When I first read the subtitle of Ty Templeton's graphic novel Bigg Time: A Farcical Fable of Fleeting Fame (Vertigo), I must admit I was not enthused. Another satire of disposable celebhood - was there anything new that cartoonist Templeton would be able to wring out of this overdiscussed subject?

Maybe not, but that doesn't mean the writer/artist can't make a few good jokes along the way.

Bigg Time is the story of Lester Bigg, a ranting street denizen who accidentally (after pissing on the third rail) gains the ability to see and hear his guardian angel, a burnt-out "earthbound celestial being, third class" named Stavros. Bigg forces his angel to help him attain his big wish, which is to be famous. Said goal isn't as easy as it looks, however - especially when you're an unattractive, balding wreck like Lester.

Our hero acquires an agent after Stavros impersonates an alien (seems many of our big league power brokers've been regularly abducted and submitted to anal probes). This gambit secures Les a speaking role on a big-budget action flick, a recording contract to sing a hiphop version of "Stayin' Alive," plus a chance to play on a high-rated game show entitled Who Can Survive Becoming a Millionaire? Of course, he blows 'em all.

In between, Les ineptly tries to woo a gorgeous, but slightly cracked hair technician named Shelly. He dangles the promise of a meeting with his brother Lance, a celeb baseball player, to pique her interest - a fool's ploy, indeed, as we all know where it's gonna end once the starstruck blond sees Les' handsomer bro in the flesh. Yeah, our hero's an idiot: only way he'll achieve lasting fame is through a fatal accident.

Along the way, Templeton (who previously trafficked in comically cosmic matters w./ Stig's Inferno) gets to ponder bigger questions. Stavros has been tossing obstacles in front of Les all his life. But where Bigg sees this as proof that fate has conspired against him, for Stavros it's just a means of staving off the boredom of his "dead-end human shepherd job." It's the poverty of Bigg's dreams that oppresses him: "Wanting to be famous," the angel notes, "is sucking the ego nipple without 'doing' anything!"