By T.W. Worn — I'm going to write this review a little bit different than normal. I usually like to make a few jokes, or have a wacky set up for my review but The Scumbag deserves so much more than that. It deserves an honest review because no matter what I write, it will never be as batshit insane as this comic. Now mind you, the comic as a whole is not that crazy, but its the combination of good-bad taste and spy thriller that makes this comic so incredible.

Before I get into the actual review, here is a great quote by the King of Filth himself, John Waters: 

"To me, bad taste is what entertainment is all about. If someone vomits watching one of my films, it's like getting a standing ovation. But one must remember that there is such a thing as good bad taste and bad bad taste. it's easy to disgust someone; I could make a ninety-minute film of people getting their limbs hacked off, but this would only be bad bad taste and not very stylish or original. To understand bad taste one must have very good taste. Good bad taste can be creatively nauseating but must, at the same time, appeal to the especially twisted sense of humor, which is anything but universal."

What Rick Remender (Black Science, Low) gives us is very simple: what if a John Waters character became the hero of a spy film by accidentally injecting a super serum they mistook for heroin. That's it. There's nothing more. Just the fate of the world in the hands of a grimy biker who is addicted to drugs and alcohol. From the very first panel we are in the same filth as the main "hero," Ernie Ray Clementine. We are thrown into the world of booze, babes, and bad habits. In less than 10 pages we know everything to know about him. Ernie is an idiot, and he shouldn't be our hero. When faced with the duty of saving the world, he's only willing to do it for drugs, two thousand dollars, and a flying Trans AM. 

To accompany the story of a Filth-Lord, the art by LaRosa (Death or Glory, Black Science) and Dinisio (Dead Body Road, Low) is beautiful. It's all at once grotesque and crisp. Every image delights and disgusts. You are in the smoke filled bars and dirty streets Ernie calls home. Ernie himself resembles the bar-fly of your favorite hole-in-the-wall bar that gets kicked out before the end of the night, but is back in the building the next evening. In this comic there are all types of folks, from business women to gutter punks to smooth talking drug dealers. Every detail in The Scumbag builds a believable world and guide your eyes across things you'd rather not see, like a 2 page spread of a drug addicted biker violently projectile shitting into a crowded street as he tries to shoot up heroin. Even its outlandish action sequence still feels believable, because you believe in Ernie. 

The whole team working on The Scumbag has good tastes, and Jesus Christ does this allow them to explore their bad taste. Some might even say they've weaponized it.

Overall: If bad taste is something you crave, make sure you get it from someone with Good Taste. The Scumbag is good-bad taste to the fullest extent. 9/10

REVIEW: The Scumbag #1

The Scumbag #1
Writer: Rick Remender
Artist: Lewis LaRosa
Colorist: Moreno Dinisio
Letterer: Rus Wooton
Publisher: Image Comics
Price: $3.99
"JAZZ APPLE ARMAGEDDON," Part One The fate of the world rests in the hands of the worst person on it! NEW ONGOING SERIES from the writer of DEADLY CLASS! RICK REMENDER launches an all-new comedy espionage series, THE SCUMBAG—the story of Ernie Ray Clementine, a profane, illiterate, drug-addicted biker with a fifth-grade education. He’s the only thing standing between us and total Armageddon because this dummy accidentally received a power-imbuing serum, making him the world’s most powerful super spy. This new ongoing series will feature a murderers’ row of all-star artistic talent rotating each issue. The first issue showcases the stunning work of LEWIS LaROSA, with subsequent chapters and covers by brilliant talents such as ANDREW ROBINSON, ERIC POWELL, TULA LOTAY, WES CRAIG, ROLAND BOSCHI, SIMONE DI MEO, MARGUERITE SAUVAGE, DUNCAN FEGREDO, YANICK PAQUETTE, MIKE McKONE, DAVE JOHNSON, MORENO DINISIO, and many more!
Release Date: October 21, 2020
Buy It Digitally: The Scumbag #1

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I'm T.W. Worn and Winners Don't Do Hard Drugs.