Todd, the Ugliest Kid on Earth #1

Meet Todd, a child so ugly he constantly wears a brown paper bag over his head (like the joke says). Needless to say, bullying & trying to make friends is a big part of Todd’s day, but when neighbourhood kids start disappearing, his crappy dysfunctional life is about to get crappier. But for an oblivious kid like Todd, it’s just another sunny day in his neighbourhood.

The Team

Written by M.K. Perker (Air Vol. 1 : Letters From Lost Countries, Insomnia Café) & Ken Kristensen. Illustrated & cover by M.K. Perker. Published by Image Comics.

The Pros & Cons

The Gong Show’s Unknown Comic meets Malcolm in the Middle in this crazy messed up life of suburbanites from the creative minds from Image. I went into this comic, knowing absolutely nothing about it and was pleasantly surprised by the outcome. The title says it all, which is why Todd wears a bag on his head. As the protagonist of the story, everything revolves around Todd, the bullies, the friends he desperately tries to make, his dead beat parents & a child serial killer prowling the streets. The story is dark, weird & has a real twisted sense of humour to say the least. Everyone around Todd seems to be used to him having a brown paper bag on his head, which makes him number one on every bullies’ hit list. As ridiculous as he looks, part of you can’t help but feel sorry for the kid. I mean everybody shits on him, other kids, his family, his teacher, even the blind shop keeper at the pet store gives him a hard time.

To say Todd’s family life is dysfunctional is the understatement of the year. Now grant it, it’s not as macabre as the family from The Milkman Murders, but then again it does involve murders. This comic is not for everyone and is guaranteed to offend, racism & child killing is not normally themed in your standard comic, so if you’re used to Superman saving the day or Spider-Man, triumphing over the bad guys, then walk away right now! There are tons of funny & clever moments sprinkled here & there. Todd’s father’s choice of beer glass, the dolls Candie & Ben fornicationally stuck together with super glue & the vandalism of the Finger Pets pet store sign was just begging for it. It’s the kind of off colour humour that really works for this type of comic book.

As for the artwork, this is the second week in a row, in which Image offers a new comic with funny, caricature like illustrations with big headed characters. The first was The End Times of Bram & Ben. As much as I enjoyed that first issue, I gotta say I much prefer M.K. Perker’s illustrations. Pencilled like a children’s picture book under the supervision of Albert Fish, there’s an incredible attention to detail for everything from the characters to their surroundings. With Cemal Soyleyen handling the pastel colours, it gave this bizarre comic the perfect look of Mr. Rogers Neighbourhood gone extremely wrong.

The Outcome

Can’t praise this comic enough and I think my review sums it up. Check it out if you want something different. Move over Dennis the Menace, there’s a new problem child on the block and his name is Todd!