Cuphead: Comic Capers & Curios
Cuphead: Comic Capers & Curios (also known as Cuphead Volume One: Comic Capers & Curios or Cuphead Volume 1: Comic Capers & Curios, simply Cuphead Volume One or Cuphead Volume 1) is a graphic novel by Zack Keller and Shawn Dickinson. It was published on August 11, 2020.
Plot synopsis
Capers & Curios is divided in different stories about different characters from the game, from the Cup Brothers to the Runaway Debtors, AKA the Bosses of the Inkwell Isles.
Description
Revisit the colorful characters of the Inkwell Isles in this collection of brand new Cuphead and Mugman tales!
Prone to unexpected predicaments and thrilling adventures, Cuphead and Mugman feature front and center in a series of short but sweet side stories that reimagine the world of the all-cartoon magical wondergame. This original graphic novel features all-new original tales, authentically drawn to match the glorious, award-winning vintage animation style of Cuphead!
Don't miss Cuphead and Mugman's graphic novel debut in written by Zack Keller and illustrated to 1930s perfection by Shawn Dickinson!
Plot
Cuphead jumps out of an ink jar and gets out a pen to write the title. Just then, Mugman also gets out from the jar as well and grabs a paintbrush to write the comic title. Just as both brothers shake hands, Cuphead's pen knocks Mugman down, causing the ink to splatter everywhere.
Cuphead & Mugman in "Graveyard Gauntlet!"
Elder Kettle is telling the boys about hearing something spooky from the cemetery and tells them to not adventure there. The boys promise, but is quickly shot down due to Cuphead climbing into there despite Mugman's warnings about it. As the two further stroll in the cemetery, they notice a group of Spectre Syndicates playing several instruments. Cuphead quickly joins in and dances alongside with the ghosts. While Mugman was uncomfortable at first, he then starts to warm up and also enjoy the night dancing away. Next morning, they arrive back at the cottage where Elder Kettle is watering some flowers, before he notices Cuphead and Mugman. He then questions how they slept last night, in which the two's response were "Like The Dead," much to his confusion.
Mugman in "Promenade Predicament!"
Mugman is reading a book while walking near Inkwell Isle 2, where he then unintentionally walks into candy section of the park, where Baroness Von Bon Bon orders two of her guards to take him out. However, luck is on Mugman's side, which causes the two guards to collide with each other as their chocolate fillings melt out. This upsets Baroness as the two guards cry, as Mugman continues walking and reading, as he then walks onto the rails of a rollercoaster ride. Soon after, Beppi the Clown attempts to ram him over with the coaster, but misses due to Mugman avoiding his attack by walking onto a platform of balloons. He then attempts to use tennis balls to pop the balloons beneath him, but that also fails as Mugman just so happens to then step onto a capsule of a nearby ferris wheel, thus getting off the ride and also upsetting Beppi. Finally, Mugman walks near Sally Stageplay's theater, when the latter is about to destroy it for reconstruction. The wrecking ball then smashes the theater as Mugman walks in, and it gives the sign to a switch to blow it up. Just then, Mugman luckily escapes the theater in time, and is amazed at the events of his story and wishes that his life was eventful. (being completely oblivious of what just happened) The other three he encountered on the other hand are still fuming at him.
The Whole Gang in "Apline Atrocity!"
A mountain is placing Cuphead, Mugman, Ms. Chalice, and Elder Kettle on the peak of his head, as the Kettle yodels. However, the mountain dislikes yodelers and threatens to knock off the gang if done so. When Elder Kettle does his yodeling again, the mountain then shakes off all of his snow thus causing an avalanche as Cuphead and Co. ski down the mountain. Unfortunately for Mugman, he accidentally trips on a slope, causing him to roll up into a snowball, and knock anything in his path. When he reaches the bottom though, the rest of the gang crash into him as the snow tells Elder Kettle to not yodel.
Captain Brineybeard in "Ship Shenanigans!"
