Posted in: Comics, Recent Updates | Tagged: Comics, entertainment

Thumper: It's Not Cheating If You Get your Funny Fix Outside Of The Mainstream

Published Tue, 02 Dec 2014 17:00:00 -0600

Last updated Tue, 02 Dec 2014 17:48:55 -0600

By Mark Avo

If you're the kind of comic reader that searches spinner racks and back-issue long boxes for something funny you know the excitement of finding a book that has you on your back, rolling around and laughing. There are other ways to get a fix if you're searching for humour in a comic format but if you want it in a comic book it's certainly a rarefied thing to find one from the bigger publishers.

Sure, Valiant has Quantum and Woody and Marvel has any number of limited run books in the vein of Matt Fraction and David Aja's Hawkeye, but they never last. One of the greatest examples of pushing boundaries and adding humour could be found in The Superior Foes of Spider-Man by Nick Spencer and Steve Lieber but that, like all other humorous books, has come to an end. Where then can a comic aficionado with an un-tickled funny-bone get a fix? The answer is pretty obvious if you're adventurous and able to read books that haven't been published by one of the bigger publishers.

In comes the answer to this aficionado's unmolested humorous via the indie book Thumper #1 by Jason Adams and his Comic Striptease imprint. What makes it better, in my opinion, is that Adams is unconstrained in his art so the humour really zings. I'd be dishonest in telling you I searched this book out. I came to the conclusion that I should download it from ComiXology because I have a habit of browsing through new books each week. The cover caught my eye and I followed a rabbit hole to Adams website www.comicstriptease.com where he has some previews from the comic.

The jokes range from page turn surprises and darkly disturbing suicides in the neighboring toilet stall to a literally shit day at the office where the main character enters an anus to travel to work. I have to say, my favorite of the entire comic is the short about picking up a one night stand only to be surprised by a homeless man. The entire book is full of irreverent humor at a mature level so don't expect to find the book through your ComiXology app, you'll have to go searching the website for this one.

Of course, the only downside to the indie book is its price. At twenty-six pages, it's unusual to find digital a book priced as high as Adams has it. Those kind of high indie prices are usually only found on print copies. The cost is well worth the end result though, and that is having a precious humour comic to add to your collection. If your arm is tired from spinning racks and your digits are tired from thumbing through the singles bin, spend some cash on Jason's Thumper. If enough of us aficionados do, maybe he'll make another.

Mark Avo can usually be found behind a keyboard coding for databases or reviewing comic books. He can also be found writing and inking The Salt City Strangers comic book or pretending he's an expert on their Indie Publishing podcast The Undead Soup. You can delight or even heckle him with your tweets @MarkAvo and he'll be totally thrilled.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!