Reviews
REVIEW: Garbage Pail Kids: Love Stinks
Book Title: Garbage Pail Kids: Love Stinks
Book Description: Love is a complicated matter. It makes people do things that they wouldn’t ordinarily do. Love allows us to feel the highest of highs and lowest of lows. IDW Publishing gave us the ultimate book of love with Garbage Pail Kids: Love Stinks. This book is a collection of short stories about the trials and tribulations our Garbage Pail Kid heroes go through to find love.
Book Author: Dean Haspiel, Joe Simko, Brian Winkeler, Dave Curd, Brent Engstrom, Merrily Chopp, Miran Kim, Shannon Wheeler, Martin Thomas, Jeff Zapata, Peter Bagge
Book Format: Paperback
Publisher - Orgnization: IDW Publishing
Publisher Logo: 
Illustrator: Dean Haspiel, Joe Simko, Brian Winkeler, Dave Curd, Brent Engstrom, Merrily Chopp, Miran Kim, Shannon Wheeler, Martin Thomas, Jeff Zapata, Peter Bagge
- Story(2.5)
- Interior Art(2.75)
- Cover Art(2.5)
- Dialogue(2.5)
- Mechanics(2.75)
- Editing(2.75)
Summary
The 80’s gave us so much:
Smash hit universes such as Masters of the Universe, Transformers, TMNT and G.I. Joe, all of which are still relevant 30 years later.
An unnatural love of neon colors.
Musical classics by one hit wonders that I’m teaching to my children.
Pop culture references that are still going strong.
Garbage Pail Kids
Garbage Pail Kids were trading cards/stickers that pushed the envelope with a lot of parents. They were raunchier than Mad Magazine, frequently having pictures of characters that involved mucus, vomit, or blood.
In case that wasn’t enough, the card line blatantly made fun of the Cabbage Patch Kids toy line by having the characters bear a striking resemblance to the dolls. They were a hit with elementary school aged boys everywhere. I remember getting a full box of packs of the cards for Christmas from my aunt one year. As thrilled as I was, Grandma was displeased. She felt that these cards were setting a bad example for my generation. A decade later my generation gave us South Park, so she wasn’t completely off base.
The short stories in Garbage Pail Kids: Love Stinks reminded me a lot of Mad Magazine. The biggest difference was we didn’t get a rendition of Spy Vs. Spy or the fold in on the back cover. Some stories were better than others. “50 Shades of Gary” was my personal favorite.
The artwork in the stories was on par with, if not better than everything from the original cards. There were a couple panels that were homages to the original cards. I thought that was a nice touch.
At the end of the day it’s not the Great American Novel. There’s a lot of fourth grade humor in it that is good for a few laughs. This one was originally released in 2015. It’s a crapshoot if you’re going to find it in the back issue boxes at your local comic book store.
As a geek on a budget I say a trip down memory lane is worth it if you can find it for close to cover price. Otherwise I would recommend going with the digital copy from ComiXology for only $1.99. No matter what medium you go with I think you’ll enjoy it.
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