Customer Reviews

The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers in The Idiots Abroad

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Gilbert Shelton, who started out drawing 'Wonder Warthog' for Harvey Kurtzman's "Help!" magazine, went on to create the quintessential '60's comic-book characters, the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers. Struggling with the classic issues of hippiedom the Freaks evaded law and order, survived bouts of money and drug shortages, and managed to keep their funky s--t together until the late '70's.

In this ludicrous misadventure the Freaks attempt to take a flight abroad in a time of airline deregulation. Accidentally split up they become embroiled in a military/terrorist plot to take over the world. Fat Freddy winds up with an atom bomb, Phineas becomes head of his own cash religion and in the end the trio save the world in spite of themselves! A wonderful finale to a great comic.

The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers have long been idols of the so-called underground comix movement. This is totally deserved, but I think that classification has obscured the fact that Shelton and his collaborators have turned out some of the best and funniest cartoons of any kind, period. This full-color opus was six or seven years in the making, and is so entertaining that it took me quite a while to notice that it contains almost no drug humor at all. If you care about comix as art, or comix as countercultural icons, this is one for the bookshelf. If you just want to read a really really funny clever comic, this is also one for your bookshelf.