In the very first page of Gingerdead Man, a character threatens to pull someone’s eyes out of their anus. This should set the tone for what type of comic you’re in store for. Written by Brockton McKinney, Gingerdead Man feels like a daydream Deadpool would have while slicing someone’s face off. It’s crass, juvenile, and full of enough puns to make Adam West and Burt Ward roll their eyes.
Based loosely on a schlocky film franchise, this issue shows a gang busting into a boarded up bakery next to a coffee shop. The group is lead by Sylvia and they have a crazy new drug called “Confection” which is supposed to be so potent you can’t take it straight. Thus, the plan is to bake it into some sweets and sell it. Sylvia leaves the drug with Jordy and Leeko while she goes out searching for cookie dough (after all, this is an abandoned bakery). Fortunately for us, the readers, Jordy and Leeko are not too bright and go ahead and try to bake with some dough they find. They unleash Gingerdead Man who bursts out with filthy one-liners and terrible kitchen puns.
With a brief (like, one sentence brief) backstory on how he came to be, we instantly see Gingerdead Man go into carnage mode in gleefully violent fashion. The art by Sergio Rios is cartoony enough where none of this is too shocking to see. And if you can get past the final panel, you may be fine with the rest of the series.
This issue has no problem diving head-first into straight vulgarity. It’s gratuitous in how excessive the profanity and gore aim to be. The thing is none of it is particularly clever. Going back to the Merc with a Mouth, Deadpool is over-the-top too but at least he throws in pop-culture references and enough fourth-wall breaking to keep us amused. Gingerdead Man seems aware of how unfunny the titular character is, but every other character also talks this way so it loses some of the flavor. It plays more like a stoner nightmare and perhaps gives a subtle but cautionary message to the dangers of drug use? I doubt that’s what you’re supposed to take away from this, but I won’t be trying Confection anytime soon.
As ridiculous as this comic is from start to finish, the comical horror element is the best thing going for it. The story regarding the people in the coffee shop is light, but if they become prominent characters that could add some fun. Also, what sort of adversary is Gingerdead Man going to fight? I imagine he’ll get bored of killing people and want to take on an opponent of equal skill and array of puns.
The comic certainly lives up to the promise of its title and cover. You know what sort of comic you’re about to read and it delivers the nasty stuff. I’m not sure how this will play out as a continuous series or how it can even top the indulgence of the first issue. We’ll have to wait and see.
What did you think of the first issue of Gingerdead Man? Are you gonna come back for issue 2? Let us know in the comments or on our Twitter feed!
