Crayon Shinchan

    (ComicsOne, 2002-2004, 2008)
™ and © 2002 ComicsOne Corp.
CMX republishes starting in 2008

In American comics, mischievous little boys tend to fall into two distinct categories, the intentionally destructive (The Katzenjammer Kids) and the unintentional (Dennis the Menace). Japan’s Crayon Shinchan has it both ways, making both the kind of mistakes with language and behavior appropriate for a toddler and purposely trying to drive every adult within range apoplectic with rage.

For originating in a country obsessed with the cute, he’s a strangely lopsided-looking pile of shapes, equipped with an unnatural sullen reserve that makes his antics both creepy in a Damien kind of way and frequently hilarious (the phrase “mustache crotch monster” continues to haunt me). Of course, while reading Shinchan one must be aware of those wacky Japanese cultural differences, like the way his hostile mother regularly smacks him around for even the most innocent transgression and his mostly absent girl-crazy father lives in terror of his wife’s sexual needs.

Somebody show this to Comedy Central; it would make for a nice companion piece to South Park.

— S.A. Bennett
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2 copies available from $3.00 		Yoshito UsuiYoshito Usui