Review by C.J. Bunce

As birds lean into the wind of their migrations as the winter draws nearer, a new field guide takes a second look at the Audubon birders guides of ages past.  Cartoonist Keith Bendis has revisited the 50 state birds and come up with his own suggestions that may be more in touch with the culture of their locales.  You can find them all in the pages of Grifters, Floaters, & Punks, available from Fantagraphics here at Amazon.

Some of Bendis’s approach makes some sense.  After all, he cites seven states whose state bird is the cardinal, and eight with the meadowlark.  But no, the artist doesn’t stop with just picking new state birds.  He makes them up as he goes.

It’s all in the good humor style of Gary Larson’s Far Side.  Do all of his creations really match the states and their generalized personality?  Yes and no.  It all depends on your sense of humor and willingness to see your state get the Bendis treatment.

The short-legged Floridian tooth picker certainly makes a lot of sense with those gators all over.  But your Texas friends may not be putting up flags of their beloved red-neck hoarder all so soon.  Maybe the Utah sunflower napper is more apropos for Kansas?

If the cartoons all seem to have that vibe of comics in The New Yorker, that’s because that magazine is possibly where you’ve seen Bendis’s work before.  His cartoons have also graced the pages of other major magazines like Time and Smithsonian.

All fifty birds are featured in a hardcover that may be just the thing for your favorite bird watcher.  You can get them a copy of Grifters, Floaters, & Punks now, available here at Amazon.