Bully Wars (Family Comic Friday)

Just because something is gross doesn’t mean that it can’t be enjoyed by the whole family. Besides, that’s all part of being a kid, liking gross things. Fart jokes and boogers seem to be a universal part of childhood. So, if you are one of those parents whose outraged by barf and pimples, forgive me as Family Comic Friday explores Skottie Young’s Bully Wars.

Bully Wars TPB
Written by Skottie Young
Art by Aaron Conley
Published by Image Comics
Pages: 145
SRP: $12.99

The town of Rottenville lives up to its name. Rottenville has more school bullies per capita than any other community in the world! Poor Spencer. He really thought that he was going to get by the first day of school without being bullied by his life-long tormentor, Rufus.
The bus trip to school might have been awful. But things on campus are looking up! That’s because Rufus is being bullied by the reigning king of the Rottenville High School bullies, Hock!

The high school’s coach puts on an event every year to determine who will be the champion brow-beater for the entire school term. This victor can determine who is and isn’t off limits from being harassed. Seeing a chance to go bully free for his entire freshman year, Spencer hatches a plan. If will take a lot of planning and maybe a few dirty tricks. But in the end, Spencer will find a way to help Rufus win the Bully Wars!

The 5 issues that make up Bully Wars came out last year. I wanted to at least read and review the first copy for this column. But I have been burned by other works by Skottie Young in the past. His I Hate Fairyland looked like it could be all-ages fun. But the amount of violence and non-symbolized cursing made the book anything but appropriate for kids.
Despite the bullying... In light of the bathroom humor... In exception to the use of words like ‘crap’ and the occasional butt-crack from our hero getting wedgied a lot; there’s actually a wholesome anti-bullying message at the heart of this book.

Some might argue that a book about the dangers of bullying is not the right sort of message for kids. However, I have to disagree. It’s the single most reason I hated middle and high school. Being the tallest and heaviest kid in class who like comic books and had astigmatism and Star Wars sheets made me a easy target. Plus, too many kids these days are taking their own lives thanks to bullying which has turned into a seven-headed monster thanks to social media.

Besides, Bully Wars doesn’t have that tired cliche of fighting back at the bully. Instead, it promotes a healthier attitude of ‘if you can’t beat them, outsmart them.’ That’s what I did. I fought back by getting such great grades that I made my bullies feel stupid. Plus, when they came to me for tutoring help, I gave them just enough wrong answers that they never could tell I was keeping them from doing better in class than I was. They just assumed that they were never going to ever be smart enough for that A average.

I really loved Aaron Conley’s artwork in this book. Despite how gross looking it was at times, I felt at home with the Sabertooth Swordsman’s pencils and inks. When I was in elementary school, there was these two awesome magazines called Dynamite and Bananas. Both would have really exaggerated artworks like that of Conley’s here. The students looked all awkward and had warts and all. Plus, the school and bus scenes illustrated in the books were never clean. I felt that I was reading something that was fondly inspired by those Jeanette Kahn creations.

Amazon lists the book for ages 9-12 (4th-7th graders). I’m okay with this advisement, though I think older kids can still get a kick of this. Younger readers might get a chuckle or too. But as always, it’s up to the parents to decide if it’s appropriate or not.

Bully Wars was a fun read. It’s got an appropriate but slightly telegraphed ending. I was a big fan of the art. Though the slew of covers and other artwork in the back of the book was excessive. If Image removed all that, it would probably cut about 25 pages and a couple of bucks of cover price away.

According to the Image Comics website, Bully Wars debuted in collected trade paperback form and digital on February 20th, 2019. However, Amazon has it coming out on February 26th.  

Be sure to check out your favorite comic book store for back issues.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.