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Punks: The Comic #1 review

By Leroy Douresseaux
October 25, 2014 - 15:26

Cover art for Punks: The Comic #1

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Rated T+ / Teen Plus

Back in 2007, writer Joshua Hale Fialkov (The Ultimates) and artist Kody Chamberlain (Sweets) published two issues of a comic book, entitled Punks, through Digital Webbing.  Punks stood out because of its surreal and absurd humor and because Chamberlain produced the art by cutting up photographic images and pasting them together to create the characters and settings.  Now, the cult comedy comic book series returns with all-new stories in Punks: The Comic. 

Punks: The Comic #1 features the return of Dog, Skull, Fist, and Abe Lincoln.  Dog is a human figure with a bulldog head pasted onto it.  Skull has a skeleton's skull.  Fist is a clenched fist on a human body, and Abe Lincoln features an iconic image of the President Abraham Lincoln head on various bodies and figures.

Page 1 from "Punks: The Summer Comic Special"

The story opens at the quartet's home (a dormitory?).  The misadventures begin with Dog and his “Wunderpants” and includes a visit from a girl he is trying to romance.  Her arrival coincides with an invasion of gnomes.  Will it be happily ever after or just insane as it ever was?

[Punks: The Comic #1 includes some story pages from Punks: The Summer Comic Special, which was published in 2007.]

THE LOWDOWN:  The cut-and-paste, do-it-yourself aesthetic of Punks: The Comics goes farther than one would think.  It is not a one-note joke, but I am curious to see where the creators go with this.  This comic book concept also reminds me of those animations that Terry Gilliam created for Monty Python's Flying Circus.  I think Fialkov has previously mentioned that the late British television series, “The Young Ones,” as an inspiration for Punks.

Punks: The Comic is so “out there,” yet it works.  I have to admit that I am geniunely surprised by how successful the humor is, rather than merely being arty, pretentious and vague.  Also, I can't help but admire the work Kody puts into creating the art.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE:  Readers looking for something truly different in comic books will want Punks: The Comic.

Rating: A- /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12