Walking around aimlessly on any comic convention floor inevitably leads to many surprises. Booths are set up for maximum eye-catching—gimmickry abounds!—attempting to lure attendees and wanderers alike to partake the wares at hand. This method is not new by any means, but it is effective. I felt the pull when I randomly found the booth for Cards Against Humanity. Yes, that Cards Against Humanity. And not only were there boxes and boxes of decks of the outrageous/offensive/hilarious card game there for sale (or not—most expansion packs were sold out by Saturday afternoon), there was a special treat for a convention goes: a Cards Against Humanity comic.
Yeah, you read that right.
And just like the card game, the Cards Against Humanity comic book is a tasteless mix of debauched word associations, humor that crosses whatever red line of decency America has left (which ain’t sayin’ much), and unmistakably acerbic wit. In other words: the Cards Against Humanity comic is completely bonkers and totally, unnecessarily brilliant.
The collection that encompasses the Cards of Humanity follows the rules of the game, to an extent. Each one-page comic story takes as its conceit from gameplay: a prompt is given and players try to outmatch each other for the most laughs. Likewise, the comic uses each mini-story to present an artist’s interpretation of what the prompts mean. This ranges from the more straightforward prompt of “Successfully-dressed People” (rendered here by Danielle Corsetto using BSDM as the theme) to something more abstract like “A gossamer stream of digital content” (spoiler alert, it’s piss. Thanks Jeph Jacques!). If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like having Oreos for legs, then look no further than this book!
Elsewhere, the most abstruse the prompt, the more bold and depraved the art. Yet, despite this, it’s still a colorful and fun book; it’s not at all what you’re expecting. And besides being a promo for a card game (for “horrible people,” no less) it took me by surprise finding it during a long day of walking up and down the extremely crowded aisles at SDCC. It was a mini-oasis in a sea of overwhelming, unrelenting stimuli. I’ve been both enjoyed and disgusted by it ever since.
