Publisher: Dynamite! / Chaos!
Writer: Mike Raicht
Art: Juanan Ramirez/Rod Rodolfo
Colours: Andrew Dalhouse
Letters: Marshall Dillon
Cover: Mirka Andolfo
Publication Date: 7th January, 2015

Quite a bizarre one, is this. ‘SMILEY THE PSYCHOTIC BUTTON’ immediately struck me as a comic that seems to be directed squarely at that same 13-18 age group many people assume make up the majority of comics readers. However, the level of bloody violence and demonic threat would seem to contradict my assumption, if only in the eyes of those same people who can’t accept that comic books have something for everyone, and who tend to have a hard time accepting just how into cartoon gore a lot of kids are, and have always been.

The plot, such as it is, of the first half of the book ,’Whatever Happened To Richard Smiley?’, holds a tale of one man’s hubris and ego in ensuring him a name tailored and tumultuous fate. In fact, it struck me as being exactly the type of fate that might meet Ronald Mcdonald were he to fall afoul of Aleister Crowley and Sweeney Todd at a rave in 1989. There is a comedic tone to the story, and it has entertainment potential right up to the point where attempts to pull the rug out from under the reader come off as an uninspired Deus Ex Machina and spoil it.

The art in ‘Whatever Happened To Richard Smiley?’, by Juanan Ramirez(‘Comix Kiss Comix’;’The Six Million Dollar Man, Season 6′) is goofy but servicable, while I wouldn’t be at all surprised to learn Ramirez’s biggest influences were early Chris Sprouse(‘Supreme’) and Ivan Reis’ 2004 run on ‘Action Comics’. Meanwhile, the colouring is just garish enough to reinforce those ‘Young Adult’ impressions I got when I first picked up the book.

To be honest, despite much nicer art, by Rod Rodolfo'(Chaos! Holiday Special 2014′,’ Grimm: Bloodlines’) I am yet to decipher exactly what the second story was about. I know it is called ‘The Holy Pizzazinator’. A Pizzazinator being a bizarre weapon the female protagonist buys off a late night television shopping channel. In fact, the actual TV she used may in fact be the same one that steals little girls from Tobe Hooper’s 1981 classic suburban horror movie, Poltergeist, or not.

Clearly, the through line between these stories is some sort of screed against consumerism, along with a less than subtle hint that deals struck with the devil tend to go wrong. At least Dynamite’s Chaos! imprint is most definitely living up to the connotations of it’s name, I guess. As I said at the beginning, I don’t know if this comic is aimed at the ‘Young Adult’ market, but I do know I would have loved it 25 years ago.

Rating: 2/5.

The writer of this piece was: Jimi Longmuir
You can follow Jimi on Twitter @jimijokk