REVIEW: FUNNYMAN #1

TITLE: THE EVER-INCREDIBLE FUNNYMAN #1
PUBLISHER: Gallant Comic
WRITER: Barry Gregory
ILLUSTRATOR: Luis Rivera
COLORS: Barry Gregory
LETTERS: Barry Gregory
EDITOR: Barry Gregory
COVER: Steve Butler
COVER ARTIST EDITION: Luis Rivera
COVER GUEST ARTIST: Jenni Gregory
PRICE: $10
RATING:
WEBSITE: gallantcomics.com
SUMMARY: Based on a character created by Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, The Ever-Incredible Funnyman is the story of failed comedian Dave Keller who intervenes to save an old man from what he perceives to be a mugging. Unbeknownst to him, however, Dave put himself in the middle of an attempt by inter-dimensional assassins to murder a powerful, but eccentric entity.
COMMENTS: Funnyman was Larry Davis, a character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster after they left DC. Larry Davis was a red-headed TV comedian back in 1948. In this version Funnyman is David Keller, an alcoholic failed stand-up comedian. The story starts out like a Harley Quinn or Deadpool comic with one-liners and slapstick with some bronze-age sensibilities and then the comic morphs into a more Alan Moore dystopia version of Funnyman only to leave you scratching your head and wondering how the two points of view coexist and what is real in the Galavant Universe. I was left wanting to know more, and wanting more of the story which is the point of hooking the audience. Looking forward to Funnyman #2. If you want to read the golden age stores, they can legally be downloaded for free here

About Author

Rik Offenberger

Rik Offenberger has worked in the comic field as a retailer, distributor, reporter, public relations coordinator, writer and publisher since 1990. He owns and operates the e-mail bases Super Hero News service, and his published works in print can be seen in The Comics Buyers Guide, Comic Retailer, Borderline Magazine, and Comics International. On the internet he has worked as a writer and/or editor for Silver Bullet Comicbooks, Comic Book Resources, Newsarama and First Comics News. He was the Public Relations Coordinator at Archie Comics for a decade. He is currently the Editor-In-Chief at G-Man Comics. For TwoMorrows Publications, Rik co-wrote The MLJ Companion with Paul Castiglia and Jon B. Cooke, charting the history of Archie’s superheroes, and for Gemstone Publishing wrote chapters of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide to Lost Universes.

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