I can see it now: “I am not an animal! I am a superhero!”
You’d think turning John Merrick — aka the severely deformed, so-called Elephant Man — into a comic-book character would be tasteless. And in Greg Houston’s ELEPHANT MAN, it certainly is. But it’s also fairly hilarious, so consider some slack cut. (Remember, tragedy plus time equals comedy.)
Writing and illustrating, Houston plays his absurd adventure like a Superman parody, with Merrick hiding his true identity by hiding beneath a reporter’s hat and glasses. What, you say? Such things couldn’t hide such deformities? That’s all part of the admittedly sick joke.
A local newsman, Dick Denton, is peeved that Elephant Man gets so much publicity since he doesn’t actually do anything. That’s true, as all his victories are merely accidental or misattributed. Denton calls upon the three-headed villain The Priest, the Rabbi and a Duck — so named because that’s what they are, having been fused together by a mix of science and beer — to help bring Merrick down.
The story’s thin, but the jokes number many, and the more left-field they are, the funnier. This is a slim volume that can be read in less time than it takes to watch your average sitcom, but Houston certainly took his time, as his goofy art is supplemented by hand lettering.
For some reason, the book reminded me of the NORMALMAN indie comics of the ’80s. That’s not bad company. —Rod Lott
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