There’s something really disturbing about Yikes! It’s really upsetting to be fascinated by the repulsive, yet ever so innocently portrayed characters infesting Yikes’ (a.k.a. Tykes)pages. From the gunhappy Cow-Boy and Cow-Girl and the poorly sewn zombie Pullapart Boy to the chronically shitting, sans-personality puppy Elzie Crisler and the perpetually victimized, “sweet” (definitely in quotes) Chubby Cheeks. Yikes! is Peanuts from Hell! The early Peanuts, that is, complete with tad more realistic children, heads overinflated and all. But similarities are in the abstract, while the truth is in the detail. And the truth Yikes! has to offer is a nasty but fun one.
Earlier issues of Tykes!/Yikes! have hinged on defining the quiver of characters the comic has to offer. At this point, the Yikes! realm has become a little more solid, and some characters are sticking better than others, and what better than to give a single issue dedicated almost solely to the goings on of “I’m not sure if he’s so lovable… “ prepubescent vampire Li’l Bloody?
With the second volume, Weissman is getting more and more skilled and experimental. The “smell of the spirit of Ware” reeks from the 7” X 7” format of #2. The pages exploit a limited palette of black, gray, and peach on white paper, reminiscent of things being done by other contemporaries, such as Clowes. But referencing other artists can only undermine the refreshing originality Yikes! has to offer and the cheap snickering which ensues upon reading it. The nasty gang of “ho-hum” supernatural and flat out repulsive gang of bastards of Yikes! are the more intellectual answer to South Park.
Closing this review, I can only say what any “Big Boy” who still reads comic books can say: Many things happening in independent comics these days are just as, or more exciting and meaningful than most things cranked out in both the “art” or “literary” worlds, or by the “entertainment” industry. Alternative Press, Inc., 611 NW 34th Drive, Gainesville, FL 32607-2429, email: jmason@gator.net
