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jeffrossbooks's review against another edition
4.0
What a blast. I loved these when I was younger. This was pure nostalgia. Ridiculous satire. But great fun.
manwithanagenda's review
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
"Mom, do you remember the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers?"
"The comic where the cat shit in the guy's boot?"
"Yeah!"
An inappropriate piece of my childhood to be sure, and when I saw this at the comic shop I couldn't pass it up. I must have been only eight or nine when I first saw these guys. My dad had a couple 'Freak Brothers' comics that were discovered by us one fine rainy day, and he came home to find us in hysterics. My older sister was old enough to explain anything that went over our heads and some stuff, like the aforementioned Cat shitting in a boot, was ageless.
Seeing as how the "damage" was done, my parents became resigned to letting us read it again and answering lots of (to them) uncomfortable questions. Except, as far as I recall, we didn't care about the sex and the drugs and the nudity, only the parts where they swore and got into scrapes. The stupid antics these guys would go through just to score some drugs and avoid paying rent! The Three Stooges movies dad tried to make us watch were never as interesting as the Freak Brothers. And, if anything, they did a lot more to discourage any young curiosity about drugs than any images of eggs frying in a pan. Though that one where the woman starts smashing her kitchen up left me worried for her. All celebratory aspects aside, there was very little glamour in their squalid and filthy lives. Just a lot of laughs.
Reading this complete collection was something of a treat, then. Also a disappointment since it appears the reprints my dad had were the better of the lot so there wasn't much great new stuff. Still, Shelton definitely kept a running commentary of the times from the late 60s to the early 80s, an early joke about terrorist splinter groups when multiple groups try to hijack the same plane was a real winner. I liked the references he makes, too, to other comics figures from 'Schmoos' to 'Bill the Cat'.
Offensive? Oh yeah, there's a hell of a lot to be offended about in here on all fronts. Think of all the societal and economic issues that came to a head in the US in the late 60s and early 70s - Shelton doesn't miss one. That's where a lot of the laughs come from. Weighing it all out and the scattered nature of all the segments (the most enjoyable of which were always the adventures of Fat Freddy's Cat), this was a fun read and a something of a funhouse mirror of those who undoubtedly made up the majority of the counterculture.
"The comic where the cat shit in the guy's boot?"
"Yeah!"
An inappropriate piece of my childhood to be sure, and when I saw this at the comic shop I couldn't pass it up. I must have been only eight or nine when I first saw these guys. My dad had a couple 'Freak Brothers' comics that were discovered by us one fine rainy day, and he came home to find us in hysterics. My older sister was old enough to explain anything that went over our heads and some stuff, like the aforementioned Cat shitting in a boot, was ageless.
Seeing as how the "damage" was done, my parents became resigned to letting us read it again and answering lots of (to them) uncomfortable questions. Except, as far as I recall, we didn't care about the sex and the drugs and the nudity, only the parts where they swore and got into scrapes. The stupid antics these guys would go through just to score some drugs and avoid paying rent! The Three Stooges movies dad tried to make us watch were never as interesting as the Freak Brothers. And, if anything, they did a lot more to discourage any young curiosity about drugs than any images of eggs frying in a pan. Though that one where the woman starts smashing her kitchen up left me worried for her. All celebratory aspects aside, there was very little glamour in their squalid and filthy lives. Just a lot of laughs.
Reading this complete collection was something of a treat, then. Also a disappointment since it appears the reprints my dad had were the better of the lot so there wasn't much great new stuff. Still, Shelton definitely kept a running commentary of the times from the late 60s to the early 80s, an early joke about terrorist splinter groups when multiple groups try to hijack the same plane was a real winner. I liked the references he makes, too, to other comics figures from 'Schmoos' to 'Bill the Cat'.
Offensive? Oh yeah, there's a hell of a lot to be offended about in here on all fronts. Think of all the societal and economic issues that came to a head in the US in the late 60s and early 70s - Shelton doesn't miss one. That's where a lot of the laughs come from. Weighing it all out and the scattered nature of all the segments (the most enjoyable of which were always the adventures of Fat Freddy's Cat), this was a fun read and a something of a funhouse mirror of those who undoubtedly made up the majority of the counterculture.
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