Description
Book Synopsis"We live in a world where meta-comics putting their creators at the forefront of stories is about as unique as grass being green, but when the book is done with this much charm and self-deprecation, it certainly makes the tale worth telling." -Paste Magazine
When acclaimed comics author JAMES ROBINSON (Starman, Fantastic Four) is hired to write a reboot of the 1940s action hero Airboy, he's reluctant to do yet another Golden Age reboot. Just what the hell has happened to his career-?! His marriage?! His life?! Hey, it's nothing that a drink can't fix. It's after one such night of debauchery with artist GREG HINKLE that the project really comes into its own. Quite literally. Because Airboy himself appears to set the two depraved comic book creators on the straight and narrow. But no one in this story has their life go according to plan. Read the entire series in one hardcover collected volume, which features a brand new story dealing with the reaction to the comic's initial publication that doesn't turn out the way anyone expects...least of all Robinson and Hinkle.
A satirical look into the comic book industry paired with the debauchery of Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
Trade ReviewLIBRARY JOURNAL -- The heroic Airboy, who fights Nazis in a plane with flapping wings, was originally created for 1940s fanboys. This Airboy is not. The plot begins as Robinson (
Starman), at a somewhat autobiographical nadir in his life, bemoans his new assignment to relaunch an original
Airboy comic book. When inspiration proves elusive, he recruits reluctant artist Hinkle (
The Rattler) for help and the two head into a Hunter S. Thompsonesque bender of booze, drugs, and sex. Unexpectedly, the stimulant combo sends them right through the boundary between reality and fiction, and both creators and Airboy gain useful enlightenment about living. Somehow transcending cliché owing to clever writing, extreme humor, bizarre vignettes, and adult situations, the story realizes additional oomph through Hinkle's angular, unpretty art. His effective coloring paints “reality” in monochromes, while Airboy's world appears fully vivid. The wild satire spares no one, from women to men to transgender individuals, especially the debaucherous creators who let it all hang out-literally.
VERDICT This pungent treat for gonzo-minded adults who enjoy outrageous comic depravity slyly delivers messages about what matters and why it's important to persevere despite setbacks.
-MC
