Idiotville: Keep’n it Clean for the Kids
Artzine, Ratsalad friends, 18 pgs, 8$
I never thought I’d start a sentence with the following descriptor, but the world is an absurd place and here we are. Duck-billed and beer-bosomed, Idiotville: Keep’n it Clean for the Kids is colourful but pretty obnoxious. Welcome to Idiotville: abandon all prudence.
This zine is the fourth of the Idiotville series — a string of collaborative drawing zines made by contributors Rat Salad, Tough Titties, The Clam Community College, Doug Wideen and Justin. From what I gather, the drawings were made over the course of a few nights spent drinking and making lewd jokes about animals with human genitalia. Namely, the “cunt dog”: a canine-man with a vagina for a mouth. And I’m not quite sure whether to commend or chastise their representations of gender/interspecial-hybridity. But with captions like “Kill, Fock, DESTROY” and “We will clean your penis (only $5) KIDS GET CLENED FREE,” I’m not sure there’s much room left for critical subversion through art. To be clear, I’m not saying that all zines or art should be subversive, but when your work errs slightly on the offensive side, it’s best to offend for the right reasons. Genitalia, violence and slapstick whimsy don’t really mix.
Regardless, this edition of Idiotville is crisp and well-put- together. It was “printed on genuine hot dog paper with the blood of the chosen one” after all. Or so says the zine’s prefatory info page.
Overall, I’m not sure if I “get” this one. Or, if I do, it’s probably not my cup of tea. (Jeff Low)