I’m not a religious person. At all.

But sometimes I do wonder why anyone would worry about ending up in Hell. After all, doesn’t it sometimes feel like we’re already there? I’m not talking about the big stuff, either, things like war, disease, natural disasters, George Bush. No, it’s all those little things that make it feel like someone’s jabbing a pitchfork into your behind.

Maybe it’s the news that The Rock is making a kids’ film where he plays a star football player who discovers one day that he has a pre-teen daughter. From the previews, it looks like everyone learns a little something. And there’s a scene involving big burly football players and a whole lot of bubble bath. A can’t miss formula?

Or maybe it’s the realization that someone who calls himself The Rock can be a movie star, one with actual fans. Maybe it’s the fact that hardly anyone calls him Dwayne, just to tick him off. Or maybe, just maybe, it’s the realization that you, with your potbelly and wobbly arms, will never, ever be able to call yourself The Rock – or even The Stone – without your friends bursting into laughter.

It’s little annoyances like these that make up the Hell at the center of New Yorker cartoonist Bruce Eric Kaplan’s new graphic novel, Edmund and Rosemary Go to Hell. Published by Simon & Schuster, the novel is a wickedly funny look at how everyday annoyances can make anyone feel like they’ve moved to the worst subdivision in the hottest part of Hades.
 
For those who don’t know, Kaplan is a top cartoonist with the New Yorker. To no one’s surprise, Edmund and Rosemary Go to Hell boasts the dry, dry wit for which the magazine’s cartoons have earned fame. What is surprising, though, is how much you’ll come to care for the grumpy, harried couple at the center of the book.

The story is simple: A married couple – the titular Edmund and Rosemary, of course -- decide to take a walk in their Brooklyn neighborhood. A woman in front of them is talking loudly on her cell phone. That’s bad. What’s worse is that she’s also hogging the sidewalk. Rosemary and Edmund waste precious minutes trying unsuccessfully to get around this cell-phone-toting roadblock. This sets Rosemary off. She suddenly notices every annoyance possible, everything from bad restaurant food to the horrible movies playing at the local cinema. (Perhaps The Rock’s latest cinematic gem has been released early in New York City?)
 
Before long, the couple realizes that they are living in Hell. That leads to the obvious question: What do they do now?

I won’t spoil it. My advice is to find this book. It’s funny and, ultimately, touching. Don’t rush through it, either. You’ll want to take the time to savor the quirky drawings and witty prose.

I wouldn’t necessarily want to invite them over for dinner, but Edmund and Rosemary are definitely a couple you want to spend time with if you’re a fan of intelligent and adult graphic novels.