You know how, when you go to an interview for a job but you get sick because you were drinking while prepping for a threesome you didn’t end up having anyway, and then you have to run to the restroom only to find a dead body, but you have to go to the bathroom so bad that you do it anyway and get found with the dead body and wind up framed for murder? I hate it when that happens. I mean, honestly, whohasn’tthat happened to?
Well, ok. It hasn’t happened to most of us. But that’s what happens in Parker and Moen’s “Bucko,” a webcomic just released as a hardcover graphic novel last month, and let me tell you – if you want to pick up a fun book, you’re going to want to pick up “Bucko.” Written by Jeff Parker and illustrated by Erika Moen, “Bucko” is an amusing murder mystery set in Portland, in which the above unlikely scenario I described takes place and leads to a rather incredible journey. Add to that a stolen bike, a Juggalette, a Suicide Girl, murder, fire, a hidden village and an entirely unbelievable cast of characters on one heck of a journey, “Bucko” is what we’d get if something like Portlandia wasn’t just a sketch comedy show. (Or every episode was like “Brunch Village.”)
When it debuted online “Bucko” was one of my favorite webcomics, and one of the few I subscribed to at the time. Charming, irreverent and wonderfully illustrated, “Bucko” essentially shows how far a comic can go just from creators loving the medium. Here was a book that Parker and Moen were putting online for free, and twice a week at that, simply because they loved comics and wanted to do one in this fashion. To that end, it was impossible not to fall in love with “Bucko,” because they made the collaboration seem largely effortless; this was a book by both of them that clearly fed off each of their strengths. Moen’s excellent and cartoonish style was in full form, with strong and visibly emotional characters filling the pages throughout, and Parker’s wild sense of humor — which is not always on display for obvious reasons in some of his Marvel books — runs the full gamut here. It was kind of the perfect storm for a fun and relatively care-free comic, and that’s what made it so easy to latch on to and enjoy.
Plus, the book took full advantage of the strip medium. This wasn’t just your average weekly comic strip; this had the focus and drive that not every comic thrown online does, and that includes some of my current personal favorites. “Bucko” from day one had a story to tell, and while it was broken down to single page excerpts that were that focused on their comedic timing, it doesn’t lose it’s readability when all collected. This is a comic that can easily be read in two distinct fashions: one page at a time, or collectively as a whole. The comic is a Reeses in that fashion: there’s just no wrong way to eat it.
And, honestly, if you don’t want to read a book that has a Juggalette fighting a Suicide Girl, I don’t know what to tell you.
But, hey, if you don’t believe me, here’s the opening five pages from Bucko’s former digital home:
Suffice it to say, “Bucko” is one of the most charming comics I’ve ever read. Heartfelt and very endearing, this is the kind of comic that we don’t see often enough. With so many books featuring similar mission statements of trying to be all-new and all-different all the time, it’s very rare these days that you find a book of this fashion, one that simply wants to be fun. Truth be told, that alone makes “Bucko” a great sell and a worthwhile buy, and it’s what makes it perfect for a few reads on sunny afternoons when you’re just in the mood to laugh and meditate on how goofy life is in general.
Plus, with “Bucko” the webcomic ending on the promise that Bucko would finally get that three-way, the hardcover comes with the exclusive inclusion of the steamiest post-script orgy scene you’ll ever read in a comic. I mean, we’re talking a scene so outrageously erotic, you’ll be tugging at your color and asking for a glass of water.
You’ll just have to pick up the book to see what I mean.
