Hell Was Full

by Branson Reese

Mainline pure Hell Was Full in this eye-scractchingly hilarious collection, complete with the infamous alt text and an illogical amount of brand new material.

A group of raccoons gnaw on God’s severed head; a man brags to his friend about driving a Transformer out of its own funeral; a toaster revolts against its master. These are just some of the scenes in the pitch-black world of Hell Was Full, the popular webcomic that blends the bleak and the absurd into a delicious dadaist cocktail.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Humor, Graphic Novels Comics, Comix, Fiction

205 pages, Hardcover

Published June 16, 2020

Reviews

[Branson Reese · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book but also I wrote it so maybe take that with a grain of salt.

[Andy Marr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some utter nonsense here, but also a few MASSIVE LOLs.

[Alexander Peterhans · Rating 5 out of 5]

I genuinely love Reese's art and I can't remember the last time a set of comics made me laugh so much. It hits all my buttons, in spectacular style.



But at least as funny as the book itself, are all my fellow Goodreads reviewers who collectively turn their noses up at the book, making me feel wildly interesting and intellectually superior, while they will see me for the uncultured idiot I undoubtedly also am, so everyone's happy. Thanks, Branson Reese!

(Received an ARC from Oni Press through Netgalley)

[Chad · Rating 1 out of 5]

Good Lord, this was awful. I made it about 60 strips in before finally giving up. Terrible, rudimentary art. Jokes often with no punchline. None of it was at all funny. A complete waste of time. Somehow I think Brandon Reese would be proud of that.

Received a review copy from Oni Press and NetGalley.

[Federico Garduno · Rating 5 out of 5]

A litmus test for people worth knowing

[Madara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This won't be for everybody. Reese's comics are... weird. Some are hilarious, some are just really weird and maybe even offensive.
I'd advise not to read this book in one sitting. Because it will drive you a bit mad.

Review copy provided by the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Alex Sarll]

More and more I feel like collections of gag strips are the toughest thing to review. Already with a comics review, I can completely understand why some people include excerpted panels, just as you would quotes when reviewing prose. And with four-panel strips you can really get a much better feel from reading a couple than from anything I can say about them. So with the understanding that this is an entirely imperfect medium in which to convey the effect: scratchy, scabrous little vignettes, often ending with one or more of a) an unexpected cock and balls; b) unexpected pooping or c) a defiant, deranged scream at a blank and uncaring cosmos. Most of them have explanatory notes underneath, which generally serve more to cement Branson Reese's persona as too cool for school than to actually explain anything. God generally comes out of it about as well as he does in a book by Richard Dawkins, or as we used to call him, Oolon Colluphid. The strange bit, though, is how they get better the more of them you read at a sitting. Normally with gag strips, I just feel a little glutted if I go through too many at once, stop relishing them in the same way. Whereas here I need a few to get warmed up before I get in the right mindset to start cracking up at this marriage of occasional high culture references (Truth climbing out of her well to shame the world is a particular highlight) with puerility and nihilism. Maybe it just takes me that long to admit what an understandable response that is to this world.

(Netgalley ARC)

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book helped me deal with a despair spiral by having a comic where the Juggernaut got his junk bit off by a dog.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you rate this book less than five stars, all your body hair below your eyebrows will fall out. For some of you, that might seem a desirable effect—a real timesaver. Let me caution you that a day will come when you'll wish desperately for the wicking effect of said body hair, and on that day you'll say out loud to no-one, "I shouldn't have been anything but effusive about that collection of rude scrawling" before slipping on a puddle of your own perspiration and taking a comical but injurious pratfall that necessitates many months of costly and tedious physical therapy.

[yankl krakovsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Branson Reese is a disgusting genius. I think it was his fellow cartoonist and improviser Christopher Hastings who described Branson’s comic style as "Bugs Bunny with a gun." It’s true, dear reader. That gun is aimed point-blank at your face, and the ammunition? Why, it’s pure, uncut, weapons-grade hilarity.

[Evan Barden · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is probably the best book. I’ve read a number of them and when you really dig into the pages and stuff, it doesn’t get much better. Genuinely hilarious and has both a front and back cover. Hard to go wrong.

[Etienne · Rating 1 out of 5]

Some sort of trashy web comic. I didn't really get the humor, clearly wasn't my style, maybe some readers would find it funny or entertaining but I didn't.

[Matt Bickerton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Branson is an honest to god comedic genius, and anyone deciding not to buy this book of his comics is a fool beyond compare.

