If you’re of a weak or conservative disposition, you’d be best off leaving this collection of work from renowned comics artist and illustrator Krent Able well alone. There are no punches pulled here, and Able is more than willing to take you on a tour of bizarre, horrific, and often hilarious places. It might not be pretty, but it is interesting, and if you can’t see any fun in flesh-melting jizz being shot from the tail of a pig with Hitler’s face for a rear end, then maybe this collection isn’t for you.
This writer was exposed to Krent Able for the first time when reviewing his story “Bloody Kids”, as part of the anthology I Feel Machine (review here), and the rest of his work lives up to its truly bizarre and unpleasant nature. From the frankly icky body horror of “Test Drive”, to the utterly bizarre and somehow wonderful “Newsflash”, and the spot-on series of advertisements scattered throughout the books, Able jumps across styles and flings himself across the typical boundaries of what most would consider Good Taste with something that feels much more calculated than reckless abandon.
Able is a man capable of creating stories and worlds which are truly surreal and macabre, yet remain oddly joyful. He successfully blends images which would under normal circumstances be utterly horrific, with a strange sense of wonder. You’re left with the feeling that Mr. Able absolutely creates for his own amusement, and doesn’t worry about sowing disgust or offence amongst his audience. There’s so much here that straddles a very fine line between childhood glee and unbridled existential dread, and it is gloriously unsettling.
The Second Coming of Krent Able is available now
[button link=”https://www.amazon.co.uk/Second-Coming-Krent-Able/dp/0861662652/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1548849413&sr=1-1&keywords=the+second+coming+of+krent+able” newwindow=”yes”] Purchase from Amazon here[/button]