Captain Brineybeard is looking through his telescope, and spots Cuphead and Mugman just walking by. He then decides to let them onto the ship to sail the high-seas, as Cuphead remarks learning about the pirate from the movies. On the ship Cuphead does actions that annoy Brineybeard, featuring him ordering Mugman to swab the poop deck with a q-tip, releasing a sail that belonged to his mother, and dumping his anchor into a garbage can. Having enough, Brineybeard fires the brother for messing up as Mugman takes the words literally and lights up a cannon facing downwards. This causes his ship to explode into two, as he rants on the two and sinks into the water.
Cuphead in "Scrapyard Scrap!"
Cuphead is piloting his airplane through the skies and does a few tricks along with it, until the left side of his wing gets shot down into the junkyard. That when Cuphead realizes that Dr. Kahl's Robot, Automaton was the one responsible for the destruction of his plane due to it detecting him as an intruder. Cuphead then attempts to get a couple of blows on the robot, but this only tires him out. As Dr. Kahl orders Automaton to finish Cuphead off, the cup gains an idea by having the robot send out it's attacks to blow off certain pieces for him. That's when Cuphead is revealed to have made a makeshift airplane to escape the junkyard, as Automaton's memory gets wiped, resulting in it taking out a wooden mallet, and bonking Dr. Kahl straight on the head with it.
Mini-Strip
Baroness Von Bon Bon is seen arguing with the Security Bee about her brewery as it is prohibited in the area, while another bee is seen pouring it down the drain. However, the drain leads down to a basement where Cuphead and Co. are having a party and getting drunk off the brewery.
Cuphead & Elder Kettle in "Lights, Camera, Adversaries"
Cuphead and Elder Kettle are going to the movie theater to see the movie, "The Beast of Doom Planet." As they get a bunch of snacks and then sit down, the Root Pack sit in front of the two and decide to annoy him by tossing popcorn at the two. Having enough, Cuphead confronts the three about their annoying actions and requests them to move down so that he and Elder Kettle can enjoy the movie. That's when Sal and Ollie grab him and Chauncey invades the projection booth. The three then shove Cuphead into camera and into the celluloid, thus making him pop right into the movie itself. Cuphead then calls Elder Kettle for help, however, Kettle is completely oblivious to this. He then soon realizes that the ship he's on right now to heading toward Doom Planet, and warns the protagonists of the movie about it. That causes them to abort and move away from the planet, thus ending the movie off early. This causes negative reception from the audience, as everyone then gets into a fight, Elder Kettle, who's still unaware about Cuphead's absence, adventures to "Home Planet."
Mini-Strip #2
Ms. Chalice is stargazing at the moon, making a compliment on its majestic appearance, before the moon startles her as it then thanks her for that compliment with a French accent.
Cuphead & Mugman in "Troublesome Tunes!"
Cuphead and Mugman are listening to some tunes on the radio while sweeping up the cottage. They become attracted to the singer's voice as the others in the neighborhood are also attracted to the voice as well. From here the voice leads all the Inkwell Isle citizens to the Casino, where a few other characters play and lose. Featuring Cagney play Roulette with Pirouletta, Djimmi literally getting hit by Pip and Dot in Blackjack, and Mr. Wheezy smoke screening Hilda's play in Craps. Afterwards, King Dice enters while the citizens are frustrated with his actions, especially Cuphead and Mugman who confront him about the situation, as he just shrugs it aside, and reveals the singer to be Cala Maria. King Dice then pays her one dollar, causing her to become furious and transforms into her gorgon self. Cala then allows the brothers to be in a duet and cause a riot in the casino, much to King Dice's frustration, as the citizens of the Inkwell Isle, dump all of their money onto him. The brothers and Cala Maria then triumph in victory (and also stand on top of a defeated King Dice) as the citizens get their money back.
Mini-Strip #3
Cuphead is seen blowing a few punches on what it appear to be Mugman first. However when Elder Kettle sees that the two are doing, Cuphead is revealed to be training, using a steak as a punching bag, while Mugman reveals that he's cooking, having the steak be tenderized by Cuphead's punches.
How to be a Strapping Scrapper: From Noodle-Arm Ninny to Noggin Knocker!
