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.

Simon Hanselmann's "Below Ambition," Mixes Depressing and Funny into a Strangely Satisfying Blend

Simon Hanselmann has spent years doing his, "Megahex," comics featuring Megg, Mogg, Owl, Werewolf Jones, and other surreal characters. He then achieved massive critical and commercial success with his strip, "Crisis Zone." It chronicled his characters in an alternate continuity of sorts as they responded in real-time (he did the strip daily) to COVID-19 shutting everything down throughout 2020 and resulting in utter mayhem. A collection of, "Crisis Zone," was published in 2021 and it was a massive book that practically burst at the seams with all the wild hijinks and events that took place. It was one of my favorite comics of the year. How does Hanselmann possibly follow up such a book? Well, you can't really go larger, so why not narrow the focus? Hence, "Below Ambition."

"Below Ambition," is a series of vignettes that focus on Megg and Werewolf Jones as their two-person band, Horse Mania, tries and fails to succeed at live shows because they frankly suck. We witness Megg and WJ failing miserably to get their tech to work or make anything resembling music, all the while being absolutely vicious to any other band sharing sets with them at various bars. Compared to the sprawling, "Crisis Zone," this is absolutely minimalist, focusing mainly on Megg and WJ simply being miserable, high/drunk, and getting into trouble when they aren't screwing around in the alleys behind bars. It sounds horrifically dark and it is, but Hanselmann is a master at injecting humor into even the grimmest of situations. One strip features Megg so intoxicated she can only lay on the stage and beg for someone to just kill her while a bar's audience stares on aghast besides a friend/drug dealer of WJ's yelling about how the show needs some, "Live suicide!" The humor is as pitch-black as a cup of espresso and hits you just as hard.

If I may have a light spoiler in my review, the last strip takes us the farthest into the future I think a, "Megahex," comic has ever gone, featuring Megg with a young daughter who stumbles upon an old, "Horse Mania," record. This inspires a variety of feelings in Megg from nostalgic, to sad, to somewhat horny. The result is the book closing with a scene that is as raunchy and graphic as it is strangely sweet. I honestly could see people who only know Hanselmann for, "Crisis Zone," being really turned off by the extremely dark tone of, "Below Ambition." However, if someone is familiar with his earlier works or liked the really sorrowful-yet-funny, "Bad Gateway," then this should appeal to them immensely. I dug it.

5 out of 5 stars.

"Knife Crime," by Simon Hanselmann is Twisted and Excellent

I've written previously about my affection for the works of Simon Hanselmann. He has a big book ("Bad Gateway,") due to be released from publisher Fantagraphics this July 30th, and I'm very excited. Before that book's release however, Hanselmann had another one of his self-published mini-comics come out featuring everyone's favorite terrible people/animals--Megg, Mogg, Werewolf Jones, and Booger (Owl is at work for this issue, it mentions). Titled, "Knife Crime," it is longer-form as opposed to a short-strip, showing Megg and Mogg struggling to get motivated to do anything while the television plays what feels like a never-ending ad for that new, "Trulicity," drug.

As the issue proceeds they get drunk and high at a playground, argue, have group-sex, and otherwise basically just try to stave off the miseries of life with the numbing power of intoxicants and fucking. So yeah, as with a lot of Hanselmann's work it is a mixture of both funny and terribly depressing at the same time. Megg and Moog continue to argue about how doomed their relationship is, and a bit earlier in the book (before the playground-drugs and orgy) is my favorite segment of the book where Megg and Booger get into an argument with Werewolf Jones when he learns they have made their own offshoot band from the group's one, "Horse Mania," titled, "Knife Crime," as per the comic's name. It apparently consists of loops and mumbling about Disney Princesses and Ketamine, or, "Soundcloud Rap," as Moog dismissively describes it.

Hanselmann's art continues to be fantastic, imparting a twisted vibe with the weird assortment of animals, animal-human hybrids, witches, and a boogey monster all just hanging-out and trying not to be miserable. A bit cartoony but still grounded in a harsh and sad realism, Hanselmann is one of the best modern talents working today in comics, and you can take that statement to the bank and cash it in for a hit of whatever Werewolf Jones is smoking today. I can't wait for, "Bad Gateway," but this was a great read to get me extra-hyped.
5 out of 5 stars.

