Noble Head Funnies #6: Who Is the Sassy Nibbler?
Edward Parker Bolman
sandfleapress@gmail.com
Rick Bradford
www.poopsheetfoundation.com
Noble Head Funnies 6 is a quarter-sized black and white collection of comics and serial comic instalments.
I don’t often see a lot of serials (stories/comics/etc told in parts over the course of multiple issues) in zines, and this is the first zine comic with serials that I’ve seen.
Noble Head Funnies reminds me of a variety show in all the best ways. There are continued stories from earlier issues, ‘ads’ for silly things that remind me way too much of Soylent Green, and other little additions surrounding the main story of the Sassy Nibbler.
Even better, they occasionally give nods to each other even though they appear, at first, to be separate story universes. I enjoyed this ‘meta’ quality of some of the comics. One makes references to earlier issues of the Noble Head series itself. Another comic sees a character launched out of its own comic earlier land rather amusingly in another comic later on.
I’d describe the humour of the comics as cheeky. With the title comic’s main character – the Sassy Nibbler – kidnapping toffs and nobs, it’s ‘old’ enough to be amusing to adults but ‘young’ enough to be a relaxing, amusing read.
The aforementioned serialisation of some of the comics included has me leaving a little conflicted. I know it harkens to other serials and the boost to sales/attention for the other issues, but in the zine world – where it’s often even harder than in other mediums to find the full set of something – I wonder how well these aspects translate. Alas, I’ll keep my bum firmly on the fence for that particular topic for now.
All up, Noble Head Funnies 6 is a comic read that made me smile for a number of reasons, and I’m curious about other issues (and not just because of the serials).