Review
“Oh christ, I didn't really want the job! I just applied because my dole would be cut!” - Drake James Andre brings his particular brand of smut, sorry, parlour room story telling, back for a fourth time as Yuck! magazine shows no signs of slowing down. This time you get sixteen tales of rampant filth and social commentary as Andre continues to hold a mirror up to some of the lesser talked about foibles Aussie society quite happily wallows in. So hold onto your linen we're going in to see what might be lurking on the Yuck! street corner. For the first time in Yuck! history the editorial is not written by the normally maniac Mr Slime, but never fear Mr Dirt his brother steps into the breach to continue the redefinition of what an Editorial is. In case I haven't mention it before, Yuck! delivers the sort of editorial you would expect to find written in crayon by an inmate at an insane asylum. Mr Dirt, apparently the disturbed one, continues this fine traditional by coming out of left field rather than addressing the actual Issue of the mag you have in your hands. I can appreciate an Editor that allows the stories to speak for themselves and who strafes the lifeboats of traditional magazine publishing with wild abandoned. You just never know what you are going to get, so go with the flow here, it does help to set your mind frame for the panels that are about to scar you for life. Jacek Zabawa, who should be toiling away at panzer dude panels, has continued Yuck!'s fine tradition of trying to shock the casual browser with a gratuitous cover. You are going to be in doubt about what you are letting yourself in for once you catch the artwork. I was suitably impressed, my wife wanted to know just what I was reading, and our Editor didn't believe the dog had eaten my review. So no foul anywhere, lets get down and dirty with the stories. JP Manzanares gets things started in a caring and sharing fashion with a story about a rabbit, strangely titled The Rabbit, with a rather large penis who is after some action. Naturally this story should have feminist groups rushing outlets to purchase Yuck!. Aiming for more of a social satire angle Jason Paulos knocks one through the posts with Kid Brother, the effects of reality TV being the target here. Strangely I was left wondering if Paulos had been influenced by the old Brit comic Beano with the artwork in his story. Definitely a Brit look and feel to it, though of course Paulos does deliver a dinkum last panel that had me chuckling evilly to myself. 
Slight deviation here, but in answer to a question poised in Christoffer Saar's Agnostic, from a Catholic point of view perhaps. “Why did God put forbidden fruit there in the first place?”, is the question poised. It's got to do with “free will”, if you do not have the opportunity to sin then how can it be determined that you are leading a virtuous life? Here endeth the lesson. See the sort of questions and territory Yuck! confronts you with, not bad for a magazine that prides itself on pushing the boundaries of acceptability. Sorry for those who don't want to think, Yuck! really isn't aimed at you, but hey dial in anyway it's entertaining as well as being engaging. Where was I, Craig Cillins and I Laurie give a new spin to the banshee thing in Tourettes Banshee, I leave it to the reader to figure that one out. And finally Frank Candiloro hits his stride with this issue's Millennial Monsters instalment. A masturbating vampire in a coffin is probably not everyone's favourite start to a story about the horrors of later night work at “Lard-o-Burger”, but for some reason I was having a hoot with the story. Please note there's a whole lot more in Issue 4, but hey the ones I enjoyed the most and it's my review etc, so suck it up and buy the magazine to get the full goodness on offer. Overall then Issue 4 continues the Yuck! exploration of the borders of acceptability without missing a step. I tend to read each issue multiple times before firing up the Word Processor and writing these reviews, so I can state the magazine has an excellent re-read value, there's an awful lot going down that might not be apparent on a first exposure. This one comes recommended to folk who are able to get down and funky with ideas and concepts and not get too caught up in the political correct net. Yuck! doesn't ask of the reader more than they are willing to invest, so most comic fans should settle in and have a good time. Yuck! #4 should be available via Milk Shadow Books but seems the site is getting a facelift. Go check it out regularly, Issue four can be yours for the startlingly low cost of $5 plus P&H. Sorry unaware of other outlets so you'll just have to wait.
ScaryMinds Rates this read as ... Another strong instalment of Yuck!
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