Home is probably the most confusing and yet funniest of the all the Double Take books. Confusing because for the most part this shared universe is very serious or at least the events are being taken seriously. With Home… it’s a different story. Most of the issue is spent with a wholesome farm family. We meet Dad as he opens the door for his teenage daughter’s boyfriend. Then we meet mom, son and lastly the youngest daughter whose no older than five and talks like me. If you’ve ever listened to the podcast, then you know what I mean. If you haven’t then listen to the podcast, it’s good for you. Basically she swears… a lot.
The confusing part is that no one acknowledges this. I mean she tells her father that the kite that he made for her is a “piece of shit.” I should point out that it’s technically censored, but unlike Valiant’s “War Monger” storyline in Unity, the censoring isn’t excessive and you’re able to easily read the word. That’s important because if you’re going to swear and censor it, don’t make it a pain in the ass to read.
Anyway, no one acknowledges her swearing and vulgarity in general and that lead me to take it one of two ways. It’s either a Family Guy/Stewie situation (which Kevin pointed out to me) or as I initially took it… kid talk. Little kids don’t always make sense. That’s why we humor them so much because we don’t have a clue as to what they’re saying and so I took it that way. They don’t understand what she’s saying or she has Tourette’s and again no one is acknowledging it. Whatever the case it’s funny. It’s funny because everyone else is very wholesome and saying things that the perfect family would say, but this kid is swearing and cursing them all for the way they are. She’s smarter than the situation, but it’s funny and very different from the rest of the books. Well, there’s one that’s kind of similar, but we’ll get there.
The art again was a great fit for the world and story. I’m really curious about their art process since a lot of the titles have a similar vibe to them. I don’t know if this has to do with the layouts or something else, but I’m curious. Overall there isn’t a lot happening in this story, but because of the little girl it’s interesting. The art keeps it that way by playing to the humor and not letting the rest of the world and characters be boring. That’s key to making this story work and so the art gets a lot of credit for the humor.
I’ll spare you my rant about how Double Take is making real comics books, but check out my review for Rise and Slab to see what I mean. I’m deadly serious about this and as someone who has over 12,000 print comics and a digital collection on the rise, I mean it when I say that Double Take’s print comics give me hope for the print industry. The reason a lot of people don’t care about print comics anymore is because print comics don’t necessarily feel like print comics anymore. You either get that or you don’t.
I will be back for more of Home. I thought it was hilarious and it quickly became a go to comic. Funny comics have been few and far between this year so this was a welcomed addition. I can’t wait to see what happens next to our perfect family and their sailor mouthed daughter.
Score: 5/5
Home #1 – “Lighter Than Air” Story: Michael Coast, Julian Rowe, Eric Hobbs, Bill Jemas Script: Michael Coast Layouts: Julian Rowe PencilsMonica Catalano, Fernando Melek Publisher: Double Take Comics Price: $2.50 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital