POX
Carol Wood & Susan Butcher
Reviewed by Darren Hick

I keep getting stuff from Australia. Don't get me wrong -- I like Australia. But clearly I've done something to inspire a nation of self-publishers to send me their wares. And I'm not complaining.

In my opinion, any comic whose first issue is a specialty "Death Issue" already has something going for it.

POX is a MAD Magazine-styled, self-published parodic mini of fantastic potential. The first issue contains a Tor Johnson story (always a boon), an autobiographical account of Wood's suicide attempt, a terrific Dr. Seuss parody, the first installment of "Lives of the Dead" (a knee-slapping apocryphal biography of Walt Disney), and more. It's a truly inspired undertaking for any two creators, and Wood & Butcher pull it off with sizeable impact. The fact that Butcher is capable of apeing (or near-apeing) such a wide gamut of styles, and that Wood has such a studied familiarity with her subject matter, is a rare enough combination. That the two found each other and managed to put out four issues (that I know of, anyway) is astounding.

I'd love to go into detail about each of these stories, but I simply don't have the room. Each issue is 24 pages long (including covers, which can hardly be discounted from the content of this series), and the fourth issue contains an inserted issue of Pregnant Halloween Bondage. There's simply too much for me to fully review, at least to the degree that a publication like this one deserves.

Hopefully, a short run-down of what can be found in the pages of POX will be enough to convince you to give it a try. The second issue's single-page "Lives of the Dead" features Stanley "Stan 'The Man' Lee" Lieber -- and I can't begin to tell you how great this one is. Suffice it to say it's now posted on my wall. It's followed by mock-up covers of "Comix You Never Knew Existed" (including Weird Bible Tales and Magnus Toaster Fighter). Then there's a terrific MAD-styled and MAD-quality Spirit parody, as well as a noble Wizard of Oz spoof. Issue #3 is a bit of a fumble, peaking with its Peanuts parody, but #4's introductory mock-up of Charles Addam's strip shows that the fumble was recovered. The Rocky and Bullwinkle story and Kurtzmanesque onomatopoeic page are truly inspired, and Wood & Butcher's parody of Woodring's Frank, "Frag," is a true work of satiric genius.

I could go on, but what's the point, really? Sure, the series has a few flaws. Wood's explorations into art (as opposed to writing) are the weakest points in the book, and the ongoing "Stupefying Stories" brings down the GPA of the work as a whole. But these cons are easily swept aside in the maelstrom of enjoyment that POX promises to provide.

POX is published by Unsafe Products, and at cover prices ranging from $2.50 to $3.00 (remember, these are Australian Dollars), can be gotten by contacting the publisher at PO Box 1298 St. Kilda Sth 3182, Australia.