Mix one part Eddie Munster with one part Calvin (of Calvin & Hobbes) and toss in a dash of Charlie Brown, and you have one of the funniest, most inventive comic strips to come along in years. Patrick the Wolf Boy, the brainchild of Art Baltazar and Franco Aureliani is a simply wonderful comic strip and Devils Due has collected the adventures of this lively character into one great 144 page, digest-sized collection with more on the way. Patrick is, well...a wolf boy, with normal parents who love him dearly. Patrick doesn't talk much outside of a few growls (Rowr!!) here and there which is a large part of the allure of the character. There's no dialogue balloons needed from Patrick to know what's on his mind. Patrick is much the same as any other little boy...except for the fur and fangs, of course. He never met a squirrel that he didn't want to stick his fangs into. Art & Franco have created a strip that while charming, also has the kind of black humor that Charles Addams used so well in his Addams Family strips. That's a haughty comparison to be sure, but well deserved. In this collection we get a number of themed strips including Patrick's Christmas special, Valentine's Day Special, Mother's Day Special, and Summer Special. We see Patrick meeting Santa for the first time and having the reaction that many young kids do...stark-raving terror, but it's not long before Patrick is swiping the beards off the mall Santas and running away. You'll see Patrick attending his first baseball game and confusing a lady's fluffy bouffant hair with cotton candy. Patrick also attends his first comic book convention and annoys the Devil's Due mascot. Patrick's favorite foil, other than squirrels, is the crazy old pajama lady who lives down the street. Among my favorite strips are those of Patrick in school. While other kids leave an apple on the teacher's desk, Patrick leaves things like skulls, abnormal brains in jars, and partially eaten rodents. Rarely does a comic strip make me laugh out loud but Patrick is one that pulled the feat off. The cartooning style is very crisp and clean. Art and Franco show a great eye for comedic cartoon expressions. This is a strip that is good enough to be seen daily in newspapers all over the country. Hopefully we will see that someday. Highest recommendation! Rowr!!!! Reviewed by Tim Janson
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