Backderf, Derf – True Stories Volume One

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True Stories Volume One

If you’re one of those people who get offended when others (rightly) make fun of white trash folks, or of hopeless (though real) stereotypes of human behavior, you might want to move on. If, on the other hand, you have a sense of humor and understand that it’s a miracle that society is still functioning, you are going to love damned near every page of this one. Derf did a series of single page strips for 24 years, and this is the first volume covering that run. The order in which he is releasing them is a bit erratic, but this one covers 2002-2008. Still, almost any one of them could appear in the newspaper today and it wouldn’t look a bit out of place. My only question is what happened to the rest of the strips, as there’s no way this covers every strip he did for those years, but maybe the world isn’t ready for a complete collection of the strip. Anyway, subjects in here include many different happenings at the big box stores, the assorted homeless folks on the streets and their behaviors, a businessman with a counter-intuitive tattoo, Americans of all stripes at their most American, fighting off a burglar with a teddy bear, a cross on a wheel, people making a ridiculous stop on a charity run, an inspiring guy who refused to get off the wrong way walkway at the airport, and the assistant principal who is forced to direct traffic away from students who are too busy on their phones to look either way before crossing the street. The common theme throughout is the proud, willful ignorance of Americans, and I don’t see many signs that that has gotten any better in the years since these strips first appeared. It’s hilarious while also hurting your heart, and those are the best kind of comics. $6

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Posted on December 23, 2014, in Reviews and tagged , , . Bookmark the permalink. Comments Off on Backderf, Derf – True Stories Volume One.

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