Written and Illustrated by Greg and Fake
Published by Fantagraphics Books
This was a strange comic book that I just enjoyed the hell out of.
It is sort of hard to describe the reading experience but I am going to give it a shot. The book is a combination of super heroics and sort of slice of life drama.
It reminds me of really classic Archie comics with that classic look. It has a lot of stories within these pages that really show that the creators love comics. And they LOVE comics, no matter what they are or how insane it can get, both on the page and off.
I enjoyed how the creators show us their influences and make a lot of nods to things in the comic book field and take none of it seriously.
The book follows Ambar and Alana who are the Santos Sisters.
They go about their lives fighting various villains. There are some fun and funny ones that they encounter. Some of the villains are downright crazy, especially the horny men covered in honey.
I have to admit I laughed out loud a few times just by the characters alone.
There are a lot of stories and shorter stories within these pages and everyone of them has it’s own way about things. The two main characters dress up like X-Men heroines from the 1990s and go around like that for the entirety of the book.
There is also a newscaster by the name of Robert Liefeldteeth (an obvious dig at Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld that isn’t that deep or honestly that funny at all). The creators aren’t looking for an artistic triumph, rather they are just trying to enjoy themselves. It is fun enough to watch on the page and read these stories but you do forget about them rather quickly. They all do have a bit of a disposable quality to them.
There isn’t a lot of character development going on here but that’s okay.
Once you know the basics, you can dive right into any of the stories. The good news is that most of the stories are fairly short, just a couple of pages at most. It makes it fairly accessible and easy to understand what is happening in each and every story. I don’t know if the creators could do a long form story successfully. Their ideas seem custom made for short stories and that is perfectly acceptable. There is a beginning and an end to each of these stories and it is pretty clear cut what that is. Stories come in and out quickly and you get the point of them and then quickly move on to the next.
The bad part of something made in this structure is that there isn’t a lot to grab onto. It doesn’t also feel vital to read every story.
Some stories even end on a cliffhanger and you are suddenly in another story completely. That made it a little bit tough for me to get a foothold on this book. It made the whole thing feel disjointed and awkward and after awhile it stopped being compelling to me. Perhaps a book like this is best read in small doses, and then put down when you’ve had your full. It might even work better that way, and I might have enjoyed it more.
Issue number five had the conclusion of the “Dude, Where’s My Car?” story. The action has us follow along on the streets of Las Brisas and shows us a mystery unlike anything I had read before. It was the longest running story in these issues and it was pretty short overall. Still, there wasn’t a lot of character development to grab onto. And with that, the stakes seem sort of low. So there wasn’t a lot there to keep me reading. It just feels like the creators keep anything emotional at an arms length so the stories didn’t stick with me as much as I might have wanted them to.
Still, it is all in good fun.
The book is generally enjoyable and I look forward to future installments. The writing is sharp and the artwork is consistently well done. The creators are definitely talented and it shows.
All in, this is a fun and light read for the summer months and it is definitely a book that will leave a smile on your face.
RATING: B+
You must be logged in to post a comment Login