Writer/Artist: Neill Cameron (with some bits and pieces by James Cameron. Not that one.)
Publisher: Albion Comics
£4.95 + 80p p&p
Cheques / POs to:
Neill Cameron
17 Sunnymeade Flats
Hernes Road
Oxford OX2 7PX
UNITED KINGDOM
or PayPal to: neillcameron@hotmail.com
Not too long ago, I reviewed Albion’s quite spiffy Bulldog: Empire, and here’s Empire artist Neill Cameron’s collection of earlier comics work which, while not as polished as the newer project, is still a great deal of fun.
Imagine if Garth Ennis had written Steptoe and Son for a mature readers version of 2000AD, and that’s more or less what you get with Absolute Dumbass. In the future, there will be rubbish, and it’s up to Jobo Hairyfoot and Alf Garibaldi to clean it up, except they’re idiots and they keep cocking up even that simple job, with often hilarious results, including accidentally killing the Pope and resurrecting (then not-so-accidentally killing) Bing Crosby. The fun comes as much from the insane concepts involved as it does from the “quite sweary” but often witty and well-observed script.
Cameron is also a fine artist, with a good grasp of storytelling basics, as well as a gift for comedic and action sequences, and a great sense of design. It’s especially interesting to see the evolution of his style from a more detailed look in the earlier strips from 1997, to something looser and more cartoony, yet just as effective, in the more recent strips from 2002 and 2003.
Also included are some one and two page pieces not associated with the Cleansing Services: Special Ops characters; these little vignettes are often funny and occasionally surreal, my particular favourite being an interesting take on popular British television listings magazine Radio Times that could easily have been a full length story on its own.
All in all, this comic is a highly entertaining collection of fun stories and is also excellent value for money. I’d advise putting aside one or more of your tired old superhero purchases and picking this up, especially if you have any interest in a bit of ribald scifi humour.
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