Angry Youth Comix (Vol. 2)

(Fantagraphics, 2004-2008)
™ and © Fantagraphics Books, Inc.
Black and white series.

Well, it’s certainly nice to know that there’s balance in the comics industry. On the one side, there are creators who strive to improve the art form with intelligence and innovation. And then there are those who are content to rely on the oldest and cheapest of entertainment genres: profanity-laden bathroom humor. Yay.

And there are scatological references aplenty in creator Johnny Ryan’s series, not to mention appearances of other bodily substances and odors. But, lest the reader think that’s all there is to this comic book, there are also so-called jokes about racism and concentration camps. Yay again.

The problem with this comic book isn’t even that it contains these questionable topics; it’s the fact that the toilet gags aren’t funny — or, at least, haven’t been since the third grade. And that’s about as good as it gets, because not even an 8-year-old would find the rest of the book funny.

There’s no attempt at any kind of spin or twist to make it humorous. Other cartoonists have added other elements to this kind of thing in their works to make them palatable, at the very least. Indy creator Jason Yungbluth, for instance, used these jokes along with scathing satire to make his Deep Fried series absolutely and brilliantly side-splitting.

No such thing here, though. Ryan’s attempt at distilled, no-frills humor falls flat, because he’s left nothing to laugh at. But this comic book might still have some appeal — to those who still laugh out loud at their own flatulence, perhaps.

— Jim Johnson

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