Publisher: Image
Writer: James Robinson
Artist: Gregg Hinkle
Colourist: Gregg Hinkle
Release date: OUT NOW!!!!
Price: $2.99

 

Airboy #2 begins with writer James Robinson running in terror down the street with his todger to the wind and you know, we’ve all been there or is that just me?. I mean, you would do the same if Airboy popped up in your house. Is the Golden Age comic book character a shared hallucination or is he real? In Airboy #2 it really doesn’t matter.

Airboy #2 so funny you want to read every word once and then over again. Airboy asks Robinson and his partner-in-drugs artist Hinkle if they are super-villains. “Do we look like super villains?” asks Robinson. “Maybe the stooges of a super villain,” Airboy replies.

Airboy’s comments on San Francisco are priceless. He notes everybody dresses like farmers and itinerant Oakies. “The Nazis won? That would explain all the filth and horror in the streets,” Airboy observes.

Robinson elevates the story beyond just humour. Rather than let Robinson corrupt him like he does Hinkle, Airboy decides to teach the pair a lesson. Unlike the drug-addled and jaded writer Airboy respects his world and his place. His war-torn universe is dangerous but he prefers it as a place of honour and heroism. In this way Airboy is more real than the degenerate writer in his own world as Robinson devolves into a stereotype. Airboy doesn’t give up like the quitter Robinson and would rather face Nazi robots than San Francisco douche bags. Marvel’s current movie version of Captain America hints at this tension, but does not explore it nearly as deeply or profoundly.

Artist Gregg Hinkle may be treated shabbily in the story, but his graphics beautifully fit the surreal circumstances of Airboy #2.

Airboy #2 is another great instalment in this hilarious but serious series. Airboy may not be just the funniest comic book series this year but also one of the best written. This much fun and captivation is over much too quickly. And the only solution to this situation is MORE!!! MUCH, MUCH MORE!!

Are you listening James Robinson and Gregg Hinkle? We may not know where you live but we know where you work!!!!!!!

Review: Joe Lovece
Reviews Editor: Steve Hooker