Customer Reviews

University Squared: The Angry Years

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've been a fan of Liberty Meadows, the comic book that collects Frank Cho's syndicated comic strip of the same name, for years now, so when University Squared became available again, I pounced on it. It's kind of a weird companion piece to Liberty Meadows; not quite a prequel (these stories were from Cho's College newspaper), and although the characters have the same names in both books, there are weird differences: one character is a duck in this book, and a man in Liberty Meadows; another a lima Bean (!) here, a frog in Liberty Meadows. (It's really weird...)

There isn't a story, per se. The book follows the characters (Animals, attending school with Humans....)as they drink and carouse their way through campus life. The cartoons are much raunchier than the later Liberty Meadows strips; without the anal retentive syndicate to hamstring him, Cho can go all out with the gags. (Even the raunchiest of the strips never gets beyond a PG-13 level, though. So it is safe for older kids.) Cho manages to deliver some really good belly-laughs, and slips in a touching ending as well. Comic strip fans who find the daily funnies too whitebread are well advised to enroll in this University.

GOOD JOB, MONKEY BOY!!!!

With "Liberty Meadows" making a permament transition from comic strip to comic book at the end of 2001, folks who want to aquaint themselves with the new version could do worse than to pick up this collection of the strip that spawned it. "University Squared," Cho's first strip, is "Liberty Meadows" in a raw, unrefined and uncensored state -- a state the comic book may take a few steps towards once freed from the rigours of newspaper censors.

Even in its young form, though, Cho's strip shows again and again why he is held in such high regard. His characters are funny, his situations are original and he doesn't blanch from tackling weighty topics or rauncy issues whenever he wants. Get this, get "Liberty Meadows: The Big Book of Love" and then start getting the comic book.

"Liberty Meadows" is probably the funniest comic strip I have read in a very long time. Now see how it all began. Very reminisent of Berke Breathed's college strips, only ten times rauncier and the drawings are better looking too. Anyone who has either been to college, been in a Frat or had a family member that has been in a Frat will really enjoy these strips. Noone has done such good artwork in a newspaper strip since Calvin and Hobbes, and Frank Cho's drawings are brilliant. Some of the characters are different. Frank is a duck, Leslie is a giant talking Lima Bean and although Ralf is pretty much of the same design, he is a giant angry gerbil. The only characters that have not changed since the switch from "University Squared" to "Liberty Meadows" are Dean (a pig possibly based on Ted Kennedy) and Brandy (although in this she is an attractive coed instead of an attractive woman working in an animal sanctuary). I recommend you buy this book. You will laugh until you ache.

I was at the University of Maryland when Frank Cho's comic strip was running in The Diamondback. It was the only thing worth reading in the paper. This is a very, very funny comic strip. The characters, who are animals are hilarious. Dean, the pig, is a great send up on Frats and male chauvinism. You also get a lima bean, a gerbil, and the main character, Frank, is a duck. The best character, of course, is the very human Brandy.

If you've ever seen Liberty Meadows and enjoyed it in your newspaper, The Angry Years is even better.

If you were a college student, a frat brother, a trouble maker, a drinker or just had odd looking animals walking around talking to you....then this book is probably about you! Experiance college with an alcoholic pig, a short tempered circus bear, and a lima bean ( don't ask). And let's not forget the duck and Brandi, for without them....well, the book would still rock! This book is a must to all those who love comics. Every strip should be put on billboards. Uncle Frank is the man.....( from one of the Monkey Boys )

Having gone to the University of Maryland, I was hooked to the delightful strip which appeared in the University's "Diamondback'. Perhaps it would be more correct to say that I was totally enamored by Cho's artistic renditions of the gorgeous Brandy, who is every guy's fantasy of that elusive perfect girl. The other characters are hilarious and totally identifiable with college life. Highly recommended!

I also did some time at the University of Maryland, and I remember Frank Cho's work when it ran in "The Diamondhack." It was great to see all of the old strips again (STILL FUNNY) and to finally see the answer to the cliffhanger he left us all with. If Amazon only carried the Liberty Meadows books.... (hint)

University Squared is a raw, uninhibited look at college life through the eyes of unique comic strip characters. Frank, Brandy, Ralph, Leslie, Dean and all the others provide endless laughs for a mainstream reader and even some inside jokes for those who have attended the University of Maryland. When the Bloom County/Outland craze fizzled out, a gap was left to be filled. Frank Cho has filled it with University Squared and it's sequel, Liberty Meadows.

University squared is an hysterical look at the college lives of the strange animals who survive a medical experiment gone wrong. Seeing the beautiful Brandy alone is worth the price of the book. But, Frank Cho's brilliant art work, which is among the best ever in the business, combined with his irreverent wit, make this book a real winner.

An intensely side-splitting look at university life with a definately un-PC bent. I can almost hear the cries of outrage from the humourless, politically correct masses that unfortunately infest our places of learning. Bloom County for the late 90's.