Cover Not Final: Crime Funnies

by Max Huffman

Graphic Novel of short stories, loosely tied by theme, all written and drawn by Max Huffman.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels

48 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 2021

About the author

Max Huffman is mostly a cartoonist and illustrator in Chicago.

Reviews

[Nolan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Max Huffman is not just one of my favorite artists I know personally, but his work is so singular he's one of my favorite working artists in general. I'm always impressed by what he makes, from flyers for karaoke to surreal religious tract parodies, to this, his first comic with a barcode. It's a digest of loosely interconnected "crime" stories (in the Pink Panther meets Archie meets Twin Peaks sense). They all have their own visual language and Max is able to bring them together, inspired by growing up in and around Research Triangle Park, an area we both are fascinated with depicting in our art (most notably an inspiration for the show 'Stranger Things'). It's a mysterious place, but also really boring and mostly empty. Pharmaceuticals and biotech replaced the tobacco fields in central NC, laid out like a suburban tract with office parks instead of homes. Monsanto harvests glow in greenhouses across from the EPA campus. There's a lot of room for mythology there. Besides all that, this collection is laugh-out-loud funny (as usual), and if I have any criticism it's that it's short! But I know we'll be seeing more from Max and I'm looking forward to it.

[tony dillard jr · Rating 1 out of 5]

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.

[Thomas Morica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Idiosyncratically funny short stories, roughly fitting the "crime funnies" subtitle. Max Huffman has a distinct, geometric, cartoony art style that fits right in with the silly, abstract, rough edged stories he tells. Occasionally hilarious, rarely plot-heavy, all compelling.

[Kyle Welch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely charming. A fun almost impressionist take on crime comics. Enamored with max's style.

[Aurora · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don’t know what I was expecting, but boy was this stupid.