Who is Jason Young?
Anyone who picked up this book at the convention will definitely become
familiar with him within the pages of THE VEGGIE DOG SATURN SPECIAL. It is a collection of true-life stories
written by him and illustrated by a variety of different artists.
It kicks off with “Cecil,” illustrated by ONE YEAR IN
INDIANA scribe Kurt Dinse. An elderly
Young describes his elementary school experience with a n’er-do-well by the
name of Cecil (pronounced See-sill, according to the first panel). Cecil is a badass who steals food off of
people’s lunch trays, so they all train themselves to eat as quickly as
possible, so he can’t get their food.
(There are a couple of flaws, but those will be brought up
in just a moment.)
Next up is “House Show,” illustrated by Jason Martin. This is the story of Young running into an
old friend at the grocery store, only to be invited out to a house party where his
friend’s punk band is going to play. He
goes to the show, but his host goes out to help another band whose van broke
down. In the guy’s absence, Young takes
up a guitar and plays a miniature show with a stranger.
The third story, and probably the funniest, is “My Bank
Thinks I Sling Rock,” in which Young talks about being paid under the table for
his comic book shop job, and because he always deposits it at his bank, he is
under the impression that his bank thinks he deals drugs.
The weakest story is next, and it’s called “Mandy’s Grandma
Question.” Illustrated by Chris Hoium,
it shows three people talking about the worst thing they’ve ever done to their
grandmothers.
“The Scare-Wolf,” illustrated by Carrie Meninch, is one of
the most appealing stories here. It
details Young’s Pez obsession when he was a kid (and a teenager . . . and a
young adult . . .). One day, he meets a
fellow Pez enthusiast, a tattoo artist, and he trades a super-rare Pez
dispenser for $300 worth of tattoos.
Next is “Fantastic Flu #9,” illustrated by Brian John
Mitchell. Young tells about the time he
and his brother had the flu at the same time, and his brother wound up puking
up a perfect replica of a scene from FANTASTIC FOUR #9.
The strongest story is “The King of Cartoons,” illustrated
by Joe Gruenwald. It tells of Young’s
childhood neighbor, Mr. King, who would play reel-to-reel cartoons on his
projector for the kids every Friday night, at least until the day he suffers a
stroke and dies. Later in life, after
Mrs. King passes away, Young buys Mr. King’s collection of films and relives
his childhood memories.
“The Label Maker” is the final story in this collection, and
it’s illustrated by Eric Shonborn. Young
tells about a few pranks he pulled back in the day, but the main prank in
question is when he used a label maker to put a sign on a Subway bathroom’s
toilet asking patrons not to flush the toilet.
Is this all funny?
Sure. Young has an excellent
sense of humor. Here’s the major flaw,
though: none of these (except “The King
of Cartoons”) are actually stories.
They’re anecdotes, and most of them are told just to get to a really
cheesy punchline. Young is smart enough
to recognize that his real-life stories are funny, but he hasn’t reached the
point where he can structure them into actual stories yet, and as a result, all
of them are letdowns in the end (with “King” being the exception, yet again).
Here’s another problem:
they all have the same frame.
These are all stories-within-stories.
It removes immediacy from the subject matter, and when it comes to
humor, immediacy is almost as important as timing.
The artists fare well, more or less. With the exception of two, they are just good
enough. The two who really knocked it
out of the park were Dinse and Shonborn.
Their work brings such a vibrancy to the stories that one can forgive
Young for a lot.
Does Young have talent?
Yes. Someday, he could really
kick some ass. For now, that talent is a
block of stone, and a lot needs to be chiseled away before you can get to the
sculpture hidden within.
THE VEGGIE DOG SATURN SPECIAL
Written by Jason Young
Illustrated by various artists
Published by Buyer Beware Comics
$3
24 pages
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