Some might be disappointed to learn that Scurvy Dogs is going on hiatus (which might just be indy-speak for "ending") this issue, but not me. Not because Scurvy Dogs hasn't been brilliant for all of its five issues, or because I'm happy about the prospect of losing this amount of funny from the industry, but because it's always nice to see guys who know when to get off the stage. Scurvy Dogs winds up its initial run with a fifth issue that is every bit as funny and insane as its first, and Boyd and Yount go off to spread their talented wings elsewhere and recharge their batteries for a possible return, keeping the book fresh and meaning that we'll never be saying "Remember when Scurvy Dogs was good, and it wasn't all just a bunch of cheap Menudo jokes?" Well, OK, we might be saying the second part, but not the first, because damnit, cheap Menudo jokes are funny, and you can't blame Boyd and Yount for wanting to use them.
So aside from applauding these guys for knowing when to put a book on hiatus, which is an odd way to start a review for one of my most beloved books, what did I think of the issue? The same thing I think about every issue, which is that Scurvy Dogs is hilarious, and that Boyd and Yount are probably dangerous people to sit next to in an IHOP at 3 in the morning. Because this book is filled with the sort of insane stream of consciousness pop culture referencing that takes place between friends late at night when you're stoned, drunk, hungover or just tired, and everything is funny. The miracle of Scurvy Dogs is that even in the bright light of day, when these gags have been put down on paper, they're still funny.
There's something inherently funny about modern-day pirates to me anyway, but Boyd and Yount have always used this book as a jumping-off point for pop culture humor, and this issue is no different. They don't shy away from the obscure, either, but for a guy in his early thirties like me, they're hitting the same TV I used to watch as a kid, and with the advent of cable networks like Nickelodeon, Sci-Fi and others, none of this stuff is as obscure as it used to be. Still, you've got to respect the ballsy decision to use Dr. T from Buck Rogers as a major character in the story, and perhaps even more respect the restraint in not making any "Dr. T and the Women" jokes or somehow tying him into Mr. T. No, no, instead of something so obvious, the creators tie him into Flava Flav and Rod Stewart... before taking the story off into a variety of television spoofs, each of which is hilariously funny in itself.
What is perhaps funniest about these parodies, and inherent in the humor throughout the issue, is the way Yount depicts them. Yount's art is notable not because the style is as clean and polished as a lot of artists, but because he has comedic timing to spare. Little background details like the money, booze and pills in Dr. T's flashbacks, or the rotten-toothed, broken-down rendition of the pirates (and Rod Stewart) or the violence of Pappy's cooking sequence are all a big part of what makes the book funny. And his emulation of cheesy ads for half-broken crap like the "Salty Dog 2000" really takes me back to when I was a kid and would happily shell out money to buy that crap. Thankfully, I was a kid and didn't have the money, or God knows how many dead sea monkeys I'd have now.
Of course, while Scurvy Dogs is funny, it's not all about the laughter that you try to suppress while reading the book at your sewing circle and trying not to embarrass yourself. No, it's also about heart and pathos, as seen in the wrenching discussion about who is truly the voice of the Irish people. OK, I'm just kidding, it's only about being funny. But it's very, very funny indeed, and if you haven't checked out Scurvy Dogs before, now is the time, and picking up any one (or all five) of the issues either at your local retailer or at one of the summer Cons should be at the top of your priorities list. Right below anything involving medication or possible prosecution.
