One Trick Rip-Off / Deep Cuts
By Paul PopeA beautifully drawn 2 for 1 kind of comic / graphic novel. The main part is the longer story (One Trick Rip-off), which is basically a story of a bad guy (Tubby) who no longer wants to be a bad guy. How to get out of such a life? Rip off your fellow bad guys, because, you know who else to rip-off but people who already kind of deserve it and likely got their money by stealing it anyway. Tubby and his girlfriend (Vim) have it all planned out. Surely nothing can go wrong with dealing with a bunch of psychos.
Next up is Deep Cuts. Did I say this is a 2 for 1.. Okay, maybe a bunch for 1 as Deep Cuts is really a bunch of shorter comics, some of which are truly just "shorts" and some of which are just shorter than the main attraction but still a decent length. The one that will stick with my the longest, being one where the artist recounts a dream that disfigured his face, leaving him (more) reclusive while a woman attempts to encourage to get over his insecurities. The main theme in these shorts is that they tend to occur in a different city and really reflect the nature of that city in some way.
While I would probably rate the main story a 3-4 storywise, the book as a whole is too good to rate it that low. The art is stunning and the themes and stories overall are excellent. 5/5 stars as a whole book, even if the main story felt a little bland
