Customer Reviews

The Big Book of Barry Ween, Boy Genius

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This "Big Book" reprints all of Judd Winick's Barry Ween comic books (a mere 12 issues). 10-years-old Barry Ween is the smartest person on Earth, with an IQ of approximately 350. Most of his adventures featuring him trying to get out of some predicament inadvertently caused by his inventions, often because of the blundering of Barry's friend Jeremy. These are extremely funny comic books, although there is a serious moment at the end that shows that Barry does have a heart beneath his sardonic facade. More please, Judd!

This collection is one of the funniest comics I have ever read. This comic is not for kids. There is a lot of swearing, etc. However, adults will find it laugh-out-loud funny. The stories are both irreverent and touching. The ending is heart-warming and heart-wrenching at the same time. I hope Judd Winick writes many more Barry Ween adventures.

Barry Ween is not happy.

But then neither would you be if you had an IQ of 350, had mastered the art of human cloning, inter-dimensional travel and robotics, and proven not only the existence of - but also the complete pointlessness of attempting to communicate with - alien life, whilst having to suffer the indignity of living with your parents and going to school on a big yellow bus with a best friend who is more interested in the Oreos in your lunchbox than the fact that you've just managed to resurrect the dinosaurs. Never mind the fact that despite your massive intelligence, you're singularly incapable of conducting a coherent conversation with the foxy Asian chick that you have a crush on or that, most frustratingly of all, you're still waiting for your testicles to drop.

No. All of the above is bound to make you a pretty misanthropic customer and that's exactly what Barry is. You don't want to mess with him. He has a cavalier attitude towards the sanctity of human life and a particle accelerator in his school bag - and he knows exactly what to do with the latter. Seriously.

Featuring artwork that tangentially resembles "Calvin And Hobbes" and the sort of language that would make the Baby Jesus cry, Judd Winick's "Barry Ween Boy Genius" is probably the best kept secret in comics. It is brilliantly written and drawn and features the kind of dialogue that is both endlessly quotable and 'crack-you-up-and-have-you-convulsing-on-the-sofa-with-laughter' funny. Why it's not been praised from the rooftops, made into a big screen movie or at least syndicated into a late night adult cartoon show on "Comedy Central", I'll never know.

"The Big Book Of Barry Ween - Boy Genius" collects all twelve issues of Barry's adventures, runs to about three hundred and sixty one pages of glorious fun, filth and profanity and is rife with glorious pastiches of everything from "E.T." and "Die Hard" to "Men In Black" and "Conan The Barbarian".

Learn why Barry's mum prefers Barry's dad 'after' he has been regressed down the evolutionary ladder; why Barry's best friend, Jeremy, should never be left alone in the lab; how one deals with a basement full of obstreperous three-star generals and Centaurs and why, in the final poignantly drawn pages, Barry really is just as vulnerable as the rest of us lowly mortals.

Put your money down and take this ride, ladies and gentlemen.

You deserve the laughs and Judd Winick deserves the attention.

Barry is the funniest kid ever! I was introduced to him through a friend, and am very sad I have read everything on him. If you want great adult humor, Barry is the one.

Long before Judd Winick made his mark in such DC comic titles as Batman and Green Arrow, he was working on an independent character that could put the hurt on any Dark Knight or Emerald Archer. His name is Barry Ween, he's got a 350 IQ, a mouth that would make a sailor blush, and has an atom smasher that fits underneath his bed.

Did I forget to mention he's only ten years old?

After his disappointment with a syndicated strip called Frumpy the Clown, Judd decided to cut loose and create a character without worrying about censoring himself. The result was The Adventures of Barry Ween: Boy Genius from Oni Press. Throughout each mini series published by Winick and Oni, Barry deals with the trials and tribulations of being a brilliant mind trapped in a young boy's body. Failed experiments, aliens from other worlds, gorillas from another dimension, the usual stuff (usual for Barry I mean). With his best friend Jeremy and his secret crush Sarah, he faces every challenge with a PO'ed attitude, a sharp mind, and gadgets that would make James Bond weep for joy.

I discovered Barry Ween years ago after purchasing the first tpb at a comic book convention. I never laughed so hard in my life after reading the first three issues. From that point, I was hooked. The rest of the mini series bring the laughs but the last mini series that was published ended on a bittersweet moment. I won't spoil it for you, but I can say that Barry's life is not all peaches and cream. This series proves that Judd Winick can make you wet yourself with laughter one minute and bring you to tears in another.

