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Friday - March 18, 2005:

Full Blown Aids by Monty is just about the best argument against my vehement populist beliefs I have ever run across. I write this review only to fulfill my promise of reviewing any strip submitted and encourage you to ignore the rest of this post entirely.


I think Monty summed up his work pretty well in the caption below his second strip:


"Eventually I will start drawing this shit good, and take more then 2 seconds making them...eventually I will stop making comics when I'm fucked up too...eventually... (caption, Full Blown Aids, strip #2)


Evidently, after 25 strips, Monty is still pretty messed up and I have little hope that eventually will ever come. I did not make it through all 25 strips in my first sitting, or my second, or my third. I finally forced myself to keep clicking tonight, two hours before this review gets published.


The Art: The only interesting art is in a couple of the sketches that are occasionally included in lieu of a strip. They are doodles, but with some energy. In a couple of cases they even contain some interesting subject-matter. The rest is some very poorly rendered doodles with the occasional clip-art or jpeg thrown in for bad-measure. The strange thing is that the author seems proud to be producing some very childish and slapdash scribbles.


The Story: There is none. There are events like a man being castrated, but they are there in the name of some pretty sick punch-lines. The gags run the gamut of low humor with the bathroom humor in strip number twenty being almost the lowest. There is a tie in my book for lowest: the comments/captions that followed strips numbered numbers 10 and 14. Number 10 talks about dismembering a hooker while the comment below number 14 is not problematic in and of itself. It depends on the pictures for full effect. The comic depicts a couple of KKK members joking about starching a robe as a prank. The caption reads, "I have an unsurpressable erection for this comic..." Besides the spelling error of which I, myself, have been guilty of quite a few, I guess the intent was to make fun of those racists in white, but it could be read either way and as such is very problematic. The Real Problem: Out of 25 strips, four delve into the aforementioned racist bastion, nearly twenty percent of the strips or one in five strips devoted to a dwindling group of ignorant racists. Why? I'll affirm Monty's right to put this crap on-line. Heck I've gone a step further and probably given him a bunch of clicks. The reason the strip scrapes the very bottom though is not just the use of such loaded pictures. I think the juxtaposition of the most mundane of humor and those white-coned sickos is the dangerous bit. They are used almost as an icon, not the icons of hatred they are, but as cartoons with all that implies. Their repetition and iconic rendering tends to legitimize them. Whether intentional or not, this is a dangerous path to wander down. I'm not calling the author a racist. The strips are such poorly wielded tools of communication, I cannot assert much of anything about their author. Instead it's the lack of explanation for the shocking symbolic appropriation that's the problem.


I confess I don't understand much about the site. None of it is funny and most of it is unpleasant to even look at. There are a couple of predictable punch-lines that I did at least understand, but I really do not understand why anyone would look at any of this, never mind create it. Perhaps the strip is worth some psychological deconstruction, but I'll leave that for someone else. I'm not qualified. Hell, I couldn't handle deconstructing the high art stuff in this month's Webcomics Examiner. How can I be expected to do anything with this? To be fair, I did think a bit about aids and homosexuality in America as both were frequent subject-matter. and I've come to the conclusion that the strip is one bad ambassador for either issue.

I imagine Monty will be pissed off this little review, but I guarantee there is nobody who's spent as much time looking at this site and considering the strips as me. I'm not even sure Monty spent as much time creating them. I'm a little worried about what it's done to me and my attitude towards comics and people. I am also embarrassed to have to be associated with the strip, if even for a couple of days. There are some hints on Monty's site that he's capable of stirring up trouble and proud when he's done so. I do welcome an explanation of anything I've messed up in the review, but beyond that I reserve the right to walk away from this review and never look back.


I'll end with a quote from Monty that had me nodding on some strange levels:

"Comic wise I read very little as most comics suck ass, especially webcomics about Full Blown Aids"

For my sanity, if you've run into a decent web-comic that I haven't yet reviewed, please encourage the creator to submit it. I can only keep my promise to review every strip submitted if the quality outnumbers the crap at least ten to one. Monty and a friend have submitted another strip for review and I will take a look at it as it comes up in the order as promised. I can't say I'm looking forward to it though.


