Yeah! #8 (2000)
Yeah! #8 (May, 2000)
“Yeah! Goes to War!”
Writer – Peter Bagge
Artist – Gilbert Hernandez
Letterer – Philip Felix
Colorist – Joanne Bagge
Assistant Editor – Will Dennis
Editor – Shelly Roeberg
Cover Price: $2.95
Yeah? Yeah. Yeah! Today we’re going to talk about an intergalactic pop band. The gals of Yeah!, Krazy, Honey, and Woo-Woo, kinda feel Josie and the Pussycats-ish… which is likely the point.
Seeing Peter Bagge’s name on this… and also seeing that it appears to be an All-Ages book, really raised my eyebrows. This book features many ads (which I’ll include below) which were usually reserved for the younger-readers books… cartoon shows, Johnny DC book ads… stuff like that.
Let’s get right to it… whatever it might be!
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We open on the far-off planet Sunburnia, where Princess Patina is proclaiming to her father, the King that she has fallen in love with an Earthling… who just so happens to be the manager for the most popular band in the universe, “Yeah!”, Crusty! The King forbids her from seeing him.
We shift scenes to the Crust-man himself, as he enjoys his E.S.P. Enhancing helmet. The members of Yeah!, Honey, Krazy and Woo-Woo are annoyed to see him lounging as they prepare for their next intergalactic tour. Crusty reveals that he… fell in love with an alien… and the gals become quite intrigued, though still annoyed. Either way, it is here that we learn that Sunburnia is the last stop on their upcoming tour.
Speaking of the tour… let’s check out some of Yeah!’s greatest hits.
After their final concert, the crew heads out to enjoy Sunburnia… well, maybe enjoy is the wrong word for it… ya see, you’d never guess it, but Sunburnia is hot. Krazy globs mounds of sun screen on her to protect her “ghost-like complexion”… I know the feeling. Crusty then introduces them to his “perfect angel” Patina.
Krazy asks what it’s like to be a Princess… and is shocked to learn that it might not be as great as it’s cracked up to be. She can’t even choose who she’ll marry! The girls offer to speak to the King on Crusty’s behalf… but, for some reason he stops them. The lovebirds then break away to make out… and our ladies decide to take in some sights.
As the girls grab their umbrellas and head to a roller coaster, Patina informs Crusty that there is the possibility that the planet might be attacked by Imperialoids in the (very) near future. Patina implores Crusty to gather the gals and get off planet as quick as he can… but to do so without causing a planet-wide panic. And so, he very calmly bee-lines it to Yeah!.
He lies about having to get home to call his mother for her birthday… which nobody believes. He doesn’t get another opportunity to persuade them, as the Imperialoids have chosen now to strike!
Yeah! fires Crusty as their manager… which I’m getting the feeling is a daily occurrence. They are all corralled into a bomb shelter, where they are drafted into battle! Well, all besides the Crust-man… because he’s “as old as the hills”. Ouch.
The girls join (the boogie woogie bugle boy of?) Company B onto the front lines of battle. Before running in, Honey says she misses her “two furverts” back home… which, um… I dunno. Anyhoo… our ladies hit the battlefield, and take cover behind a rock.
They don’t have to hide for long, however… as Crusty and Patina come to their rescue. They fly up in a saucer (with vanity “PATINA I” plates) and lower a rope ladder. The girls are just about loaded onto the craft when Honey notices two tiny quivering Sunburnian babies hiding in a crater.
The girls decide to risk life and limb by heading back into the warzone to save the kiddies. At this point, all bets are off… Krazy and Woo-Woo start blasting their lasers without prejudice, to cover Honey’s rescue efforts.
The mission is successful, and our sevensome safely escapes. Several days later there is a victory ceremony, and the folks from Yeah! are honored for their bravery.
They all receive Golden Double Sun Awards for their efforts… and the old King offers his daughter to Crusty. Only thing is, they couldn’t marry just yet… but Patina could live in… Crusty’s filthy shack. Oddly enough, she’s cool with all that.
It’s Crusty who isn’t. He feels like she deserves better… and once he (and Yeah!) become successful, he’ll be back for her. The gang gets ready to leave… however, the Sunburnian TSA agent claims they’re carrying something highly radioactive. Whoops… looks like their medals of honor are going to have to stay behind!
We wrap up with the gang heading home… and arguing. Woo-Woo claims that Crusty is still really and truly fired as their manager… while Krazy is furious she had to leave the only award she’d ever won behind. Honey is too busy crying to participate in the quarrel… ya see, she was hoping to adopt those little buggers she rescued. Wonk wonk wonnnnnk…
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Soooo… that was weird.
I’m kinda struggling for what to say… I enjoyed this, but I haven’t the foggiest idea why. It was fun, and silly… I guess sometimes that’s enough!
This is the first issue of Yeah! I’d ever read… and I still didn’t feel lost. It wasn’t difficult to follow, and really the only reference to a previous issue was this:
I can’t say I’m chomping at the bit to see how this ends… or even how it started, but for a single at-a-whim read, I had a perfectly good time. It’s not deep… it’s silly without being overly so. It’s just a fun fifteen minutes of fluff. My experience with Bagge and Hernandez is, admittedly, a bit limited. I’ve got plenty of both in the library… just haven’t gotten to them yet. The last Bagge I actually (re)read (for a semi-recent podcast) was the Megalomaniacal Spider-Man… which I found to be pretty bad. I have a bunch of Love and Rockets I need to get to, but the last Hernandez I read was a Dark Horse miniseries called Speak of the Devil, which I thought was pretty dang great. His art here is very nice, though definitely done with a more cartoony flair than his other (perhaps more personal) works.
For the issue itself… not a whole lot to say. It was an episodic adventure… and the issue that follows it will be the last. If I try to think too hard… which I’m prone to do, I’d suggest that maybe our main managing man, Crusty isn’t ready for a monogamous relationship… and so, he tried (a couple of times) to get out of committing to Patina. Not sure if this is a character trait, or a running gag in the series… it’s just something that kinda stood out for me.
The entire nine-issue series has been collected in glorious black and white… but not by DC Comics! Instead, the trade paperback came out through Fantographics back in 2011. I don’t really have any problem reading black and white comics, however, I understand if that’s a bridge too far for others. Shouldn’t be too terribly difficult to track down either way… I think most folks could get some fun outta this.
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