If you went to creator William Brian MacLean and told him this zine wholly offended your 90-year-old grandmother, he’d likely die a happy man.
This comic absolutely thrives on shock value, and you definitely wouldn’t get that impression from the lovely mosaic-type pattern of the cover. There are men with erections. There is a carnivore clown soiling his pants. There are women getting their breasts ripped off by said carnivore clown.
I’ll admit I had to put this zine down a couple of times.
But I always came back to it, and it wasn’t because I’m a reviewer. This zine is meant to challenge you, disgust you and make you feel dirty. If anything, it’s exploiting the fetishistic culture of pornos, sex and violence that many people indulge in anyway, and then exaggerating it further to make people stop and realize just how sick we all are.
It’s meant to get you talking and–love it or hate it–you’ll do just that. Some will preach that it’s absolutely sick and in poor taste and others will laugh their asses off.
What I love is that each strip adopts a different theme. There are sad strips, interesting strips, crude strips and even interactive strips. For example, the strips about Cocoa the Clown are pretty nasty as he’s the one soiling his pants and de-breasting women like chickens. An interesting strip is “Swing-set,” as it’s drawn in a circular panel that’s divided up like a colour wheel. It shows how you keep going around in circles trying to get to the same person at a party, because other people keep distracting you. And lastly, the interactive comic is an untitled piece that encourages you to colour in the panels! How cool!
Lewd and obscene comics aside, this zine is quite the work of art. The comics are well-drawn; they’re simple, yet skillfully convey emotion that helps guide the reader when things aren’t explicitly stated. But damn, it’s a strange one. (Amy Greenwood)
Comic, William Brian MacLean, Free, wbm.livejournal.com, comicspace.com/wbm