puns on the phrase "another fine mess". Chapters are usually headed by made-up quotes by famous or semi-famous persons.[3]

The first book was advertised under that title, Another Fine Mess, from Oliver Hardy's often-used catchphrase directed towards his film comedy partner Stan Laurel, supposedly "This is another fine mess you've gotten me into." (The actual catchphrase referred to "another nice mess".) After it was too late to change the catalog, Asprin decided that using "Myth" would be much better if the book would become a series. They changed the title and claimed a typo in the catalog.[4]

According to Asprin, the original inspiration for the Myth Adventures was the Road to ... comedy movie series, which stars Bing Crosby and Bob Hope as wandering con-artists/adventurers.[4]

Characters

[edit]

The stories mostly revolve around the adventures of a few central characters:

  • Skeeve, a youngish journeyman magician from the backwater dimension of Klah.
  • Aahz, a green, scaly "demon" (short for "dimension traveler") from the dimension of Perv, a world known for its foul-tempered reptilian humanoid inhabitants. Aahz (short for Aahzmandius) takes Skeeve on as his apprentice, despite having lost his powers through a prank pulled by Skeeve's now-deceased mentor, Garkin, at the beginning of the first novel. Later on, he and Skeeve dissolve their mentor/apprentice relationship and become partners in a magician-for-hire enterprise called M.Y.T.H. Inc.
  • Gleep, Skeeve's excitable pet, a baby dragon with a one-word eponymous vocabulary ("Gleep!") that belies his incredible intellect. However, in the twelfth book Gleep speaks simple, short phrases.
  • Massha, a woman of truly monumental girth with bright orange hair and a gaudy fashion sense; she begins the series as "only" an expert user of magical weapons and tools, but eventually apprentices herself to Skeeve.
  • Guido and Nunzio, a pair of hulking and highly capable bodyguards attached to Skeeve as a favor from the interdimensional Mafia's Fairy Godfather, Don Bruce. Nunzio seldom talks, while Guido speaks in a Runyonesque dialect, which is explained as being an aftereffect of having been in a production of Guys and Dolls. Both are much more intelligent than their stereotype suggests.
  • Chumley, an enormous but quite gentle and erudite Troll whose professional persona is a monosyllabic muscle-for-hire called Big Crunch.
  • Tananda, a.k.a. Tanda, a professional assassin and Chumley's nymphish Trollop sister.
  • Bunny, Don Bruce's beautiful niece and Skeeve's assigned moll; she is an accomplished and intelligent accountant and is in love with Skeeve (though he does not know it).
  • Markie, a small doll-like girl who is actually a character assassin in disguise. Cupys (small, doll-like people) are from the Cupid dimension.

The Phil Foglio comics based on the books also involve The Winslow: A small fuzzy alligator which happens to be utterly indestructible and presumably immortal, and figures prominently one way or another into fully three-fourths of the galaxy's known religions.

Known dimensions

[edit]

Many of the names, like so much else in this series, are puns; see the parenthetical comments.

  • Klah: Backwater dimension from which Skeeve hails. General populace (Klahds) are afraid of demons and magik. Kingdom of Possiltum and Twixt are the only places worth mentioning. ("clod", slang for "stupid person".)
  • Deva: Merchant capital of the dimensions. Inhabited by the Deveels, traders supreme. As Aahz puts it, "if you think you've gotten a good deal from a Deveel, first count your fingers, then your limbs, then your relatives". The Bazaar at Deva is the only place of interest, a dimension-wide round-the-clock flea market which sells every conceivable magikal device and artifact. ("Devil")
  • Perv: High-tech dimension where Magik and technology are equal. Pervish cooking is one of the worst smells in all the dimensions (besides Gleep's breath). Pervects are short-tempered and disquieting rumors circulate about them, which Pervects encourage so that people do not visit. Do not ever call them "Perverts".
  • Limbo: Dark dimension filled with vampires and were-things, such as werewolves, werebears, weresnakes, and weretigers.[5] Chief city is Blut, notable people are Vilhelm the Dispatcher, and Drahcir and Idnew: the Woof Writers, a husband and wife team of werewolves (homages to Wendy and Richard Pini). The low amount of force-lines limit magik here, and offworlders are viewed as terrifying monsters by the older vampires. Skeeve's house in the Bazaar has a back door which opens into Limbo. (