Chocolate Cheeks

Yikes!

by Steven Weissman

Anything can happen on a hot, summer day… Hilarious, frightening, mysterious, adorable and utterly bleak, Chocolate Cheeks has arrived to disgust and delight comic-book readers of all ages. “Sweet” Chubby Cheeks and the Pullapart Boy (a twenty-first century Frankenstein’s monster for kids) are driving each other crazy. Forced together by their dating parents, these two bitter enemies have alienated―or otherwise disposed of―most of their social circle, leaving them with plenty of quality-time for each other. They go camping, start a business, form a band, join a team, try to make some new friends and engage in a "holy war." Things go from worse to worst, though, when the two boys find a cat―or is it a bird?―one hot, summer day.

Steven Weissman, modern master of light tragedy, is at his most horrible with Chocolate Cheeks , the next great “Yikes” book from Fantagraphics. Juxtaposing gag-driven, newspaper-fashioned strips with a sprawling, Western comic aesthetic, the book is just gross enough to delight the children. 120 pages of color comics

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels

120 pages, Paperback

First published October 31, 2008

About the author

Steven Knight Weissman (born June 4, 1968, in California) is an alternative cartoonist.
Weissman was the recipient of the Harvey Kurtzman Award for Best New Talent in 1998 and he is best known for his offbeat and bizarre explorations of childhood friendships. He is the author of a number of books, including Barack Hussein Obama (2012), Butter and Blood (2015) and the series of graphic novels Yikes! (1999-2008). His work has been published by Fantagraphics, Retrofit Comics, Nickelodeon, Vice, Mad Magazine and more.
Weissman lives in Los Angeles, CA with his wife and son.

Reviews

[Erik Wirfs-Brock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seeing as I bought it at a signing for the artist, I felt like I should read it first out my recent haul of comics, and I wasn't disappointed. It's a little slight for its price (but then again you don't buy alternative comics if you want bang for you buck anyway), but it's a nice mixture of cute,gross and creepy. In style it kind of homages/parodies the kid centric strips so popular in the 30's or 40's, with a bit rougher drawing style,and since I have definitely read and enjoyed that material to begin with I definitely was on the author's wavelenght.. As for the content-the gag strips at the beginning of the book were more cute/gross, and the longer story that makes up the econd half of the book definitely creepy (in a good way). i was literally gaping at the end.

[Tommy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a long-time fan of "Yikes!" and there are some weird/creepy/funny bits throughout this volume. But the artwork has changed a lot over the years, and I prefer the earlier style. The characters are harder to differentiate now, they all sort of look alike. And there are lots of portions that I just didn't... get. I would still be interested in further Yikes! comics, but I hope he moves his artwork in a more detail-oriented direction with less of the big broad brush strokes and visual shorthand.

[eva · Rating 3 out of 5]

an undercurrent of not-quite-rightness skilfully weaves through a few dozen gross/cute/funny one-pagers towards a big, horrible payoff. fuckin'...what???