Hip Flask: Unnatural Selection

    (Active Images, 2002)
™ and ©2002 Active Images

In much the same way that “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing” was developed from a commercial jingle into a full-fledged Top 40 hit, Hip Flask has developed from a shill for comic-book fonts into a character in his own right.

The story, a science-fiction tale of a corporation breeding a race of anthropomorphic jungle slaves, is a powerful narrative, but not in the spirit that Hip Flask fans might be expecting. The hippo detective, when he appeared in noir settings, always seemed kind of cuddly. This tale is anything but.

The story is dark. The art is grim. The omnipresent voice of the Mappo corporation sets an eerie “Big Brother” tone. The comic book is well-crafted, although the translucent word balloons are really annoying. They do not enhance the art and mildly impede the reading.

While Flask appears throughout, it is not yet his story; it is Mappo’s. The ad for the next installment implies that it will be more fully his.

— Jack Abramowitz
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  NotesWriterArtist
#1 Variation A

September, 2002
Cover Price: $2.99
1 copy available for $19.95 		Richard Starkings, José Ladrönn, Joe CaseyJosé Ladrönn
#1 Variation B

September, 2002
Cover Price: $2.99
2 copies available from $4.00 		Richard Starkings, José Ladrönn, Joe CaseyJosé Ladrönn
#1 Variation C

September, 2002
Cover Price: $2.99
5 copies available from $4.00 		Richard Starkings, José Ladrönn, Joe CaseyJosé Ladrönn
#1 Variation D

September, 2002
Cover Price: $2.99
7 copies available from $3.98 		Richard Starkings, José Ladrönn, Joe CaseyJosé Ladrönn