fff 03 A Year Passes Like Nothing

Rip Off Press 1973
Fat Freddie Scat • Freewheelin’ Frank’s Ex • Protest • Food Flood • Cow Hunting • Werepig • Gas Famine • Texas Cucaracha • Secret Marijuana Patch • Skinny Dippin’ • Job Interview • Clean Politics • G-Men • Jury Duty • Government Spies • Fat Freddie Scat in I Led 9 Lives • Street Musicians • A Nice Polka-dot Demon get the Royal Shaft • Vote for Sploont • Norbert Strikes Again • Air Horn • VW Van • Xmas Deco • Keep Warm • Tales to Tickle a Stripted Ass Baboon • Keed Spills

After giving us the equivalent of nearly three 36-page comic books in the first two issues of Freak Brothers (104 pages), Gilbert Shelton only had enough existing Freak Brothers strips to populate a 36-page book for issue #3. But off to press they went, publishing the only 36-page issue of the first seven books (the others were 52 pages). It was more than a decade later that they permanently shifted to 36-page books for the rest of the serial, beginning with The Idiots Abroad trilogy that launched in issue #8.

Also unlike the first seven issues, the longest story in Freak Brothers #3 is only four pages, and many are just one-pagers, mostly culled from the end of Shelton’s run in the L.A. Free Press, though “Winter of ’59” came from Playboy magazine. There are many gems to be found, including “Winter of ’59,” “Fat Freddy Gets A Job,” and “Cockroaches.”

Despite certain misgivings, Shelton’s front cover art earns a Top Twenty Underground Cover award for its modern recreation of Manet’s 1863 painting “Dejeuner sur l’herbe” (Luncheon on the Grass). The comic is a winner as well, providing a typical collection of funny stories. I especially like the seven-page tale featuring Fat Freddy’s Cat, “I Led Nine Lives!” But I must say that Bow Wow Wow did a better job of honoring the classic painting by Manet.

Gilbert Shelton – 1-36