CYANIDE AND HAPPINESS: PUNCHING ZOO

 Evil, funny stick figures from the Internet invade the world of print with Punching Zoo, the third collection of comics from the online cartoon strip Cyanide and Happiness.   Kris, Rob, Matt and Dave deliver numerous inappropriate comics from their website, along with 30 new comics and a "Chew Your Own Adventure" feature.

As with the last two collections (and the regular online strip), the comics here are offensive, covering death, rape, stupidity, superheroes, Jesus, suicide, kids, and more.  In his introduction, reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian credits the comics' offensiveness, arguing that newspaper comics are designed to be benign and not offend anyone; he finishes the thought by wondering about all the jokes we never heard from twisted minds like Gary Larson because censors wouldn't print them -- and C&H has no such censorship.

 Does that mean the comics here are brilliant?  No, they frequently go for an evil punchline or plain ol' violence.  But they have a twisted sense of humor that often pays off, giving laughs at the same time they make you wonder if they could really just do and say that.  (They did.  Every time.)  Even the twist-a-plot "Chew Your Own Adventure" starts with a guy getting ready for a hot date and veers into him making dinner for his obnoxious son and fighting terrorists, often with less-than-stellar results.  ("You set the over to 350 and the timer for 30 minutes.  A chandelier falls on your head.  You die.  The End.")

Punching Zoo straddles the Internet and print by being "in murdered tree form" by being a physical book, but only available through the Cyanide and Happiness store.  For people with a sick sense of humor, it's definitely worth picking up.

Overall grade: B
Reviewed by James Lynch

CYANIDE & HAPPINESS: ICE CREAM AND SADNESS

Surely in these difficult times, we can all find solace in the insane antics of some often evil, usually funny stick figures. Or not. Anyway, Cyanide & Happiness: Ice Cream and Sadness is the second collection of web strips from www.explosm.net .

Much like the first collection, Ice Cream and Sadness gathers together the twisted comedy of Kris, Rob, Matt, and Dave. Just about nothing is off-limits here: dating, pets (horny, dead, and mutilated), Cyanide & Happiness ("You call this art? It's just colored rectangles and circles"), birth ("Umbilical chords" -- eew), death (so much death here...), Jesus ("Extreme Sports Christ!"), technology, sexual innuendo, superheroes, insanity, perversion... the list goes on and on. Most are stand-alone strips, and most are funny.
Ice Cream and Sadness also brings new material, for those who follow this comic online. There are 30 new strips here. In addition, there are Interactivities ("Bust a thinking cap in your ass") that range from Word Scrambles ("buttsxe") to Color by Number to Connect the Dots -- which all wind up in a dark place.

Cyanide & Happiness doesn't really grow or evolve, and the material in Ice Cream and Sadness is about the same quality as the first collection. So while it's often juvenile, you'll still laugh. A lot.

Overall grade: B
Reviewed by James Lynch

CYANIDE AND HAPPINESS by Kris, Rob, Matt & Dave

It's impressive how twisted creations can be made with simple stick figures. Cyanide & Happiness is a collection of the often evil, usually funny, sometimes clever comics appearing online at ww.wexplosm.net

George Carlin once said humor can be found in any topic, based on the exaggeration of that topic. Cyanide and Happiness doesn't so much exaggerate sensitive topics as twist them, as people standing and talking turn into animal attacks, cancer and AIDS, murders, births, sex, and a lot more.

I'm surprised it takes four people to make these comic strips: The art is very simple (if effective) and the stand-alone strips don't require advanced plotting or storytelling techniques. Cyanide and Happiness does manage to be funny most of the time, sometimes with visual puns but often with very dark humor. (Many strips end with a character staring silently in shock at what they just saw or heard.) For some evil chuckles, check out Cyanide and Happiness.

Overall grade: B
Reviewed by James Lynch