Cover Not Final: Crime Funnies

My local library had a display of works by local authors. That's where I found this digest sized work. There was the mischievous looking criminal standing in front of a car wreck touting 'Crime Funnies' on the cover. I thought it looked fun in a wicked sort of way and gave it a read. 

I could not have been more wrong. 

The book starts off with a song that doesn't rhyme. Though I did learn something from this ballad. It seems that all of the segments of this book take place in a world where music is outlawed and where putting a piece of artwork in front of someone's door is a threat worse than death. The little imp from the cover appears in a few stories. He's known as 'Career Criminal', though his crimes aren't all that dastardly. A couple of other places and background characters pop up in the other stories making for a Pulp Fiction type work. But that's about the only things that are cohesive in the book.

Max Huffman's work is psychedelic. Very experimental to the point of being beyond an underground comix. The colors are extremely vibrant. But I just didn't really know what the hell was going on here.

The fact that I am giving this work any stars is due to the fact that each story has an engrossing start. Yet all of these stories have an abrupt end with nothing ever completed. Heck, a couple of tales felt like nothing was ever even attempted. The opening story about a hardened 70's style private detective who discovers that his uncle is missing ends with the guy losing his train of thought... THE END. I felt so cheated and I only checked this book out. Thank God, I didn't pay  for this book which retails to almost $10!

If there was a formula to this book, I clearly missed it. 

Not Worth Consuming!

Rating: 2 out of 10 stars.