Review - Butcher Baker the Righteous Maker by Joe Casey (writer) and Mike Huddleston (artist)

Every now and again something comes along that reminds me why I love comics and Butcher Baker is it. Joe Casey's Wildcats 3.0 has been on my reading list for some time - still haven't got a round to it yet - so when I saw his name on this and the very provocative 'Old Liberty' posing pouch on the cover, I thought... Jesus!

Yes! I am just loving the amount of new stuff that is coming out.

Butcher Baker the hero himself is what Watchmen's The Comedian would've become if he didn't go all soft. He even sports the star on the shoulder-pads like The Comedian. Starting out as a very Captain America-type figure Butcher Baker has done his duty and now is relaxing in jaded retirement which means getting all screwed up on drugs whilst screwing a bevy of beauties. But the US government want him for that usually disastrous 'one last mission'. They send Jay Leno and Dick Cheney to persuade him to come on-board. Why those two? I suspect Casey just thinks it's kinda funny.. and it is. Very cool is that when these two bland men are in the presence of Butcher Baker they're relegated to black and white rendering while Butcher is rendered in lurid coloured glory. Butcher is tasked with blowing up 'The Crazy Keep', a prison filled with all the villains and low-lifes he put in there because 'taxpayers are fed up subsidizing three squares a day for these goddamn deviants'. Well, reminiscing about the past gets Butcher all hot and bothered, so why not? He takes on the job. Hey, it's what superheroes like himself were really created for anyway. Yet, Butcher is looking for something more - the meaning of it all. Does he find it? Not telling. Read it. I said read it!

Huddleston's art slides effortlessly between cartoon, caricature, and comic art styles. The comic art is very similar to Gabriel Ra and Fabio Moon (Cassanova), and that is in no way bad. I could look at this stuff all day. I have looked at this stuff all day. The cartoon style has the influence of classic1940s and 50s cartoon  with a helping of Ralph Bakshi on the side. A lot of effort and thought has gone into the colouring and look of each scene and panel. Flashbacks are seen through a "fuzzy lens" for example. Some art is sketchy while others such as the rendition of Butcher's Liberty Belle big rig is so line perfect it's simply awesome. This truck dominates the page. It could've turned out a mess but everything blends into a magnificent whole.

And Stippling! When was the last time I (or anyone) saw stippling in a comic?

Make no mistake, there's some explicit nudity and sex in here, so if that's not your thing then Butcher Baker isn't your thing. For everyone else, get both your buttocks to a comic shop now and demand a copy. This is goddamn fantastic.

This: Oh, yeah!
Forthcoming: Oh, oh, yeah!