Arsenic Lullaby Review
by
Andrew
Goletz
Rating: 10 out of 10
I could probably go to hell for
just reading this comic. My chances are increased considerably by
the fact that I enjoy it so much. Created, written and illustrated
by Douglas Paszkiewicz (the name is murder on my spell check), Arsenic
Lullaby is a comic book like no other
I
had the good fortune to meet Mr.P during the Motor City Convention earlier
this year and that is where I was first introduced to his work. Needless
to say, after I laughed my ass of and promptly hid the comic from
wandering eyes I went and purchased all the issues that I was missing.
What can I write about this book that would do it justice? To say that
it’s ‘out there’ sounds trite. To say that no one under the age of
25 should be able to read it could scare people off unjustly. And to speak
about the gags would spoil the fun for everyone.
I’ll
do my best to emphasize the kick ass-take no prisoners-balls to the wall
coolness of the book without giving too much away. Arsenic Lullaby is an
anthology embracing cynicism, sarcasm, wit and irreverence. In each issue
there are one or two short features. The topics always change. One issue
that comes to mind had a short story with two flies sitting on a couch and
having a conversation about how great life would be in Ethiopia where they
could sit on people without being swatted at.
There
are also continuing installments. One ongoing story features Joe (who
wears a mask after being turned into a witch doctor awhile before). Joe
must constantly inflict revenge on other people to keep the curse from
getting worse. Believe me, Garth Ennis may have found some competition in
the creative ways to maim and torture contest.
Another
popular feature (well, it’s ongoing, I don’t really know how popular
it is) stars the US Census Agent. The best way to explain this is to swipe
some of the opening lines from an older issue.
This is from the May ’99 edition. “My name is Edgar Bryers. I
am a US Census Agent. We worked very hard to count every man, woman and
child. When we were done this country had a perfect census. This data
could have been used to divide up the tax dollars, make laws, and set up
quotas. It could have, until selfish fascists go and have a baby. Just one
baby after the census throws the whole thing off balance.”
And that’s all you’re going to get without reading the book.
Suffice to say, there are reasons (besides spoiling the fun) that I
don’t go into the solution Bryers has.
Humor
and deciding what is appropriate or not appropriate to laugh at is such a
touch subject nowadays that it’s refreshing to see a book like Arsenic
Lullaby come out and just not give a damn. Douglas P. is setting out
simply to make some people laugh about things they normally wouldn’t
admit to finding funny and whether he likes to admit it or not, I think
he’s making us think, too. The humor is there to shock, yes, but it also
makes fun of our own ignorance as people to deal with these issues in an
appropriate way. I think part of the fun that comes from reading this book
is in trying to figure out what the real target of joke is.
The rest of the book is as impressive as the writing. The art is done
surprisingly well. In my experience with books of this nature, the art is
the weaker part of the overall comic book, but Douglas P. manages to give
each story its own separate look, which is welcome. Arsenic Lullaby
contains the right amount of reader feedback, contests and commentary from
the creator to give it a good balance. Any title in which every issue is
dedicated to Ronald Reagan has to be good.
My
only complaint (you knew there had to be something) is that I wish the
story-lines weren’t spread out within the individual issues so much.
What I mean is that the US Census Agent story for this particular issue
could be spread out with pages 2-6, 12-14 and 20-22. I think it would come
together a bit more sharply if it was put together in each issue.
So
should you get Arsenic Lullaby? Absolutely. I don’t think there is any
reason why you should not try the book out. The humor probably won’t be
with everyone’s tastes, but you owe it to yourselves to at least take a
chance on it. Douglas P. is doing his best to put out a title that
doesn’t tone itself down in its attempts to make you crack a smile. He
should get some sort of recognition for that. It’s pretty much a safe
bet that you’ll be reading something the likes of which you’ve never
read before.
Available
through;
A.Silent
Comics Inc
1619 W. Whitaker Avenue
Milwaukee, WI 53221
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