Reviewed by Taylor Hoffman–– Valkyrie Black Cat Comics, SLC // @taylorcheckers
Drugs, sex, and insider comic dick jokes. What else could you want?
This absolutely isn’t the Airboy you’ve read before, and it’s far from anything that might ever appear in any Airboy comic before this issue. There’s no lightheartedness of hope and overwhelming high spirits, this series isn’t about the character himself, and instead it focuses on the destructiveness of the creative team tasked with writing a new story for the public domain legend. Easy, right? Apparently not for the mostly autobiographical characters of James Robinson and Greg Hinkle as written by Robinson and Hinkle themselves.
Story By: James Robinson
Art by: Greg Hinkle
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: June 6th, 2015
James Robinson is at a low point in his career and generally failing at life in every direction. The way out for this depressed comic writer is through Image Comics calling on him to reboot the Golden Age classic Airboy. While a wildly popular character in the 1940s as a hero pilot fighting nazis, Airboy isn’t a property in touch with modern times and it’s Robinson’s task to bring a new story to the table. Well, this isn’t the Airboy reboot, er, “re-imagining”, that the main title suggests it would be.
Nope. This is a story about writing Airboy and the extremely difficult process of getting over pride and doing work. Yet, Robinson struggles with bitter cynicism and wry self-hatred at the concept of returning to a story he thinks is just plain idiotic. Turns out, Airboy is just the hero he needs to get out of his funk and depression, but it takes a while for him to really see this. He enlists the help of Greg Hinkle for art in hopes that their team-up will bring any idea to life.
Robinson figuratively shits all over the comic industry while literally taking a shit on the first few pages. He punches hard at the political bullshit and stagnation he faces with the big two companies, insulting everyone along the way. Might as well go with Eric Stephenson’s offer from Image Comics, though, because he needs the money. This issue is a look into the mind of an egomaniacal and self-destructive writer written by that writer; It’s so self obsessed in the best possible ways.
In order to gain any ideas, he and Hinkle take a trip to San Francisco, rent a motel room, and go on a drug binge that rivals a night out with Hunter S. Thompson. Robinson’s absolutely unwilling to listen to Hinkle and can’t articulate why he chose him to be the artist other than his art is different.
Hinkle’s art is certainly different, it stands out because his cartoonish realism shows all the flaws that perhaps only the actual subjects could depict. Physically, everyone’s a caricature of themselves –– Robinson’s naked body isn’t fit, Hinkle always looks like a worried kid lost with a maniac and has an… anaconda that can’t be contained and rivals Dr. Manhattan’s shiny blue dick. Their trip into tripping is surreal as it is spirals out of control into some beautifully layouts crunched together to capture that edgy and seedy underbelly of the industry of both comics, prostitution, and drugs. However, it’s not heavy handed so much as a less than tongue in cheek ‘fuck you’, and the result is just perfect a perfect blend of chaos and hilarity. It shows up in Hinkle’s beautiful linework and his unparalleled extreme facial expressions that often say more than any actual dialogue between the characters.
Oh, it’s genius and takes readers on a speed filled ride past writers block and into a realm of ‘what the fuck is Airboy doing in our motel?’.
It’s crude, laugh out loud funny, and self-deprecating as all hell. It’s a risk putting yourself into a comic because it can expose the ugliest parts of you and lets all of your flaws become public consumption; It’s almost a guarantee that the target audience that’s just as sharp as the team will be voracious for more of this downhill spiral.
Unlike Morrison’s Dan Dare “re-imagining” in which he’s put into a slightly satirical anti-Margaret Thatcher place, they’ve yet to even attempted to attack the Airboy character head on because drugs keep getting in the way. Maybe they should use Morrison’s hallucinogenic drugs of choice to tackle these old characters, but horse tranquilizers still get them to a place of enlightenment of some sort. Of course, they also take a few ballsy jabs at Morrison and Dan Clowes for their hipster qualities of writing “‘clever’ ironic takes on old stuff.” The irony to them is that it’s their job, and the irony to readers is that the entire book is based on that concept at heart. How does someone bring something new to the established an old beloved characters without butchering anyone in the process.
This updated version of Airboy is like nothing else we’ve seen before and it’s a fresh take inside the obsessive and insidious mind of the more than stressed out world of comics.
It’s short for a new comic ringing in at only 17 pages, but the length is not a problem because it’s one that’s re-readable and each time there’s something new that pops out. Robinson’s such an asshole and poor Hinkle just goes along with it because, unfortunately, it’s his goddamn job to follow.
Getting out of a stereotype means running full force in the opposite direction and finding a new angle to see the established world; Robinson isn’t just the Golden Age hack that he despises being known as anymore. This is Image title taking a huge risk in hopes that the growing audiences that love the weird and raw books coming out will appreciate the craziness of the team’s journey. As of this first issue, they did a great job. I’m pretty sure the first conversations between Robinson and Stephenson/ Robinson and Hinkle are actual conversations about making this story real.
When in doubt, write about yourself. Unlike some of the greats that Robinson’s jealous of constantly, he doesn’t put himself into the story –– he is the story and everyone around him is sucked into his inner world of mental flagellation.
If absolutely nothing else stands out on this shelves this week, pick up Airboy. It’s not horror, it’s not fantasy, and it’s not based on a movie or video game; it’s a trip that’s real and surreal at the same time. It’s outrageously hilarious and by the end, it’s unexpected that Airboy would ever actually show up to save the day. Where it goes from here decides whether it’s a successful endeavor for the team, and it’s on the way to be something special.