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Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Released On: February 25, 2015
Story and Art By: John Mueller
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The Story:
You might think that a half man/half pig wouldn't make much of a hero in an industrialized future society, but that would mean that you weren't familiar with Oink. The product of a Public School turned Slaughterhouse/Prison, Oink was raised to keep his opinions to himself, eat his porky meals like a good little cannibal, and generally keep out of the way of the Warden, who ruled Slaughterhouse 628 with the help of his "Angels"; armband and halo-sporting soldiers who concern themselves only with education and discipline. As the years go on, Oink becomes a model inmate of 628, accepting the word of the Warden as the truth; that despite being dumb of mind, all beasts are there by the will of The Good One to serve.
When his mentor Spigot is publicly executed for daring to speak out against the state, Oink begins to question the real reason for his existence. Realizing that freedom of mind isn't worth a thing unless it's accompanied by freedom of body, Oink takes his anger out in the form of a murderous rampage, burning the slaughterhouse to the ground along with everyone in it.
Fleeing to the outside world of Heaven, he is soon pursued by the Angels, led Cardinal Bacaar; head of the church and controller of all that is wrong in Oink's world. With friends few and enemies multiplying daily, Oink begins a journey that will take him from his Birthing Place to his ideal version of Heaven, wreaking bloody havoc all the way.
This trade paperback of OINK released by Dark Horse is the 20th anniversary of John Mueller's original publication, and boasts the equivalent of a digital remastering, with repainted and redone story elements and artwork. While I didn't catch OINK in the original inception, I can tell you that the book looks absolutely amazing, with some of the most horrific and beautiful artwork I've ever seen in a book. Despite the lack of probability of the subjects on this current plane of existence, Mueller's artwork paints every panel as a very real thing, creating a frightening universe with an assortment of genuinely creepy occupants.
Wondrous as the illustrations are, the story does present itself as slightly sub-par in comparison. OINK is certainly not ever going to be called subtle, with its overt politics and fascistic images, and you're not going to find much of a deeper meaning here. This is a straight-ahead blood-and-guts story that pulls no punches in the retributive justice department, not something that's open to interpretation. In this area, though, it could be said that Mueller's writing is perfectly suited for what it is; the story of a pissed off, somewhat dense pig in search of his own truth.
The Final Word:
Man, that art. This book looks about as good as any I've seen, and is worth reading just for that. And who knows, maybe there is another meaning and I'm just as dense as OINK.