I introduced this series to my older brother and got him hooked right away. He's definitely a hardcore Barry Ween fan and he's got the tattoos to prove it. Sadly, his tpb collection did not last long after multiple readings. Thankfully, Oni collected all 4 limited series (12 issues in all) plus some behind the scenes sketches and a short Barry Ween story that was only available in a one shot comic into one massive book for a sweet price. Made a great birthday gift for him. If you're a comic fan looking for something other than capes and tights or if you're looking to get into comics, I would highly recommend this book. My only grip is that Judd Winick hasn't written any new Barry Ween material since the last mini series. If Judd Winick is reading this or anyone who knows him, tell him we're still waiting.

I have a few of the individual comics and was looking at purchasing the rest when I ran across this complete compilation and it was exactly what I wanted. Barry Ween has some of the best story structure I have ever read in a comic book. Each issue is very engaging and funny. The dialog is full of extensive words of curse, which I view as a plus, but other will find offensive. I bought a second copy of this book, which I've sent to a friend of mine in Italy to "broaden" his English vocabulary. Ha.

Barry Ween surprised me. The concept of a boy genius world-conquering inventor is a bit of a cliche, what with Stewy Griffin and Pinky and the Brain, but Barry gives a whole different view of that experience: he doesn't like his brain, or his life, and while he certainly has the capacity to take over the world, and has built the inventions to do it, he doesn't want to.

Then you have another cliche: Barry makes use of the usual comic juxtaposition of a dirty old man in a child's body. He and his best friend, Jeremy, have outrageously filthy mouths, and Jeremy has an unholy obsession with sex and pornography, which Barry feeds. And yet there is quite a sweet story of young love developing here, between Barry and Sara, another classmate (who reads Armistead Maupin as a bedtime story) -- without ever crossing the line into actual romance, since these are ten-year-old kids, a 350 IQ notwithstanding.

The art is cartoonish, but very nicely executed; Judd Winick has a flair for facial expression, particularly in moments when the usually cantankerous Barry softens and smiles gently at his friends. The action panels could be overly busy sometimes -- it was hard to find Barry in some of his epic combats (Though said epic combats were, indeed, epic -- and I loved the sound effects in this) -- but the writing more than made up for it. The writing is hilarious, the stories nicely absurd, the characters consistent and many-layered; even the profanity was sometimes original and amusing. All in all, this was an excellent book, with a remarkably poignant ending page, followed by a short full-color episode that made a very satisfying closer. I hope there will be more Barry Ween in the future -- I'd love to keep reading it.

I have not laughed as hard or as loud at reading ANYTHING than I have with Mr. Ween here. I was pleasantly taken by surprise (I ordered this book more or less on a whim) and I devoured this whole book while on trauma call over the weekend.

How is it possible that something as gleefully profane as this, positively FLOOR you with such heartfelt, honest emotion? The cursing in this book makes a Tarantino movie sound like Pixar. Yet the moments in the book about friendship and loyalty, are so shockingly touching...so authentic...it'll astonish you.

The book opens with the idea that Barry Ween is so freakin' hyper-smart, he notices his own genitalia in utero.

What follows are a series of hilarious adventures, filled with explosively funny asides and non-sequiturs. Aliens. Time travel. Westerns. "Die Hard". "Men In Black". There's even a school dance, and it's deliriously fun. Judd Winick goes places you never saw coming...but you're SO glad he went there.

He's accompanied by his faithful best friend, Jeremy, a ten-year-old testosterone storm. We meet the love of Barry's life, Sara. We also meet Roxie, Jeremy's soul mate, who used to be a Bigfoot.

Yeah, see what I mean?

The book closes with Barry Ween, huddled on the floor of his folks' empty kitchen, barely holding back a flood of tears, while his best buds play video games in the next room.

Judd Winick almost had ME crying...

I love these characters so much...I would read this forever...I'm actually a little depressed there aren't any more.

The true genius here is Mr. Winick, not Mr. Ween.

I love comics - but just once. I'd seen a bit of this somewhere so bought the book to read and pass on to someone. But... I didn't pass it on. I read it again. And then a couple months later I picked it up and read it again. And when reading it AGAIN I realized I was actually enjoying it more each time. Mr. Ween and I were becoming, like, "old friends" or something. If I kept this kinda stuff I'd have boxes and shelves of it and I'd be telling you that this book was now living with my favorites on the top shelf. But I guess instead I'm warning you that if you let Barry Ween into your life you may lose control of the relationship...

This is one of the funniest graphic novels I ever read.

I was on the verge of buying several copies as birthday gifts this morning, when I noticed the "ships in 1 to 3 months" notice at the bottom. MONTHS?? For a new book??? Thanks but no thanks!