Written by Joe CaseyArt by Mike Huddleston
It's a real shame that the ending of Butcher Baker, Joe Casey and Mike Huddleston's gonzo comics series had to end with some on-line controversy and mud-slinging on the parts of the creators towards each other. The book is hella late - this issue was solicited for October of last year, and it's a little odd to see Casey lay the blame on the artist, considering how completely screwed up the schedule has been for Godland, Casey's other Image series, for the last two years.
Anyway, I don't read comics for the behaviour of the people who create them, I read them for their own merits, and in that sense, Butcher Baker ends much as it began, in a burst of crazy energy and ideas.
Butcher is a patriotic hero, a cross between Ultimate Captain America, Rambo, and The Comedian, who drives around in an over-sized truck dispensing justice. This issue has him finish his big confrontation with his old enemy Jihad Jones, deal with the other-worldly threat of The Absolutely, and reach some closure with the small-town cop who has been pursuing him since the series began.
Much of this issue is taken up with the extended fight between Butcher and Jones, both of them naked with their rather large appendages swinging freely. It's like Casey took his goal of creating the most balls-out crazy action comic he could a little too literally, and you have to respect that.
Mike Huddleston has made this issue well worth the wait, as he continues to blend various styles and colour approaches, and makes every page stand out in a way we haven't seen since Bill Sienkiewicz first made his splash.
Casey's back pages are entertaining as always, and while it's too bad that we won't be seeing more of Butcher, I'm curious to see what Casey has in store for us with his next series, titled simply Sex.
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