Graphic Recommendations - The Bear Stories: Volume One
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Writers/Artists: George Todorovski and Chris Hatzopolous
Publisher: DMF Comics
In my time, I have reviewed movies, books, lots of CDs and now comics. One of the hardest things for a reviewer is when good people do bad things and you are forced to write about it. Brutal honesty is the only way a person can be an effective reviewer, but sometimes it kinda sucks.
Much like this book.
The Bear Stories is a production of DMF Comics, “written” (and yes, those quotes are intentional) and drawn by George Todorovski and Chris Hatzopolous. The back of the book reads as such:
“The Bear Stories is a cult classic that not only mirrors the naked truth of this era, but also signifies the dawn of a new age… The Age of The Bear!”
If this book is actually a “cult classic” I hope that those involved in said cult drink the Kool-Aid, and fast. The Bear Stories actually is about a cartoon bear that swears at homeless people, tries to pick up girls he thinks are hookers, assaults strippers, and tries to buy porn.
Yeah, I typed that correctly.
This sounds like kind of a funny premise for a book or comic strip, except it’s missing one valuable ingredient: story. There is no story to this book. What I just described to you is exactly what happens in the book (give or take a few boob-shots and multiple uses of the C-Word). It reminds me of a lot of late night conversations with my really drunk or high friends from High School. Just a lot of “oh yeah, and he should do this…” and “it’d be hilarious if this happened….” with no real afterthought or planning put into the book itself.
I can understand the need to appear cutting edge, and “cool” but this book honestly is nothing but profanity from the mouth of a cartoon bear, and it’s a lot of profanity. A lot more than could be considered funny. By the end of the book, which wraps up with a stellar scene of The Bear watching TV (riveting), it’s just uncomfortable to read. There is also a backup story featuring two old ladies. They accidentally buy a genie at a rummage sale. While not terribly funny, this 3-page backup was about a million times better than The Bear Stories themselves.
Like I say, it’s hard when good people do bad things. George and Chris are really nice guys, and outside of The Bear itself, the art in this book is pretty decent. But to review this book as anything more than juvenile claptrap would be just plain dishonest. It’s the kind of book that had it been given to me for free, I might have taken it with a grain of salt. But money changed hands here, and it was a bad deal on my end.
October 29th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
Seinfeld was a show about nothing. Sure, I guess Seinfeld wasn’t filthy, but it had its moments.
October 29th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
True. The difference being Seinfeld was not only way more interesting, but at the time it was pretty groundbreaking by being “a show about nothing.” Also, people liked the characters in Seinfeld because they were quirky and flawed, unlike The Bear, who’s just abrasive for the sake of abrasiveness.
Also, the “show about nothing” took a LOT of work to make it appear like it was about nothing. The Bear Stories comes off like a conversation between friends goofing off instead of a plotted story.
Wow, all that and I haven’t even read it since I wrote this review lol.
October 30th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
I met the guys who made this a comic con. They made me stop and read it. I bought Scott Pilgrim instead.