Toe Tag Riot is a romp. It’s very entertaining and by no means is it trying to change the face of comics for a new generation. I mean it could, but that's not it's goal. Along the way it makes some great social commentary, but its surface level so you can’t miss it. It basically equates to you either agreeing or disagreeing because it’s not there to change your mind. I mean unless you have an un-natural fear of a zombie punk band coming to kill you because you’re a close minded ass… The band is faced with some tough choices in this issue… do they take on Fall Out Boy’s Andy Hurley and concert goer Leigh as band members? Well you’ll have to read to find out because it might just save their lives as both people were mortally shot in the last issue.
I don’t really need to tell you anything else about this issue. The band fights with another group associated with hate speech and continue to make their way to Kansas to take on Westbro and find the witch that cursed them.
What I like about this book is that it doesn’t have any repercussions… other than Evie’s arm. Yeah I didn’t even realize that she had one arm until this issue. But other than that there’s no repercussions and that’s good because it keeps it fun. This is a zombie punk band that switches back and forth between human and living dead so if it took itself serious the entire time I don’t know how long people would really read for.
I love Matt Miner’s 2004 jokes and Andy Hurley’s self-awareness. It’s like an episode of Simpons the way he kept showing up in the first two issues. The over the top gore and out of the blue humor fits this book. Annie and Evie getting engaged in the middle of a brawl, priceless. Miner makes fun of the right things like douche bags and hate groups and that’s what makes the story fun.
Sean Von Gorman’s art is interesting. I’m not in love with it, but it works for the story. Especially with little things like showing a nutcracker cracking a nut when Annie kicks a dude in the family jewels. That stuff is great and adds to the humor. He nails the humor and the line work is solid. While I'm not in love with it, I do appreciate it and what it adds to this story.
Oh hey, Fall Out Boy just came up on my shuffle, look at that. #coincidence
Anyway, this issue is a romp. It’s entertaining and you have enough fun with it that you don’t even care if the band finds the witch that cursed them. That and I love that they only sing one song over and over throughout the series... and that it's the title of the band/comic.
Score: 3/5
Writer: Matt Miner Artist: Sean Von Gorman Publisher: Black Mask Studios Price: $3.99 Release Date: 2/11/15 Format: Mini-Series; Print