Customer Reviews

Attitude Featuring Stephanie McMillan: Minimum Security

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Stephanie McMillan's "Minimum Security" online comic strip has finally been compiled into a book. Why, I don't know. Although the story lines are a little... insane, the artwork more tha... oh wait, the art looks worse than a kindergarten art class studying Pollock and the composition makes it almost unreadable. The "socio-political commentary" that so many readers "enjoy" is more of a commentary on the writers sanity and need for some serious treatment for paranoia. For the love of God stay away from this book.

This is a book filled with political cartoons. They are all strongly leaning towards the left and the result is a huge amount of Bush bashing and Environmentalism. There are a lot of cartoons covering the current situation of liberals versus conservatives and provides a different viewpoint from that which you would see in national politics.

The only problem is that it's not funny. Sure, It's easy to get some giggles when you see your philosophical oppostion strawmanned but other than a political pie throwing contest there's isn't much in the way of humor involved.

This is pretty much the evil twin of Mallard Fillmore, only instead of an anthropomorphic Republiduck its a Pippi Longstockings and her one eyed rabbit. This book is decidedly one sided and though its a great bullhorn to spew opinions, but unless the simple line of 'Republicans are stupid' sends you into uncontrollable fits of laughter you aren't going to get more than a smirk out of this volume.

Great gift for a left leaning friend who hates art.

While this comic book tries to sort out the problems of the world in a sarcastic way it falls very short of the mark. Jokes comparing Bush to Hitler are rather played out, like most of the "witty" sarcasm contained within. It's not funny. At all. The drawings are reminiscent of a parkinsons patient grocery list and the "facts" are as misguided as a horny blind man in a fish factory. If the world runs out of toilet paper, by all means get this waste of paper. Otherwise, stay far away from this garbage.

McMillan is absolutely amazing, using a surreal world populated with animated stuffed creatures and odd people to comment on life, politics, and a little bit of everything else. Frequently laugh out loud funny, her strips have the benefit of not facing the watering down influence of corporate oversight. They come straight from her brain to your page, and that gives her room to play that you can't find in the corporate approved stuff you see in the newspaper.

Hell, throwing all that crap aside: its worth the price for the belly laughs you'll get from reading it.

Pick it up. You won't be sorry.

McMilllan's anger and outrage are fueled by a deeply held sense of compassion for the powerless and the voiceless. Her visceral renderings of power elites and ignorant masses express a righteous contempt of greed, corruption and complacency; yet one gets the sense that McMillan may be holding back. She could go for the throat, but her deep love of humanity has convinced her that a better tack is to just kick the bastard in the balls. A recently added cast of characters has allowed McMillan to explore more positive ideas and different concerns, such as the environment, spirituality, sexuality and so on. And story lines! Her work continues to grow and it's well worth watching

This is just seriously unfunny. It reads like some angsty teenagers's tribute to half understood Marxism, and it doesn't even come close to being amusing. This is comedy poison.

Bananabelle. Bunnista. Rainbow and Karla. A floating pug that quotes Zen. These are just some of the far-out characters in Stephanie McMillan's comics.

Using animal and human characters, McMillan does a hilarious job of allowing us to see ourselves through her characters. One character asks "Do you ever wake up and feel total contentment, like everything is right with the world? Me neither". Her characters comicly confront many issues that are dear to libertarians, such as the Blair-n-Bush crime alliance and their illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq, the slippery slope to a Nazi Amerika through the continued deterioration of individual liberty, and corporations waging economic fascism and tearing up the environment.

She also pokes fun at the callousness and screwed-up values of corporatists; for example two upper middle class ladies pass by a homeless mother and her children, and stop when they see their dog: "Poor thing! How could someone leave you sitting out here in the hot sun?" . Dogs, and cats, often have lifestyles that are the envy of many humans caught in poverty: many dogs and cats live in air conditioned dwellings and are attended to by voluntary servants who freely feed them, bathe them, and provide personal fitness training.

"Minimum Security" will delight and entertain as it offers a smorgasbord of memorable characters and lessons learned from their encounters with the absurdities of the world. Through heart, humor, and wit, the reader learns to reflect on things that otherwise leave us feeling discontented.

Is this book environmentally friendly? Definitely! And that's not just because it's populated with a fair amount of level-headed, nature-loving characters (along with many other kinds), either; you could recycle it, but why would you? If you did, you'd deprive yourself the chance of being amused again and again by its brilliant, yet all-too-true jokes about our modern society and its ills. Are there serious moments, too? There are, and there should be, for our world is in dire need of help. Not one of the strips, be it humorous or strict, is without its place; only the most backward folk could walk away from this reading experience untouched.

As if that weren't enough, the author herself isn't content to simply sit and write; unlike too many people in the world, she does more. Plenty more, although her excellent comic is a great and inspiring work in of itself, which probably pushes its readers to do the same. On top of that, it's educational! So many of its statements are based on facts that, surely, most of the readers didn't know as much coming in as they did going out.

If it's ignorant and arrogant to state the importance of saving the environment, appreciating the natural world, calling out the greedy monsters of upper society for what they are, and having fun while doing it, you better label me a moron, because I'm proud to be associated with such things.

Whew! Run-on sentences, anyone? I have to admit, though, it's difficult to stop yourself when you're talking about something this good. This book is definitely a work of art, and in more ways than one. Highly recommended to anyone who cares about the future of not only the United States, but humankind, and the world.

Stephanie McMillan's cartoons are every kind of funny; from cute funny to wry funny to laugh out loud funny, with an occasional snarky comment thrown in for good measure. But even better, her cartoons will remind you that you are not alone. If it seems to you sometimes that the current world situation is slightly insane, Minimum Security will remind you that not everyone accepts things the way they are. Minimum Security will encourage, illuminate, and amuse you!

One of the best new cartoonists I have seen in a long time.

I love this book. The politics are great, the writing superb, the drawings extraordinary. Part of the beauty of the drawings is how straightforward and simple they seem. But they're not. They're actually incredibly complex, and incredibly well-composed. In addition, she captures both overt and subtle emotions better than any other cartoonist I've seen. Even more important than all of this though is the author's bravery. She is a voice of sanity and courage for the oppressed.