Weekly World News

Written by Chris Ryall
Art by Alan Robinson

When I first saw this mini-series being solicited, I thought it might be an amusing read, but I didn't bother picking it up.  After reading and enjoying Chris Ryall's Groom Lake, I thought it was worthwhile to track down some of his other comics; then I found this trade at a very low price, and snatched it up quickly.

I've never read the Weekly World News, except for headlines at the grocery store, and so don't know if the character of Ed Anger is a real pseudonym used by the paper, or if it was invented for this comic.  Regardless, this book tells Ed's story, as he wages a one-man war against WWN mainstay freaks like Bat Boy, the Manigator, the Ph.D. Ape, and a Communion-style alien. 

The comic is meant as a satire of the current American right-wing media, as Anger blames Obama for many of the country's ills.  In that, the book is occasionally funny, but I found it mostly predictable and bland.  Perhaps an artist like Ben Templesmith (who worked on Groom Lake) would have been able to elevate the material, but Robinson's art doesn't do much to add to the level of discourse.  I did find that the comic was fun to read, but by the time we learned that the big threat spoke French, I felt like I could have written the book myself had I spent three weeks watching Fox News.