Review by Frank Plowright
Every generation has their selection of books that adults love reading alongside their kids, and the escapades of Barry Loser have surely ranked high on the list since 2012. And now they’re available as comics as well, although the books have always featured plenty of drawing. Total Winner! and Action Hero! were both great, and so is Double Trouble!
Once again, the delight is Jim Smith heading in directions no other creator does. He starts with Barry’s introduction to his world and his friends, moves to an ad for nose adjustment, and then heads to the kids drinking their morning can of Fronkle. They don’t know it yet, but bad news awaits because Fronkle Corp. have a big announcement: They’re introducing new, improved Fronk. As Barry legitimately wonders, how can you make something better when it’s already the best?
Smith loosely connects the three stories here, separating them with further adverts sharply pointing out the real world inadequacies of what we’re sold. The Fronkle plot is funny, but is then completely lost when the swerve is taken to have Barry encounter his doppelganger. In the classroom no less. And there uncanny similarities with Harry Doozer. Once that’s settled, each of the kids tells their short story, Smith coming up with delights so dark and disgusting they’ll all induce shudders. Nancy’s ‘Silent Selwyn’ takes the prize, but no spoilers here. Smith draws them all in a slightly different way, possibly the only time so far the deliberately simple art has proved a drawback.
The final story features the horror of being trapped in Darren Darrenofksi’s brain. Given that he’s Barry’s sworn enemy, it couldn’t be worse for him, as who knows what horrors lurk within? While the other stories have surreal intrusions, this one really packs them in, from the giant letters to the method of Barry’s escape on the final page. Whether knowingly or otherwise, Smith also supplies a small homage to old British strip The Numbskulls, as at one point the other kids have to control Darren from within.
Barry Loser is proven quality (which might make a good title for the next volume), and this is another joyful treat.
