His objects might have drifted out of some unusually painterly comic book.
The smash hit play Erica eventually writes -- her delicious revenge on the man who caused her such pain -- is called "A Woman to Love," which would have been a much better title for this unusually satisfying comic romance than the empty and generic one it has.
Written in 1951 this is an unusually dark comic twist on the Vampire tale about a young pasty-faced school kid, Jules, whose only ambition in life is to become a vampire.
Currently touring the sold-out arenas of the UK, and with standup's fastest-selling DVD ever, modestly titled Hello Wembley, 2009 looks set to be remembered by historians as a year dominated by a rubber-faced unusually-tanned comic who invented the concept of the "man drawer".
The book was original and very funny, and it also, most unusually for a comic novel, gave readers a telling picture of life in England and the empire between 1839 and 1842.
The book was original and very funny and it also, most unusually for a comic novel, gave readers a telling picture of life in England and the empire between 1839 and 1842: there were four closely-packed pages of notes at the back of the novel which proved the historical accuracy of what seemed like mere exuberant farce.
And unusually for a comic book story, it was designed to be told slowly, over many years, and to come to an end.
The article he wrote for the New Yorker about language instruction tapes makes comic capital – of an unusually sophisticated variety – out of national stereotypes.
The result, as it happens, tends to leave behind those in the cast who don't possess either Mr. Rylance's technique (Johnny Flynn as an unusually blank Viola) or his innately comic cut-and-thrust (Roger Lloyd Pack's rather strenuous Andrew Aguecheek).
Alice Duke's artwork - her first published comic - is superb and, unusually for this book, employs a subtle, luscious range of grey tones rather than stark black and white.
