Chewing Gum in Church (Yikes!) - Softcover

Weissman, Steven

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1560977361 ISBN 13: 9781560977360

Publisher: Fantagraphics Books, 2006

Synopsis

Cruel was never so cute, or so funny, in this all-ages gem.

Chewing Gum In Church is the new "Yikes" book by Steven Weissman, starring "Sweet" Chubby Cheeks, Kid Medusa, the Pullapart Boy, Elzie Crisler, Dead Boy, X-Ray Spence and, of course, Li'l Bloody. This cast, having survived enough adventures to fill three mass-market paperbacks (see below), now "settles" into a daily routine of cruelty, failure, jealousy, bitterness, gluttony, sloth, violence, arrogance, and stupidity. But especially stupidity.

Having written short stories (Don't Call Me Stupid), long stories (Champs) and every kind of story in between (White Flower Day) for his famous "Yikes" characters, Weissman has recently stripped his creation down to a classic, four-panel strip structure.

This is Weissman's first full-color book, which is hard to imagine for an artist so renowned for his color sense. His artwork has never been more beautiful and assured, and his writing has never been as sharp or funny.

Chewing Gum In Church, the fourth book in the "Yikes" series, is simultaneously more dense and accessible than any previous volume. First time "Yikes" readers will be delighted by Weissman's "cuter than cute" drawingsdrawings that treat each other so terribly. Longtime fans, on the other hand, will certainly find this book to be tremendous addition to their library of Li'l Bloody and the Pullapart Boy's adventures.

About this title

About the Author

Steven Weissman has published his Yikes! graphic novel series through Fantagraphics; Marvel Comics, Nickelodeon magazine, and many other media outlets have also featured his work. He is the recipient of the industry's Harvey Kurtzman Award and lives in Los Angeles, CA with his wife and son.

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. The most recent collection of Weissman's whimsically mordant Yikes comics is the first to utilize the traditional four-panel structure of the Sunday funnies, but anyone expecting the standard setup–punch line routine is in for a pleasant, if unsettling, surprise. Combining the "bubblegum" tone and bright color scheme of Bazooka Joe comics with such semicreepy 1960s-era fare as The Addams Family and The Munsters, these bizarre explorations of childhood friendships (not to mention competitiveness and mutual enmity) are hilarious. Weissman milks the jarring collision of sugary cuteness and abject cruelty for all it's worth, and with names like Li'l Bloody (a junior vampire), Kid Medusa, the Pullapart Boy (who literally pulls apart from time to time) and X-Ray Spence, his characters are clearly suited to the task. Stomping on anthills, talking about barf, beating each other up and getting bitten by black widow spiders—these occasionally undead little scamps always seem to be having the time of their lives. Weissman's deployment of vivid pastel colors is equally tongue-in-cheek, but there's more to the art than simple irony. With all its warm, fuzzy morbidity, Chewing Gum in Church gives new meaning to the phrase "sickly sweet." (Aug.)
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About this edition

• Publisher: Fantagraphics Books
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 1560977361
• ISBN 13: 9781560977360
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 104