Customer Reviews

Liberty Meadows: Book One, Eden (v. 1)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Before its voluntary departure from the Washington Post, "Liberty Meadows" had gained a loyal following that brought it back from possible cancellation more than once. In a sea of snippy animals and dysfunctional families, Frank Cho's strip brought us something fresh and original: Complete madness.

But in case readers weren't lucky enough to catch Cho's strip initially, it has been immortalized in "Liberty Meadows 1," which compiles the first nine issues. Expect nothing but madness, mayhem and a bit of wistful romance, and this kooky comic will not disappoint.

Welcome to Liberty Meadows, an animal preserve overseen by vet Frank and animal shrink Brandy. Nerdy Frank is instantly smitten with busty, kind-natured Brandy, but lacks the self-confidence to ask her out. As he struggles to admit his feelings, he must get to know the residents.

Unfortunately, those residents include a crazed cow who wants to kidnap celebrities (especially William Shatner), hypochondriac frog Leslie, chain-smoking pig Dean who hits on anything in a skirt, Truman the timid aquaphobic duck, and Ralph the midget circus bear.

This loony crew tries to deal with dates (where Brandy's crazed ex tries to kill Frank), the evil catfish Khan, camping trips with psychedelic mushrooms, falls into mine shafts, severed noses, truck-sized ticks, the insane stalker Cow kidnapping a celebrity and -- worst of all -- Dean's trip through the land of Cold Turkey.

It's hard to find a comic strip that is as relentlessly weird as "Liberty Meadows," and it's amazing that Frank Cho managed to keep these off-the-wall jokes going for so long. Or, for that matter, that he managed to make them up at all. Mad Cow kidnapping William Shatner? That one was priceless, I have to admit.

Cho straddles the line between realistic and cartoonish artwork -- on one hand, Brandy and Frank are very realistic looking. Especially Brandy's, um, "details." Their actions are all-too-human, and our hearts bleed whenever Frank's nerve fails him. On the other hand, the animals and some of the supporting humans are goofy-looking, and act accordingly.

"Liberty Meadows" was a refreshing, too-brief reprieve on the comic page, and fortunately the stories of Brandy, Frank and the loony animals can be easily revisited in the first collection.

I'd like to think that I am missing something here, but this is little more than Archie meets Jessica Rabbit. I think too many comics these days are masking under the profoundness of comics to hide a simple self-pleasuring tool. This is a hot chick that is very cute and a bunch of bumbling guys trying to get her to like them. Art is clean, stories are cute. That's about it. Maybe this is highbrow and intellectual, a commentary on visual pleasing or cheescake art, but I don't think so.

Re-readability: 4/10 (unless you laminate it for special uses ;)

*I always put re-readability in my reviews for people who like to keep their TPB to re-read.*