[TV’s Kevin Lanigan · Rating 5 out of 5]

When these comics were coming out, they inspired me to start my crappy drawings and make comics of my own. I’ve never laughed at comics like I laugh at these. A perfect, exquisite collection.

[Tom Fuchs · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delight from beginning to end. And it reminded me of the jean jacket I owned back in middle school that I believed to be cursed because I got in trouble every time I wore it!

[Radwa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm obviously not the target audience for this art. I love dark humor and black comedy, but this is too much. Some of them didn't even make sense. The writing was too small and the "art style" is bad to say the least.

But I respect that he might be a niche artists with his own fans, but I don't see myself becoming one of his fans. but I thank netgalley for the free arc, in exchange for this honest review.

[Nikki "The Crazie Betty" V.]

I'm not providing a rating or a review for this book as I DNF'd it at page 23. It was extremely difficult to read as many of the panels had writing that was so small I couldn't even read it on my large desktop monitor, let alone my Kindle.

[Rod Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

This cartoon collection manages to hit that perfect balance of dark, bitter, angry, gross, absurd, and penis-laden humor that really makes me bust a gut.

[Thomas Crawford · Rating 5 out of 5]

One time I read something to the effect of “every comic strip wants to rip off either the Far Side or Calvin and Hobbes.” I think it might have been the guy who does Get Fuzzy? (Clearly shooting more for the C&H camp.) Hell Was Full is... not either of those two things.

[Nick Schurk · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m going to think about the guy poisoning himself to see if angels are hot for a long time.

[Ingrid Stephens · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hell was Full. I assume these comics are popular somewhere with someone but unfortunately that will not be me. I have to be honest, most were not funny, most were very badly drawn, and had no point or punchline. An hour of my life I will never get back is harsh dude.
I expect “comics” to be funny. These definitely aren’t the ones I grew up with.

Now some will say, Oh you’re too old or square to appreciate a sick and twisted sense of humor. Not true. I appreciate sick and twisted but poop jokes, dick jokes, are for 12 year old boys. I am not a 12 year old boy.

Now having said how much I disliked these comics, there was one panel I enjoyed and gree with 100%, in “The Nightmare before Christmas” there definitely should have been a “Good Friday” Land. That would have been soooo cool!.

I received this graphic novel free from Net Galley.com in exchange for my honest opinion. They may regret this later.

[VolScholar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll probably write about this in several places, but this book was an absolute delight. I followed Branson's comics when he was compiling his "comic a day" streak on Twitter, and it absolutely became something I looked forward to on a daily basis. Now, this collected edition is an item I will truly enjoy having forever.

In addition to reading this book during the middle of the COVID-19 crisis, while quarantining from my wife, and while attempting to process the unending and depressing news that seems to constantly bombard us all; my father has also become extremely ill. While reading this book, I have been making multi-state trips to help assist my mother in directing his care. Despite all of this, Hell Was Full has continually made me laugh out loud. This truly is absurdist humor of the highest order. I have read it twice through since receiving it, and I anticipate that the pages will be worn in no time.

Thank you, Branson for your riotous work.

[Sean McGowan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this in a single sitting and it was the most fun I've had reading a book ever. If we could bottle that energy and unleash it in our children's libraries and classrooms, we could save the American education system. Unfortunately we could never put this book in a school library—not because of the violence or nudity, but because it's impossible to learn literally anything from it. 10 stars

[Sabrina · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just didn't get most of these so I'm probably not the target audience. I liked a couple of the less vulgar ones but generally I found it quite boring and the writing was hard to read.

[David N · Rating 5 out of 5]

branson is a genius.

[Jenna Swayzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 2021 reading life has peaked already with this first read of the year. It is so chaotic and I loved it

[Valéria. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ten auto neni normálny. Posadnutosť penismi a totálne stupidným humorom a stripmi bez pointy alebo s totálne dementnou pointou, ktorá ma aj tak vždy nútila sa rehotať. Už dlho som sa tak nepobavila na niečom tak blbom..

[Patrick Helmke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m so happy you got me this. I said it then and I’ll say it again now, I love you too ❤️

if this message doesn’t make sense to you then buggar off! It ain’t for ya!

[angelofmine1974 · Rating 2 out of 5]

My review of this book can be found on my YouTube Vlog at:

https://youtu.be/jk1DsUdY6Jo

Enjoy!

[Josh J-Raff Carrasco · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best comic since Achewood.