Cuphead gives the readers advice on how to become big and strong, using the ABCs. He then gives that A is for Appetite, B is for Body Bends, and C is for Cheating in which he uses a steroid like potion from Porkrind's Emporium to become buffed up.
Sally Stageplay in "Vaudeville Villainy!"
Sally, alongside a few other actors, are performing a scene, until the intermission. During that time, Sally becomes self-absorbed from the others and decides to get rid of all of them, along with the rest of the crew, thus playing every part on her own as she rants on the redundancy of the others. When the intermission ends, Sally has to resort from switching to one role to another in the next scenes, and even has to be the backstage crew and the musicians as well, until all the props crash down onto her. She then sobs, fearing that her career is ruined and that her reputation will be harmed. However, audience then applaud her performance as she takes a bow. Just then, Silverworth comes up on stage and talks about the fame she will achieve, even so far to having a show all about her and even a movie. Next day on the newspaper, the former crew realize that Sally's one-man band play, "All Eyes on Me" was a success and are now disappointed because they are unemployed.
Cuphead, Ms. Chalice & Elder Kettle in "Woeful Wishes!"
Cuphead, Ms. Chalice, and Elder Kettle are walking in the middle of a desert as a "shortcut" to get to the ice cream parlor, and are beaten down from the sun right now. Cuphead, then soon finds a magic lamp on the ground and uses it as if it were a drinking vessel. However, a voice erupts from the lamp, causing Cuphead to spit it out, revealing to be none other than Djimmi the Great. As a reward for freeing him, Djimmi will grant everyone a wish. Cuphead uses his wish on eating a fish sandwich, Elder Kettle uses his on a new mustache, and Ms. Chalice uses her on getting ice cream, while riding his magic carpet, much to Djimmi's dismay.
Cuphead & Mugman in "Arcade Atrocity!"
Cuphead and Mugman are playing a game similar to Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots at the arcade, until Mugman beats Cuphead. After the game is finished, Cuphead attempts to search for another penny in his pocket, as his arm rips through it and goes across the carnival to search for one. This includes tripping Grim Matchstick, bonking the Four Mel Arrangement, blocking Werner Werman's shot in the Baseball Toss game, and stealing a penny from Porkrind. That's when Cuphead "finds" a spare penny and gets ready to play again. However, that's when the other characters angerly confront him. Cuphead, being oblivious, question if they are here to watch him win, as Mugman has a worried expression.
The end sequence features Cuphead and Mugman running with a pencil and paintbrush respectively as they collide with each other casing their heads to swap. They then attempt to swap back to their original body, but it causes their faces to turn upside down. They continue swapping until their faces become messed up. Cuphead gets the idea to erase his brother's face as he then erases his own face next. He then redraws Mugman's face as Mugman then repaints his. They two then shake hands and write the words, "The End."
Characters
- Cuphead
- Mugman
- Ms. Chalice
- Elder Kettle
- Porkrind
- King Dice
- The Devil
- Goopy Le Grande
- The Root Pack
- Ribby and Croaks
- Hilda Berg
- Cagney Carnation
- Chip
- Quint
- Angel
- Baroness Von Bon Bon
- Djimmi The Great
- Beppi The Clown
- Grim Matchstick
- Ginger
- Buster
- Four Mel Arrangement
- Security Bee
- Captain Brineybeard
- Cala Maria
- Werner Werman
- Dr. Kahl's Robot
- Sally Stageplay
- Sally's Husband
- Ludwig
- Wolfgang
- Silverworth
- Chips Bettigan
- Pip and Dot
- Mr. Wheezy
- Hopus Pocus
- Pirouletta
Gallery
Cover(s)
Pre-release cover
Pages
Trivia
- This novel was originally going to be published on June 17, 2020, then June 23, 2020, then June 30, 2020, then July 21, 2020.
- In "Alpine Atrocity", there is no sclera in the characters' eyes when they are viewed from a distance.
- This also happens in the game when Cuphead and Mugman are on the map.
- In Scrapyard Scrap, it is officially revealed that Dr. Kahl refers his robot as "Automaton"
- In Troublesome Tunes, Cala Maria is revealed to transform to her gorgon persona when upsetted, rather than being zapped by electric eels.