I knew of this play by name alone. From my school days. I don't think I ever read it, but...it was somehow still in my background knowledge? I feel bad I hadn't read it before - it is really funny! To be fair, I didn't read or watch Moliere's play - but read the graphic novel adaptation (by Enrique Lorenzo) and it was super worth my time. And perhaps this is because of the adaptation, but it did not feel "dated" or "not relevant" at all!

I had to look up the original title (Le Médecin malgré lui) and the english translation (The Doctor in Spite of Himself) and..I like the Spanish title better? At least I can say that they spanish title is represented directly in the adaptation...the doctor by virtue of being beaten with sticks (or just beaten).

Basically, a wife is angry (for good reason) with her woodcutter husband for being lazy and a drunk and she somehow convinces two guys that her husband is a great doctor (these guys need to find a doctor) but that he's really eccentric and won't admit to being a doctor - so they must beat him (with sticks) until he admits to it, and does his doctorly work. The wife just wants her husband to take a beating, but the woodcutter - in order to get the beatings to stop - admits to being a doctor and just goes along with the charade. And comedy and hijinks ensue.

I vaguely curious about this book because the art seemed interesting. Boy was I ready for a fun and wild ride!
I've always had a soft spot for cyberpunk genre fiction (including comics), and this book was a refreshing, yet still comfortable, cyberpunk tale with an interesting premise and cool characters. It feels "ripped out" of someones CP2020 campaign (with some liberties, of course) in a good way. And then, to keep you on your toes - the art and artist changes every chapter or so (I don't recall if it happens exactly every chapter). And there's some kick-ass knock it out of the park cool art - AND, the art styles are all over the place - but interesting places. All great art - and it's fun to see how the characters are represented differently by the artists. I mean, Simon Bisley did a whole section - in his style!

For me, and perhaps this is from my love of cyberpunk, this one was a keeper.

At first, I Reacted poorly. The main character is not really likeable and, well, he just seems to get what he wants - it's not easy though. But then, things started to get more interesting, the character more relatable (still not likeable) and more interesting as well. In the end the book is less about the thieving or the bookishness and more about wanting to fit in, impostor syndrome, and...mediocrity? The main character is ultimately someone who lacks both skill/ability and work ethic - they know what they want but they aren't willing to put in the time and effort to improve. But, it's also clear that even getting better might not be enough. Maybe he's just enamored with the idea of being someone he isn't and has deluded themselves into thinking they can make it. I did enjoy it in the end, it got more interesting and thought-provoking.

Uh. I was kind of dumbfounded as I read this.

It seems that IDW, which I assumed just had the license to reprint/publish Dredd stuff actually has the licence to create new stuff AND...they've created a new parallel timeline (I don't know if there was an official "break" from the UK one?) and...it's REALLY weird. Like, I had a hard time understanding what was going on because none of it made sense and a lot of it didn't seem like it was "real" Dredd. It was like reading a strange knock-off?

I realize that sounds like I'm a purist here and it doesn't help that I think this is the last (next to last) book in a series that presumably has been going on for a bit...because I was lost as heck. That's probably the biggest problem and maybe I should have known, but still. I'm not sure how I feel about this book, the art was good and there was certainly some fun action and so on...but it seemed more Mad Max cowboy stuff than Dredd. Again, the purist in me? I should probably start from the beginning...as in, read from the beginning so that all the changes will make more sense to me.

And, the changes are BIG.