I Read Three Comic Collections by Simon Hanselmann and Loved Every Moment

Simon Hanselmann (he often dresses as a woman but declines to identify as female or transgender so-much as a, "Straight male," who likes to dress as a female, therefore the male pronoun will be used in this article as he identifies).

I read three books by popular comic-creator Simon Hanselmann, pictured above. He is best known for his work involving a witch, cat, and owl named (respectively), Megg, Mogg, and Owl. Megg and Mogg are a couple who spend most of their time dealing with anxiety and depression through large amounts of drug use whilst Owl struggles to pay most of the rent, hold down a job, and sometimes do drugs too when he's not off making questionable romantic choices (he has many STI's from not using protection). They have some friends, such as Booger, a former Boogeyman who transitioned to being a female, Mike, who kind of looks like a garden gnome, and utterly reckless Werewolf Jones, whom I'll discuss more in a bit. The comics with these characters don't have an overarching plot at first glance, although some general stories begin to form over time. Often it is just weird little segments that can be hilarious, depressing, or both.

I read three collections, "Megahex," Megg and Mogg in Amsterdam and Other Stories," and the latest 2017 book, "One More Year." The characters will often appear in a variety of comics, magazines, websites, and such so having these books to collect much of their adventures is wonderful and saves me time tracking-down a variety of publications/webpages. When reading the comics it is clear that Megg and Mogg are not bad people per se, they just are horrifically flawed, need help dealing with their issues (both personal and relationship-based) and have a codependency with Owl who honestly enables a lot of their worst behavior. Then there's Werewolf Jones.

Now, Werewolf Jones, he's just chaos in a humanoid form. As addicted to drugs and mayhem as he is attention-seeking, WWJ will run a cheese grater on his genitals, crash a car into a Target to steal baby-seats to sell, and take all the drugs available just because he can. He has two middle-schooler sons who are always jacked-up on sugar, leftover drugs, or a mixture of both. He's a supporting character so as to not wear out his welcome in the book, but man is he wild with his insane schemes--such as selling fabric hats on Etsy and at a trade show, but then getting stopped by airport security, stripping naked in front of everyone, and declaring they can search him before he passes out from all his drugs and ends up in prison, asking his son's about the Etsy store.

The assorted adventures of Megg, Mogg, Owl, and everyone else may sound like mostly idiotic stoner comedy, and that is an element, but there is some sharp and incisive commentary running through the book. Owl tries to act like a stand-up citizen and better than everyone else, but has a lot of his own vices and is so obsessed with status-climbing at a miserable telemarketing job he struggles at realizing just how deeply unhappy he is. Plus, throughout the books we see the sadness as Megg and Mogg come to terms with how their relationship is one of distrust and anger with them only getting along when deeply intoxicated. Plus, gender issues are discussed with Booger and how people treat her as a transgender Boogeyman/Boogeywoman. Oh, and we never see Megg's mother or hear/read her voice, but the times she is discussed it is made clear Megg's relationship with her mother is really damaged and miserable. Oh, and the flashback in, "One More Year," to everyone in high school is mostly heartbreaking. Basically, a whole lot of sadness and drama lurks just beneath the surface of some great humor--and don't get me wrong, despite the misery these books are hilarious and made me literally laugh at loud.

Left to right: Owl, Megg, Mogg, Werewolf Jones.

Some of the comics/mini-comics and magazines that have featured Megg, Mogg, and Owl are long since sold-out or out-of-print. However, thanks to Fantagraphics having these three big collections it is easy to take-in Hanselmann's genius. Between his stellar illustrative skills, masterful storytelling, and keen sense of humor these were all amazing comics. I look forward to the upcoming book Hanselmann has discussed, "Megg's Coven," for sure and any other work he puts out!
5 out of 5 stars (for all three books).