Angels seem to be a hot subtopic in literature today and Bryan Talbot and Mark Stafford’s “Cherubs†is the newest addition. Too bad this one is more devil than angel and deserves to be sent to Tartarus.
“Cherubs†is about five cherubs who are bored with the mundane goings on of heaven. Caught in the midst of an evil plot by Lucifer, their lives change drastically as they are forced to defend themselves and their honor.
The story is one big ridiculous Mad Magazine story that’s way too long and unfunny for its own good. The story relies heavily on crude humor, fart and urine jokes and pop culture references. These jokes are all forced with no comedic timing whatsoever. Even the dialogue reads like it’s straight out of a Seltzer and Friedberg film with foul language and other crude things just for the hell of it.
The actual plot revolves around shoving as many supernatural creatures in as possible in order to make a heaven VS hell scenario. In fact, the comedic deus ex machina ending, once considered funny, is unfunny and forced.
Speaking of Mad Magazine, the art also keeps with the magazine’s style. There’s nothing wrong with Mad’s style when it is in the magazine. When it is in a 200-page comic the reader grows tired of the ridiculous facial expressions, the comedic proportions of the female body and the overall funny bits of it all. It’s funny in small batches, but in large portion sit becomes overkill and loses its overall impact.
“Cherubs†is a Mad Magazine type comic that tries too hard in all aspects and fails horribly. With its heavy reliance on crude humor, foul language, pop culture references, poor writing and overall overuse of Mad Magazine type humor it’s painful to read.
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