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Published by: Image Comics
Released on: Mar. 11, 2015
Writer: Keenan Marshall Keller
Artist: Tom Neely
Cover artist: Tom Neely
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Fans of biker gang movies and humanoid primates fuggen REJOICE! Finally a comic book that meshes two goofy genres together to give the goons exactly what they want: a humanoid primate biker gang comic book. What could this possibly be all about? Does that even matter? Its apes on bikes, so no it doesn't matter. But in case you do care, here's what the story is all about. Semi-spoilers so beware, though the spoiling is done so indirectly.
The Humans are a group of hell-raising motorcycle-riding apes who tear ass all across the west coast, somewhere between L.A. and San Francisco; somewhere outside Bakersfield to be un-exact, and in the fall of 1970. The Humans are mourning for the loss of their fallen brother Mojo and this very day they bury him in the graveyard.
After some words from the poet Marra, their leader Bobby gives the gang some rallying words and then it's party time. After pills, pot, beer, whiskey, a drunken Clyde with no pants, and a funny blow-job, the fun comes to an abrupt end at Mojo's grave when the rival gang shows up: The Skabbs. You know what this means…monkey fight (no poo-flinging though). Once the dust settles its back to The Humans compound to continue the celebration of Mojo's life and death, complete with live music from Smelly Tongues. But their jubilee makes them unaware that someone uninvited is looking to join the fun.
That someone is a chimp is named Johnny, and he has been believed dead, killed in Vietnam. But the government was wrong and Johnny is alive and well, and ready to get back his surrogate family The Humans. Johnny proves right away he is angst-ridden and not to be fucked with. The sheriff isn't so impressed though, and harasses the wandering ape as soon as he gets off the bus.
Some flashback action to boot camp in the form of a kick-ass 2-page spread makes it apparent Johnny has some trouble with letting go of all the military brain-washing and back to a normal life. But he's scarred emotionally and has a tough time keeping it together. The party is still going on in Mojo's honor, and now the band playing is Zig Zags. Not sure what happened to Smelly Tongues, but this new band is jamming so there. After some angry antics on the stage, Johnny takes some R&R with all kinds of mind-altering substances and four ape-chicks at the same time.
At this juncture, there are two stories running simultaneously and meshing into one another. Johnny's flashbacks are one story, and this time around we get some quality time with arriving in-country, getting shot down, and surviving in a P.O.W. camp. It's not a nice bunch of memories, be sure of that. These flashbacks keep coming and going, taking Johnny in-and-out of awareness and his current reality.
Back in the present, Johnny's brother doesn't waste any time by letting Johnny acclimate back into the fold, and instead tunes him in on the next big thing he's cooking up: a big money-maker that takes a hallucinogen and mixes it with meth, giving the doper an insane high. Trials on the skins (what they call human beings) are still being conducted in the barn, but ape trials are around the corner. Working with other gangs, they can fuck over Abe, the ape they work for, and run their own racket. Johnny questions the thinking behind pissing off Abe, but he's a Human and he goes where they go. Especially on his bike “Moonbeamâ€.
The Humans make their first move in busting away from under the control of that fat bastard Abe Simian. Abe is holding a skin-fight, which is what they call the equivalent of dog fighting but between two skins (hairless apes; human beings), and Johnny's big brother Bobby has a plan to make some big money off the fight.
Abe's number one fighter is Bubba, the biggest skin Johnny has ever seen, and Bobby wants to put one of their skins against Bubba. They may have an advantage with their skin, since they laced him with their experimental drug Spazm, which has proven to cause skins to go totally bonkers. Bobby and Abe strike up a wager that Abe expects not to lose, but the trick Bobby has planned might cause more harm than good in the long run; maybe even the short run.
You will either love this comic or think it is absolutely stupid and not worth wiping with. This reader falls into the first group, as is probably obvious, and is in no way embarrassed by that fact. With the drugs, the sex, and the violence it's as close to underground comix as you're likely to get from a major comic book publisher, which is what this book feels like. It's wicked fun stuff.
Tom Neely's artwork is perfect for the subject matter and the way he lays out the fight between The Humans and The Skabbs results in four of the best pages in the book. But he doesn't stop there, and delivers a number of great 2-page spreads with some wicked panel layouts, such as an acid trip in chapter two, and an apartment walk-through in chapter three. But his single panels command almost as much attention as the big spreads. Lots of details to be taken in and the coloring job by Kristina Collantes really assists in making his work shine. Keenan Marshall's sense of humor and writing style, at least in this book, is in the gutter: the script and characters are funny, sleazy, and devoid of any socially redeeming qualities. Nothing is off limits it would seem, other than genital penetration, and he really uses that freedom to great effect. The book a sincere underground comix feel to it, made even more so by the sound effects used and the lettering job for that matter.
This volume collects issues one through four of the comic and includes the #0 issue that was self-published, which acts as a prequel. After the story is done, some pinups are provided and bios on the main characters are provided. The bios are pretty cool too, so make sure you read them.
You can't go wrong with this book. Unless of course you're wrong in the head and don't like talking apes that ride choppers, fornicate, drink and drug swear like drunken senators, and beat up other talking apes. If that's the case, you will hate this comic. Too bad because it's a total blast.
