Writer: Joshua Hale Fialkov
Artist: Kody Chamberlain
Company: Digital Webbing

Ever had a really bad fever? The kind that gives you hallucinations where the weirdest crap happens, but it all just seems to fit, and every so often things will just take a right turn (or maybe a left) for no discernable reason but it’s okay because why not, really? Reading Punks is like that, except there’s no imminent chance of dying and you don’t get to call in to work.

I had a pretty good idea what was coming, because I read and loved the Summer Special, but Fialkov and Chamberlain pushed things a bit further this time. In general, the book is about the four titular punks, who live together in a house and do crazy crap a la The Young Ones. Each has a weird head- Dog has a bulldog head, Abe is Abraham Lincoln, Skull has a skull (natch), and I bet you can guess what Fist’s head is. Amidst the crotch punches and dancing, this time out the four try to save Christmas (sort of), Jesus makes an appearance, Brian Reed announces his hatred of women, Charles Dickens takes his stories back at gunpoint, and an interview with James Sime of famous retail shop The Isotope tells us where babies come from.

Kody Chamberlain’s art style on these books, a major change from his work on 30 Days of Night: Bloodsucker Tales and Tag, is done in collage, which perfectly fits the anarchic, frenetic feel of the book. A large part of the appeal for me is the organic feel of the artwork, each piece feeling as much like a diorama as a comics page. It’s an energetic, crazy style, but it really works, and Punks wouldn’t have half the impact it does with standard drawn panels.

Anyone with any love for the absurd should be reading Punks. This is a breakthrough book, and though it isn’t for everyone, I think a lot of people are missing out on great fun and it’s a damn shame.

This is an advance review. This issue is due for release on December 28th.