CALIBER COMICS
D i c k s
Fan Mail

Utterly and completely disgusting and tasteless and hilarious. McCrea's work is awfully busy here (nothing like HITMAN with its empty backgrounds) and it was little hard to follow, but usually worth the effort. This book is so tasteless that I'm embarrassed to admit that I found it funny, but I did. Much of the humor is derived from Ennis' rendering of accent and dialect. On the sadly serious side, the relationship between the two leads is an accurate portrayal of many male friendships. If you like TUG AND BUSTER, this'll tickle you, too, I think. On the whole recommended for all fans of tasteless boy's humor in comics.

Charles J. Sperling
Flushing, NY

Dougie Patterson and Ivor Thompson, the heroes of DICKS, come out of a Garth Ennis/John McCrea collaboration called TROUBLE SOULS. They were friends of the principal character ("hero" seems a bit strong), Tom Boyd, who gave Dougie the car we saw (it belonged originally to Tom's brother, Andy) and Tom is the "oul'" fellow whose opinion on friends saves Ivor from death at Dougie's hands. They took center stage in another Garth and John epic, FOR A FEW TROUBLES MORE..., and those who want to see their earlier appearances should seek out SOULS. They pretty much have FOR A FEW TROUBLES MORE...in the first issue of DICKS. (minus the color)

As recasting goes, Garth and John did not do aw well as David Barbour and Tim Vigil did when they took GOTHIC NIGHTS out of RAW MEDIA MAGS and gave it a two-issue miniseries. Maybe there was too much shite to wade through (in a Bernard Wolfe story, a professor muss on Hemingway and broken bones. With Garth, it's shit and piss you could write a monograph on, with a few choice paragraphs on vomit). Maybe there were too many "fucks" (Garth uses that word too much). Maybe the political perspective was absent (in his introduction to TRUE FAITH, Grant Morrison complained that TROUBLED SOULS was too steeped in what ails "our troubled Northern land," to quote Tommy Sands' "There Were Roses," but Belfast is the capital of one of the few remaining bastions of the British Empire. You can't leave out the politics.) Whatever the reason or reasons, I didn't enjoy DICKS as much as I'd hoped.

Nevertheless, it offered Garth at his most brogue-able and John at his most exaggerated-to-good-effect (highlights: Dougie under the thumb, Valerie freezing in not-so-sunny Spain, Big Billy blowing his cool), and it'll be nice to see what happens as two prats become private eyes. Let Auntie Angie or me down, and I'll see to it that you never walk in Cherry Valley again!
See you in May.

Scott Joseph Hearon

Hey Dougie and Ivor:
When are you guys going to get your thumbs out of your ass and start solving some crimes? What are you? Dicks? Or a couple of dicks? Anyway, just writing to say that 'Dicks' is a hilarious, unapologetic kick in the groin to the comics industry...this is the kind of book I've always wanted: it's funny without pulling punches, and it's so damned disgusting at times that even MY stomach turns a little (and this is coming from a guy who thinks Necromantic is a good date movie). The crazy, almost incomprehensible artwork fits the whacked-out script perfectly. McCrea is awesome (Hitman rules); Mr. Ennis is my hero (thanks again for signing my 'Preachers' at San Diego). The letters page is a riot...fuck, this whole fucking book is better than all of that Spider-Wanker and X-Fag shit out there on the shelves. Not that I have anything against fags...but I just fucking hate it when they stare at you at the video store, fondling the outline of their crooked erection through their pants, thinking their twisted, evil thoughts. I prefer female amputees, myself. Anyway, I have a few other things to get off of my chest...

1. How about some color? I want to see the blood, visceral material, and glistening, off-white semen in all of it's full-color glory. Maybe you should start out with a one-shot in color to see how it turns out, and see how the readers react.

2. I really liked the parody of 'Preacher' on the cover of issue 3. All right, I'm sure you have many other inane, rambling e-mails to wade through, so I'm going to end this letter. Keep it up, and hail Satan.

Joey D.