"Being Alive," is Simon Hanselmann's Latest Twisted Delight

Simon Hanselmann is a skilled creator of comics. Many of his works involve the witch known as Megg, the talking cat, Mogg, and their roommate (in some continuities), Owl. Oh, and good ol' Werewolf Jones. Sometimes Hanselmann's yarns with these characters are outright hilarious ("Crisis Zone,"), but they can be incredibly dark and depressing too. His works are often quite edgy, however, with this latest release of the single-issue/one-shot, "Being Alive," providing plenty of moments I laughed aloud, cringed, and sometimes did both. This comic primarily involves Owl wanting to break up with his girlfriend, Jenny. 

All the mayhem occurs a bit after Owl learns she often likes to dress up as a clown named, "Spritzy Waters." Yes, it is also a sex thing, and she does OnlyFans under that moniker as well. Owl isn't big on clowns, comedy-themed sex, or Jenny/Spritzy's clown friends who seem to despise him. An attempt to end things at the circus (it's her favorite place and the idea was to soften the blow) does not go well, either. As in many stories with Owl, he incurs a lot of hilarious injuries. Oh, and everyone does a lot of drugs at the birthday party for a nine-year-old.

"Being Alive," is absurd, hilarious, and full of awful people being terrible to each other. The closest comparison I've ever been able to draw to these miscreants would maybe be the characters of, "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," but with the insanity and surreal aspects cranked up beyond anything you'd ever see on television (at least basic cable, maybe one of the edgier streaming networks). Hanselmann's work remains as impressive and enjoyable as ever; the world of comics is better for his unique brand of dark and quirky creations.

5 out of 5 Stars.

The, "Werewolf Jones and Sons Deluxe Summer Fun Annual," is Some Twisted Hilarity

Simon Hanselmann is a fantastic cartoonist whose work I quite enjoy. His latest publication is a collaboration between Hanselmann as well as (in no specific order) HTML Flowers, Nate Garcia, and Josh Pettinger. A nice hardcover book collecting some previously published works as well as new stuff, the focal point is there in the title, "Werewolf Jones and Sons Deluxe Summer Fun Annual," although more seasons are represented too. The book contains a sampling of all the madness WWJ brings to the World because he is one big agent of chaos. Werewolf Jones is the personification of bad decisions. He's constantly engaging in unsafe sex, doing drugs, fighting folks, stealing, and otherwise behaving like an awful human being/werewolf. While other characters Hanselamnn has created are somewhat self-aware of their failings (Megg, Mogg, Owl, etc.) Jones feels he can do no wrong, even when almost anything he does is just plain wrong.

Within this collection, we witness Jones and his sons, Diesel and Jaxon (in one continuity they came out as Transgender and changed their names, but not in this continuity), going to a drug den as the kids sit around and attempt to avoid trouble, trying to trick or treat as things go horribly wrong, and in the one, count it one, instance where Jones does something sort of nice it still is terrible--he stops a teenaged bully from picking on his kids (albeit via hitting said bully with a car and then threatening to carve him with a piece of broken glass). As this is an anthology of sorts we have art by Hanselmann, Pettinger, and HTML Flowers. They all are fantastic creators and Garcia's colors in tales that were originally black-and-white are lovely--the bodily fluids practically jump off the page!

The, "Werewolf Jones and Son Deluxe Summer Fun Annual," is twisted and hilarious. Those who are easily offended should not dare touch this book, but anyone whose sense of humor could best be described as, "Dark," "Kind of off," or, "Utterly disgusting," will love this book. It's over 100 pages of Werewolf Jones doing what he does best--being the worst.

5 out of 5 stars.