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Title: Boof Company: Jmage Issues: /-2Cover Price: 2.75 Canadian In case you were wondering, Boof is a short, hideously obese, over-muscled, tusked, mohawked, barbarian warrior from Planet Smashmouth who takes up residence in ten year old Nick’s suburbian backyard. This allegedly humorous comic is about the adven- tures Boof, Nick, and Nick’s dog Buddy. And it isn’t funny.

It’s a bad attempt to cash in on popular gross-humour characters like Ren and Stimpy

or Beavis and Butt-head. Boof is just another pointlessly violent dumb guy. Nick thinks Boof is cool (go figure!). And Buddy likes to exploit Boof’s stupidity by whizzing on him and playing decidedly mean tricks.

The stories by Beau Smith aren’t much either. Boof plays baseball and the kids think his violent tendencies are cool. Boof saves Buddy from the neighbourhood dog-catcher and all the dogs think he’s cool. Boof helps catch Meathook, the biggest, meanest catfish inthe pond. Boofbeats up the two evil Siamese cats next door. Yahoo.

But the humour falls flat for having been done much better elsewhere. The most original gag involves Buddy tricking Boof into eating yard fudge... which turns out to be dog turd. Yum. The other stuff, like a cat that talks like Al Pacino (ripped off from the Goodfeathers on Animaniac) and the constant toilet humour (done with more subtlety and better laughs on Ren and Stimpy) and the attempt at over the top, Ren and Stimpy-style lunacy is just dumb and will be forgotten not long after.

The art by John Cleary is a bad cross between the typical Image style (gritted teeth, contorted faces, too many little lines) and Nickelodeon style cartooniness. Eyew.

Some people will love the gross-out humour, because it really does go over the top (maybe too far), but the lack of originality and the occasionally annoying dialogue will kill it for most people. Avoid it.

Lon meets Boof for the first time

Title: Boof and the Bruise Crew

Company: /mage

Issues: #/

Cover Price: $2.75

Ah, the humour mag. That irreverent, uncon- ventional anomaly that allows us to escape from the continuingly pointless angst of X- Men and their various look alikes. What a

wonderful feeling it is to laugh!

Too bad for me I was reading Boofand the Bruise Crew.

While it is marginally funnier than Boof ssolotitle, thiscomic centering on Boof’s other alien friends falls just as far short of the mark for its severe lack of creativity.

A bunch of alien weirdos land on Earth on Halloween. They include Opee, who is big, dumb, and cute; Sarge, who is short, legless, and senile; Bunny, who is legless, female, and does nothing whatever in this issue; an un- named robot; Zeek, the science officer; and our pal husky, tusky Boof. They attend a Hallow- een party, win eating contests, fart, get whizzed on by Buddy the dog and throw up on Zeek. And all the neighbourhood kids think they’re cool.

For the most part unoriginal, it does have one thing over Boof: the characters are at least likeable. Boof has a much smaller role here, leaving room for Opee to do cute, dumb things and the Sarge (my favourite) to babble nonsensically about everything. They almost save the book.

Beau Smith tries gamely in both Boof books to sound like Ren and Stimpy or Beavis and Butt-head, and while never quite reaching that level he comes closer with this one. I personally like the senile blithering of the Sarge, whose reality-impaired ramblings are mildly original. Tim Harkins, artist and letterer, turns in some passable cartoony artwork. Al- though not excellent, it is better suited to the story than the eye-gouging stuff John Cleary does in Boof.

If you must read a Boof title, I recom- mend this one. While still not up to the standards of those it imitates, it comes much closer than the solo Boof book, and the char- acters are more fun.

Se

‘<4 Sig : —— O

Title: Freak Force

Company: /mage

Issues: # 6,7

Cover Price: $2.65 Canadian

And now that I’ve finished trashing Todd McFarlane’s attempts a hip humour comics, it’s time I reviewed a comic that’s doing hip humour right.

