Goebert, Jerry – Mishap Collection #2 (with art by Tom Brinkmann)

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Mishap Collection #2: The Greasing of Billy Charter

A better name for this comic might be “Kids, Ask Your Parents.” Or maybe even grandparents, sadly enough. I was alive when the events in this comic would have made sense (the title is about Billy Carter, the “famous” brother of the former president), but was too young to have any sort of sense of who Jimmy Carter was, much less his brother. Granted, I have learned a bit more about the situation in the meantime, so the events of this comic are not totally lost on me. Mostly lost, maybe, but not totally. The brothers are portrayed as siamese twins who are joined at the hand, possibly a reference to the fact that they often hung out together, but I don’t know for sure. This is a series of one panel strips, so there isn’t much of a story to keep up with, but the individual strips can be just as confusing. Topics include Billy and his trying to get business connections, Jimmy striking up an oil deal, Jimmy smuggling out some of Billy’s booze after the 1980 election (or possibly not), and Jimmy hoping that Reagen gets elected. Ah, if only he knew how that would turn out, or that Reagan would be on his way to sainthood from some of the more dimwitted folks out there. Tom Brinkmann’s art works great for this and it’s probably funny if you’re old enough to remember those years, but it’s just past my consciousness. If you’re interested in political humor from different eras I’d give it a look though. $1