A DARK, BIZARRE COMEDY WHERE TEACHERS PUSH BOUNDARIES INTO PREPOSTEROUS PLACES MASCULINITY DEBUNKED, SATIRICALLY: Nick Mandaag has a keen eye for finding the absurdity in masculinity. In The Follies of Richard Wadsworth, men find themselves in situations where their pride gets the better of them, their inability to discern boundaries leads them to inappropriate places, and their sexual appetites exceed even their ideological views.DARLING OF THE MINI-COMICS WORLD: There is a widespread affection for Nick Maandag's comics within the small press community. He's been nominated for the Doug Wright Award, Joe Schuster, and the Xeric Grant. This will be his first release with widespread distribution and thus the book that will facilitate his popularity outside comics.WORKPLACE COMEDY: Maandag's stories dissect the awkwardness of work relationships. His protagonists are ill at ease and yet hyper confident in themselves. COMPARE TO: The Office, W1A, the work of Gary Shteyngart.

There's a British quality to the dryness of Maandag's humor.A DARK, BIZARRE COMEDY WHERE TEACHERS PUSH BOUNDARIES INTO PREPOSTEROUS PLACESThe Follies of Richard Wadsworth showcases Nick Maandag's signature blend of deadpan satire and exceedingly unexpected plot twists. In "Night School," a Modern Managerial Business Administration and Operational Leadership class goes awry when a fire alarm brings the Chief to school and he decides to stick around to teach the students a thing or two about leadership--and discipline. "The Follies of Richard Wadsworth" follows the title character, a professor of philosophy, as he begins a contract instructor position at yet another university. When Wadsworth finds himself smoking reefer at his student's party and he discovers she works at a rub n' tug, an off-kilter plan is hatched. And in "The Disciple," a yarn about a co-ed Buddhist monastery, Brother Bananas, the resident gorilla, isn't the only one having difficulty keeping his lust tucked safely under his robe.In Maandag's hands--hands that love to toy with morally ambiguous characters and flirt with absurdity--troubled men make poor decisions, unlikable characters gain our sympathies through their very haplessness, and laughs ensue, riotously.After achieving cult acclaim through his self-published and micro-published comics, The Follies of Richard Wadsworth is Maandag's debut book.

His mechanical, affectless characters and economical artwork efficiently deliver cringes, heightening the awkward silence and stillness of his hilarious comics.