I guess it's only fair to let you know that Marcel is extremely hood. His book is like The Boondocks without Huey! Sure, Syrex, Jet and their friends are streetwise and inquisitive, but not the role models your kids need in their lives or anything. Because this book collects the 09 strips, there are frequent hilarious references to Obama, Palin and McCain, but if you're looking for serious political commentary, check CNN. Marcel concerns himself mainly with making you laugh, and he's good at it. REALLY good!
And if he feels comfortable taking shots at the President (and he does) then you know no one is safe. For me, that's Marcel's appeal. He will do anything, address any subject, embarrass his characters (even though he loves them) just to make you laugh. He has clearly clocked countless hours in front of his teevee and studied comedic timing, and flawlessly translates it to comics.
The rough, unpolished style of his drawings masks a pretty sophisticated understanding of storytelling. He varies his layouts, so that some strips are three panels, some four, some eight. some are just one panel. But it's always in service of the gag or joke he's preparing to tell. Just so you know Marcel Comics isn't just mocking the youth, Syrex's dad is probably the funniest character in the book.
In this particular book Marcel really gives everyone their own spotlight, creating some storylines that I didn't notice when reading the book on the web, and taking moments to drop non sequitur strips for comedic value (like the Obama joints or that Thomas Jefferson piece I posted a while back). He leans on racism and sex jokes a lot, but he throws in other stuff for enough variety so it doesn't get boring.
Anyways, I guess it's obvious that I liked Did You Mean MARVEL Comics, a steal at Thirteen bucks for 68 packed pages. To buy it on IndyPlanet, just click here. For all you broke jokers, catch up to Marcel on mySpace and the Facebook.
holla!
samax.
No comments:
Post a Comment