Freaky Shenanigans: The Little Empire Strikes Back

Posted: Tuesday, October 30, 2001
By: Darren Schroeder

Cover of Freaky Shenanigans: The Little Empire Strikes Back Creator(s): David C. Hill
Publishers: Self Published
From: UK
Price: £1.50 (UK)

This limited edition (100 sets) collectors pack contains three issues of David's Freaky Shenanigans dating from 1997 & 1999. The first thing that struck me about these books was the artwork. It is very neatly done with clean bold lines and a good consistency of the characters throughout the books. Unfortunately the character design seems to owe a lot to Matt Groening's style, with several characters looking like they stepped straight out the Simpsons.

The next thing I realized was that though the book seemed to be structured like a comedy, with characters spouting punch lines and banter, nothing was actually very funny. At first I thought this might be a flaw in David's writing, but after reading all three issues and only finding one funny joke (a mock add for disgusting 'Scanky Monkeys') I wonder if David actually didn't want it to be funny. Maybe it is just supposed to be downbeat, nasty and weird.

There is a superhero parody, a sci-fi rip off, the painful adventures of a boy trying to get driving lessons from a nasty instructor and the surreal goings on in a house populated by talking cats, dogs and a strange mouse who delivers the mail. It's all weird and strangely bland at the same time.

In a Word: Unsettling.



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