Punks: The Comic #1
By Joshua Hale Fialkov (@JoshFialkov) & Kody Chamberlain (@KodyChamberlain)
Review by Joey Braccino
Punks: The Comic is so punk it hurts.
Punks: The Comic is so DIY that Kody Chamberlain used an Xacto knife to cut up vintage pics and pop art to illustrate the book.
Punks: The Comic is about four dudes—Dog, Fist, Abe, and Skull—and their general Gen X malaise and anarchic tendencies to punch each other in the nuts.
Punks: The Comic is so hardcore that Dog smashes like a half-dozen gnomes into a bloody pulpy puddle of gnome in the first story alone.
Punks: The Comic is like a post-modern mosh pit of sweat and scissors and shoddy self-aware jokes about sex and suicide.
Punks: The Comic is “so totally” a throwback to those wicked cool ‘90s zines that lined the Underground on at least two continents.
Punks: The Comic used to be a self-published series from the ‘00s by now-uber-famous Joshua Hale Fialkov (Marvel’s Ultimate line) and super cool artist Kody Chamberlain.
Punks: The Comic raises the question: is Punks: The Comic a sell-out for joining up with Image?
Punks: The Comic answers that question with a fraggin’ fireball to the face and a punch to the nuts, man, so pshaw man.
Punks: The Comic is ironic, but not in a hipster way, because punk rock will never die and it never went out of style.
Verdict
Buy. This is exactly the sort of reckless, experimental, anarchic comic book that used to define alternative press a few decades ago. There is something wonderful about its simplicity and pastiche that comics today just can’t capture. And despite the book’s appearance and apparent silliness, Fialkov and Chamberlain demonstrate an intense precision and impressive craftsmanship in their work. DIY, dude, and punch some nuts; CHECK IT!!!
