Remember a time when clowns were considered fall-on-the-floor hilarious entertainment and clowning was revered by the world at large? Yeah, I don’t either, but my man Mike Hoffman sure does as evidenced by Slappo, Humpo, and Floppo waxing nostalgic about a time less cynical and polluted by video games and Family Guy.
After all, when was the last time you saw a clown that WASN’T holding a bloody axe, or a severed head, or sumptin’?
“Fears Of The Clown” (ha!) kicks off as we see our heroes ignominiously bomb at a nearly-empty circus (sadly all-too common). During the aforementioned poignant conversation, our clown posse discovers the grease paint isn’t coming off and their rubber noses having feeling. Things start to get really trippy once they find that they are now the only inhabitants in this jerkwater town and the only clowns left of earth.
Oh, and this is the point at which a giant calliope comes down from the heavens and sends our chums to alternate dimensions.
Are you getting all this? I’m with you, Mike. I love comics like this. Something bonkers is happening every couple of pages. The dialogue is great and is written with a distinct voice and dialect. Puns, too, of which I’m a big fan. The art is swell. The characters are rubbery, and the logic is bouncy. This is the kinda book I might expect to find from the 80′s B&W boom. It could be a Charleston comic from an alternate universe (minus the color). Admittedly, I’d really like to see this book in color. I understand that in this day and age, and given the fact that mongoloids run everything, print is expensive -especially in color. So, I’ll let this pass. It’s funny, and who needs color to laugh?
Behind the scenes peek: Apparently, “real” clowns took offense to this funnybook. I guess clowns can’t take a joke? Most clowns just do birthday parties and hold arrow signs in front of new condominiums, and they have the high moral standards that these activities dictate. Okay, clowns shouldn’t smoke in comics. If clowns are worried about kids seeing this image, rest assured that inside a comic book would be the last place a child would look.
“Can’t blame the kids, Floppo, we lost them. We lost them for good.”
You said it, Slappo!