The title in question is Erik Larsen’s Freak Force, a tongue in cheek superhero title just packed with... well... freaks. There’sa spiny- skinned mutant named Horridus; a beautiful girl named Dart with a terrible costume; Bar- baric, the requisite fur-covered brick; an old Golden Age guy with bizarre shape-changing metal limbs name of Superpatriot; and then there’ Mighty Man...

Issue number 6, Mighty Man’s Secret Revealed, pays homage to the big red cheese (Shazam! or Captain Marvel to you). The twisted tale of Ann Stevens has the spotlight as she makes the startling (and hilarious) revela- tion that she has become the vessel for Mighty Man. Then Rapture (I have no idea what power she has) reveals that her origin involves Mighty Man’s nemesis, Dr. Nirvana (a play on Shazam!’s worst villain, Dr. Sivana) and then robot ants emerge in the Amazon. Be sure to read the letter column, as it sheds light on the backstory of Mighty Man... and there’s a‘one page epilogue featuring The Savage Dragon

Vow

immediately after.

Then comes issue 7, in which the shad- owy Kill Cat (picture a cross between Shadowhawk, Batman, and a lounge lizard) comes to Chicago looking for his old ‘girl- friend’ Dart. Trouble is, Dart hates Kill Cat... and Kill Cat has no idea what a slime he is. Then the robot ants eat a bunch of guys in medieval armour. I’m sure it’ll all make sense in time...

Erik Larsen, one of the ‘‘fun guys’’ at Image, apparently takes nothing seriously, and the back-up writer is the infamously irreverent Kieth Giffen, who is most famous for turning DC’s Legion of Superheroes into one of the funniest comic book farces ever. The one downer to this book is the artwork. Victor Bridges’ art is sparse and simple, with undetailed back- grounds. Still, it’sa nice change from the usual constipated facial expressions found in other Image books.

So for a light-hearted romp through a twisted world of neat characters, check out the Freak Force... and bring an ant trap.

-- Lon Talbot

Campus News:

Congratulations and thanks

U.P.E.I. Shinerama Committee Co-chairs Rot O’Connorand Ray Murphy presented Fit Con pany memberships and C.D.’sto Anika Larkii Erin Hutchings, and Nicole Bellamy for brin; ing in the highest total for a group of thre Awards were presented to top shiners wh participated in this year’s Shinerama Can paign at a dance held in their honour at TI Charlottetown Playhouse.

Other winners included Tammi Jo Aul and Jennifer Younker for best team of tw Steve Gallant for best individual shiner; Car Lynn Maze for mostoriginal shiner (she shin the hooves of a pony); Jerry Morrell for be Frosh Committee person. Susan Reichhe and Kadre Kass received honourable me tions.

Persons receiving awards who did n attend the ceremony may pick up their prize the Student Union.

The Shinerama Committee would lil to thank the following businesses who mat this year’s campaign a success: Dunki Donuts, The Charlottetown Playhouse, T! Tradewinds, Mark’s Work Warehouse, F Company, U.P.E.I Bookstore, Party Centr The Salvation Army Thrift Store, Domino Pizza, Sea Treat Restaurant, CIMN Radi U.P.E.I. Student Union, the C.P. Hotel, Tild Interrent, Rent-a-Wreck, and Kodak Canad

The campaign continues until the 1 of the month with such events as car wash and 50-50 draws.

--Bob Stanley.

View From the Top

Engineering Column

Well, I’m sure that you’ re as keen to be back the books as I am. It’s another wild and cr: year in the engineering society and I hope have good involvement in all the activities t take place (since it’s your money we’re spe ing!). We urge you to pay your membership of $12 as soon as possible so that we may be; planning events. All suggestions on how money should be spent are welcomed.

The annual ‘*Cornboil Bash”’ is sch uled for the second weekend (Friday) in Oc ber at the Mill Stream Barn and is alway “*good’’ time. We want all first year engin ing students to go out and get to know the ot members from second and third year (we do bite).

There is a T-shirt design contest year. Entries should be on 8 1/2 X 11 paper passed in to an executive (Kim, Jane, Rae Brian) before October 7, so that they will ready for the cornboil. There is also a possi ity that we could have caps made up too. So

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