The Adventures of Barry Ween, Boy Genius: Monkey Tales #6
Story:
Art:

Written & Art by Judd Winick

Published by Oni Press
Price: $2.95

My Verdict: More, please.

Barry Ween is in a difficult spot. In this, his latest series, he's survived an encounter with sasquatch, an ebola-infected monkey, and some whacked out Ultra-Humanite ripoff called Bezeruul with an attitude. However, this last enemy has given him a bit of a problem: because of him, he's stranded with Jeremy on a world that simply sucks up energy--so no cute gizmos can help him. And to make matters worse: Sara, the girl Barry's got the red hots for, got there first. And because alternate worlds can have screwy alternate timelines--she's all grown up now. Now they've got to rescue Bezeruul from the people holding him captive, or else they're all screwed.

Barry Ween is my guardo camino. Nothing cranks my tractor like an issue of the Weenman. And here's the best part, the most exciting part of reading Judd Winick these days: he's growing as a writer. When Winick started writing Green Lantern, I was dismayed because it just didn't seem to be going anywhere. But he grew legs on that book, and now he's kicking much ass with it. But where to go with Barry, since the first series was already started from a point of sheer brilliance? Well, for one thing, Winick started to bring out the depth and feeling in the characters. Jeremy and Barry may curse each other out, but they're best friends. Sara and Barry have the strange "not sure what to do about this" relationship that kids of opposite genders establish. And Jeremy's got the hots for a sasquatch chick. Which proves that you NEVER know where the book is going.

Why do I go on and on about this? Because it's refreshing to read a book where one minute you can be laughing at Jeremy trying to teach a new race of bipedal life forms how to use profanity, and in the next minute, you're terribly concerned about these characters' safety. This is a highwire that is difficult to tapdance on, but Judd seems to be doing it with more proficiency with each iteration of Ween.

The series was fun, and I'm sad to see it at an end. I want a fourth book just as soon as Judd is able.