Thank you for your submission. Please keep them coming folks and thanks for your comments below. I imagine there might be a couple on this one.
 
-Bob Stevenson 

 

1 comment:
Bob Stevenson (rstevenson) says:

 

1. Written by Guest, on 18-03-2005 10:51
jesus! 
 
If they gave out an Medal Of Honour for webcomic valour, I'd give it o you right now. 
 
-William G

 

2. Written by Guest, on 18-03-2005 11:16
I still say his links section explains it all. PENIS is at the top of the list. 
That and there's even a Penis guest comic about Penny Arcade. :shudder: 
 
(I will confess about laughing about the KKK at the Laundromat. It was twisted but only by implication. That was the one and only one that made me laugh at all though. I don't feel guilty about this....I fee repentant.) 
-Jared

 

3. mckenzee here...
Written by Guest, on 18-03-2005 14:33
You are committed to reviewing every submission? You are a very brave man.  
 

 

4. Written by Guest, on 18-03-2005 14:58
Sweet baby Jeebus, the pain

 

5. Written by Guest, on 18-03-2005 15:01
Help me be brave. Please get creators to submit the good stuff. 
 
To be honest, I've been pleased overall. For the most part, people who submit are already good or trying to get better, otherwise, why submit. 
 
I'm not so much committed to doing every submission as it is something of a challenge. So far, I have not refused anything, but that would change if people started submitting, say, pronographic comics, extremely violent comics, or too many like today's. I can handle one or two a month, but beyond that, it's just not worth it. And anyway, these make the rest of us look like frakin' genuises (that's right, I too am watching Battlestar Galactica). 
 
-Bob Stevenson

 

6. I love you.
Written by Guest, on 18-03-2005 16:11
FBA sucks ass, fuck that webcomic in it's little puckered homo butthole... 
 
Yours Truely, 
Monty

 

7. Written by Guest, on 18-03-2005 16:31
Um. Um. I am speechless and confused.  
 
Well, maybe not completely: Tool away on the world man. It would seem to be your bitch. 
 
-Bob Stevenson

 

8. Written by Guest, on 18-03-2005 16:57
Wow, now I've seen some queer webcomics before but jesus christ man, this one is downright fagnostic!

 

9. Written by Guest, on 18-03-2005 19:00
I agree with the last guy, who sounded totally not homo...completely straight that is...and not into wrestling a little too much...nope.

 

10. Written by Guest, on 18-03-2005 22:30
Thanks folks. Four more submissions came in this afternoon and they all look interesting.  
 
-Bob Stevenson

 

11. Written by Guest, on 19-03-2005 01:53
achivee is less painful. gotta lemme know when it's gunna be reviewed.

 

12. Written by Guest, on 19-03-2005 02:01
It's about twelve deep so a month, minimum. You'll get an e-mail shortly before it runs.

 

13. Written by Guest, on 19-03-2005 16:35
My response to this review is viewable at  
achivee 
for all those interested. I'm not in the slightest bit angry though. And several of the comments on here aren't me though they seem like it...just fans I guess.  
Yours Truely, 
Monty

 

14. Written by Guest, on 19-03-2005 17:16
Well met. 
 
-Bob Stevenson

 

15. Written by Guest, on 21-03-2005 03:38
Remind me to never borrow a pencil from Monty. 
-Jared

 

16. SQWID
Written by Guest, on 24-03-2005 17:06
Yeah the web comic needs a lot of work, if there is any humor in it, or a point at all, it's pretty much lost in the crappy set up. The ideas aren't uncommon though just too poor in craft to be actually funny. Maybe if they gave him a TV show.. heh heh

 

17. Written by Guest, on 24-03-2005 18:21
Ya think? Exactly what show would Monty do best with? I vote for something like Spring Break Shark Attack.

 

18. Written by Guest, on 25-03-2005 19:35
Im thinking a reality show, like "Hang the N**** then Watch Gay Porn." It could TOTALLY be on ABC...Disney would go for it don't ya think? I mean, they're pretty gay friendly. 
 
Your's Truely, 
Monty 
 
(Edited out the n-word.)

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artist, history teacher, programmer, world traveler ... full profile
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