Last Kiss #4by Layla LawlorReviews may contain information that could be considered 'spoilers'. Readers should proceed at their own risk. Publisher
Credits Grade: 7 When I got this review copy of Last Kiss, I had no idea what the series was about, so here's a quick introduction for the equally clueless: in 1987, John Lustig bought the dirt-cheap rights to First Kiss, a 40-issue series of romance anthology comics that ran from 1957 to 1963. According to Lustig, he bought them sight-unseen, and quickly learned that he'd ended up with 40 issues of Grade-D 1950s schlock. So he took the Mystery Science Theatre 3000 route. All the stories in Last Kiss use the art from actual First Kiss romance stories, but with completely rewritten (and hilarious) dialogue.It's difficult to do justice to Last Kiss in a review, since most of the humor relies on the contrast between the slightly loony 1950s innocence of the artwork, and the dialogue that is actually coming out of the characters' mouths. As the caption to one panel inquires: "The 1950s! Was it a golden age of carefree innocence ... or a simmering stewpot of ignorant paranoia? Who can tell?" The funniest strips, I thought, were the short ones, just a few panels taken completely out of context: a stereotypical '50s father (complete with pipe, suit and tie) answering his daughter's innocent "Where do babies come from?" question by insisting that reproduction is a Communist plot (Daughter: "Thank heavens! I was afraid it had something to do with sex!"); or the world's worst superhero (codenamed "The Weakest Link") complaining to his girlfriend, "I've become the Rodney Dangerfield of superheroes! No one respects me anymore!" (Girlfriend: "Actually, dear, no one respected you before ... including me!") The longer stories have a little trouble sustaining their essentially one-note humor over multiple pages, although some are quite inspired, such as a story about shipwrecked lovers that becomes, in Lustig's hands, a Gilligan's Island parody. The issue is also packed with other goodies, including a caption contest with reader-submitted dialogue, an interview with a comic book store owner who moonlights as a parole officer, fake ads and an "advice column" in which Martha Stewart answers "reader letters" in prison. ("Dear Martha: In exchange for certain favors, you promised to give me inside information on some stocks. I'm still waiting! Pay up! - Not the Warden.") Although the humor can be repetitive at times, this book is smart and sharp, as well as highly entertaining. Definitely well worth reading. Written: January 17, 2004
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