SPACED OUT #1, available from Source Point Press on March 31st, 2021, takes up the mantle of humor magazines such as MAD and CRACKED to poke fun at serious stories from pop culture and history. This first issue’s irreverent take on WWI sky commandoes, the 1960s show The Prisoner, and Marvel’s Sgt. Rock walks a fine line between parody and farce to stand out as something wholly unique to what’s available on the market today.
Was It Good?
It was okay. I view this as a valid attempt to recapture the spirit of those comical comics (heh!) such as MAD and CRACKED that were very much of their time.
That said, the humor didn’t always land, and I’m not sure focusing all the stories on topics that were relevant in the 60s makes sense to capture the interest of modern readers. The timeframe of the chosen topics is intentional, so I would encourage everyone to check this issue out for the style and tone. Encourage more of this work, and if the writers move closer to the modern era, I have high hopes for a successful run.
Short Story Long
There are three short stories in this issue. I’ll take them one at a time and discuss what worked and what didn’t. Some SPOILERS ahead.
ENEMY ASS
Lou Mougin takes a fantasy turn at the exploits of WWI fighter pilots by replacing the Germans and Allies with animals. It reminds me of a period-specific, fighter-pilot-based take on Spy vs. Spy with woodland creatures.
The humor that does work comes from the absurdity of the setup and the slapstick nature of the combat. An Ally hedgehog with an irresistible attraction for balloons is lured into an aerial trap by parade floats. I almost expected a “Made by ACME” stamp to appear on one of the floats.
It’s cute and silly and rife with puns. This was the funniest, to me, story of the trio.
THE PRISONERD
This is a straight up parody of the 60s television series, The Prisoner. If you’re unfamiliar with the show, a man is kidnapped and dropped off on a prison island. He’s renamed with just a number and… weird things happen. There’s a very sci fi post modern sensibility to the show that wasn’t always easy to understand when it first aired. I suspect fewer people today would understand the show, if they’ve even heard of it.
The story pays homage to the series while poking good-natured fun at some of its absurdities. Admittedly, the humor didn’t always work. Some of the jokes are poking fun at things that actually happened in the original show, so if you’ve never seen it or, like me, haven’t seen it in a very long time, some of the jokes don’t make sense.
Also, there are a few spots where part of the humor comes from inserting caricatures of real actors and celebrities of the time. MAD was famous for celebrity caricatures, and those worked because the likenesses were very spot on. Here, not so much. If the artists try this type of parody again, it would work better to tighten up the likenesses on the caricatures so you could get who the characters were meant to emulate.
There’s one more critique that’s minor in the whole book but would help greatly. The kerning in the lettering in this story was off, and it made it difficult to read sometimes. If the lettering could be spaced a little more cleanly, that would help a lot.
Overall, this was the weakest of the three stories.
SGT. CROCK
This story was less humor and more meta, answering a very old question – How do you keep a WWII soldier comic character relevant decades after the war ended?
In an odd bit of psychedelic breaking of the 4th wall. this parody of DC Comics’ Sgt. Rock is lost in a wasteland with his commandoes. Recognizing he’s seemingly fighting the same wartime battles on the same dates over and over again, the Sergeant is pulled into mind-bending bubble warp where he meets his writers/creators. They explain they’ve “extended” the war with new battles and scenarios to keep him from being written off to oblivion in a tabloid.
When Crock asks what he’s going to be doing with his extended “life,” the writers flippantly reply they’re going to send him to fight in a war, effectively forever. Realizing he’s been trapped in a war that will never end, Crock charges his writers before waking up back in the wasteland with his commandoes, ready to fight on.
Again, this is less about humor and more a meta statement on the lifespan of period-specific characters and (possibly) a sentiment on war itself. But that’s a topic for another time.
This story was interesting and surprisingly thought provoking. There are layers to peel back. Unless, of course, I’m reading way too much into it. Time will tell.
Final Thoughts
SPACED OUT #1, available from Source Point Press on March 31st, 2021, is a strong attempt at recreating the magic of humor comics from a bygone era. There’s a little something for everyone – slapstick, parody, and even a little social commentary. Give this book a try.