Comic World News

April 22, 2008:
CWN and the Grand Finale! -

February 4, 2008:
In Conclusion - David ends his CWN run with Tezuka's MW from Vertical

February 2, 2008:
Acting Like You Have Nothing to Prove -

February 2, 2008:
The Shoegazer Returns - A New Year Begins, And Our Narrator Makes A Pledge

January 30, 2008:
Tim's Reviews -

September 13, 2007:
Wizard World Chicago Loot, Part One - Stykman, Empty Chamber, the Ztarian Saga, and yes, Little Bunny Foo Foo

February 15, 2007:
I Come Not to Bury Nick Cage... - But to mourn the death of my punchline

November 20, 2006:
The End - Rich's last Chicks & Romance

November 8, 2006:
Joann Sfar's Klezmer - And a Front Racks Hiatus

October 4, 2006:
This Month's Guest: Dave Gibbons - From the pages of Elephantmen!

September 18, 2006:
Back in Berlin - or How I spent my summer

July 29, 2006:
KICKING UP A STORM - An interview with David Lloyd

June 19, 2006:
You Ain't Never Had A Friend Like Me. - Graeme looks at Spidey's "genies"

December 18, 2005:
Disappointed - Sad news for fans of Busiek's CONAN, Stephen King, and others

December 13, 2004:
JUSTICE UNPLUGGED 2 at last !!! - By Fabrice Sapolsky & Xavier Fournier

December 2, 2004:
THE TWELFTH AND FINAL STEP - Say it ain't so, Dan.

November 23, 2004:
The importance of editing -

September 29, 2004:
Mystery and Conundrum indeed! - Where in the world is Jason Pomerantz?

September 13, 2004:
Hello and Goodbye and Hello Again - Change is in the air at CWN and it smells sweet.

August 12, 2004:
The Rise of the Web Toon - New Business Model or Dumb Luck?

July 30, 2004:
The Name Says it All... - Spin Doctors revamp Boomerang.

July 27, 2004:
Bigger Isn't Always Better -

June 8, 2004:
Pre-emptive Strike: MoCCA Arts Festival - Looking forward to the con, rather than looking back at it

The Layer Method
Our top Secret time-saving technique for creating and merging balloons and tails in Illustrator.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Dope Fiends of the Zombie Caf�!

Review by Michael May

Written by Sean Frost
Illustrated by Rafer Roberts
Layout by Wendi Strang-Frost
Hula Cat Comics; $3.00

"Science!" the cover proudly proclaims. "Cheerleaders in Trouble!" "Drug-Crazed Violence!" "Beatnik Culture Gone Bad!" I knew right away it was going to be tasty.

This mini-comic claims to be part Night of the Living Dead, part Reefer Madness. It's an apt description. In it, a mad scientist experiments with a new vegetable preservative that has some pretty bad side effects. After he uses it on a batch of carrots, the rabbits that eat those carrots turn into flesh-eating zombies. As do the kids who tour the scientist's lab on a field trip and receive carrots as a souvenir. As do the beatniks whose dope crop is right next door to the lab and is contaminated by the runoff from the experimental preservative. Soon, there are precious few folks left to fight these people-eating pot-heads. Just the scientist, a field trip kid who prefers broccoli, the kid's cheerleader sister who tags along with her boyfriend to a zombie-infested beatnik joint called The Zamby Caf� for Open Mic Night, and the Maynard G. Krebs lookalike who talked them into going to the caf� in the first place.

The book is hilarious. The scientist's reverence for science and disregard for everything else is gleeful. When a kid asks him if he can prove that his preservative really works, he invites the child over, knees him in the head (to the only sound effect that's ever made me laugh out loud), and asks the class, "Any more stupid questions? Then get out so I can make science."

And what isn't funny about beatniks? Honestly. I get the chuckles just listening to them talk ("What's what, daddies?"), but it's even funnier when they're jonesing for some gray matter at the same time ("Like, braainss!").

The cheerleader and her little brother are also written with uproarious gusto. When the scientist tells the little boy that none of his tests suggested zombification of the subjects, the kid takes a look at all the enormous, undead bunnies in the lab and says, "I'm guessing you don't know fuck about rabbits." Meanwhile at the caf�, the cheerleader is itching to ditch that dive and go find a respectable soda shop so she can get a burger and a cherry Coke. The longer she has to stay and listen to zombies recite bad poetry, the more pissed and the tougher she gets.

Then there's the narrator who very seriously explains how all this just goes to show that drugs are bad.

There's such an atmosphere of fun and affection for old horror movies and cautionary tales that it's impossible not to get sucked into it. Plastic Farm's Rafer Roberts supplies the art and it's obvious that he's enjoying this every bit as much as writer Sean Frost is. That his work is obviously influenced by Robert Crumb further makes him a perfect match for the script.

Dope Fiends of the Zombie Caf�! is available to purchase online at Hula Cat Comics.com.