COMICS WITH
PROBLEMS issue #6
TOUGH
TO BE FREE: A MESSAGE ABOUT SNIFFING FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
20
pages, 1987
Full color newsprint with glossy covers.
PROBLEM(s)
DEALT WITH: Inhalents, Peer Pressure,
Bicycle Maintenace and Recovery, Rescue, Freedom
YOUR
LETTERS
The front cover made me think this was a story about escaping up a hill from a child abductor.
- Theresa, Winnipeg Manitoba CNDA
Three people and a bike, huh?
That's one sturdy belt buckle! (cries out "bullshit")
- Paul, Sanfrancisco CA
Please explains the "children in group therapy" image on the inside front cover. Threatening. Frightening. Depressing. Uncomfortable chairs, too. Poor kids.
- Beth, Denver CO
Also I've read and re-read that introductory paragraph and it makes less sense each time.
(once again) - Beth, Denver CO
They stole that opening bit from the REAL WORLD (mtv)
"This is a story ... About three friends ... picked to sniff paint ..."
- Richard, Boulder CO
Page one, Bottom left corner panel looks like he's strangling another kid under that water. Those are clearly not his hands struggling there. Why was this not addressed in the ensuing pages? THAT SHIT GOT AWAY WITH MURDER.
It's actually a lot of fun to read the rest of the comic as if all three of the kids are now covering up a killing.
I mean totally, "I have to go, I killed this guy because he stole my bike!"
All three comments - Susan, Oakland CA
"Um - if it's okay I'd much have prefered a free bike from Julie - ya know..." also, nice hands placement. What's going on THERE??
I like to think his word baloon is actually a plea for help - who can trust an older kid offering a bike like that? "w-w-want to come along?" There has to be another educational comic book that says that's wrong!
- Mary, Carson City, NV
[editor - yes, in fact, there is another comic on the dangers of that exact topic!]
Who is leaving all those pies crust containers on the neighbor's lawn? (page four)
Nate - Denver CO
Damn the kid literally pissed himself he was so happy to get Jim's bike. Look at the floor. I like that the other kids just pretend to not notice. Or maybe they pissed too! Childhood is fun.
Come to think of it, they're pissing in the panel above that one, too!
Theresa - Málaga, Spain
So why are there so many bottles of urine in this thing?
Adam - NYC, NY
Kid's still pissing
Theresa - Málaga, Spain
He's
high as a kite on page six, panel five.
I bet it took him five minutes to struggle through that question.
"Whhaaaaaaat dooooooooes (pause) ussssse... ? ..innn aaaa....
(stumbles) meeeeeaaaan?"
-- William, Cincinnati OH
REPLACEMENT
DIALOGUE FOR PAGE SEVEN
PANEL
ONE:
"See son,
your bitch of a mom left me for a lawyer, so
here I'm pouring urine all over her favorite jewelry."
PANEL TWO:
(crumbling up
old photos) "That will show her."
-- Paul, SanFrancisco CA
Have to tell you - I
tried fixing a bike after huffing a full
bag of scotch guard and I have to admit those instructions in
the beginning of the comic really do hold up. Solid tutorial.
-- Daniel, Boulder CO
The whole 'woods scene' (page
nine) really reminded me of the
Charles Burns' Black Hole comic (scan attached):
(info)
Roger
- NYC, NY
Dammit, that other girl is hot, it was at this point that I
was really hoping for some sniff-on-sniff girl girl action.
Oh, but what happens? Hey!, here comes Fred, CAPTAIN COCKBLOCK!
No wonder that other kid threw him over a cliff later.
-- Paul,
SanFrancisco CA
 |
...
Oh god, if that was asked to me by a girl that hot,
I'd be regretting it for the next twenty years. "There
was this hot girl in a sleeveless tube dress on a park
bench who wanted to get high and be my FRIEND (wink,
emphasis) and everything - and I left with some midget
on a bike."
(once again)
-- Paul, SanFrancisco CA
|
"Hey Jim"
Jim (thought
bubble) "oh shit, they're catching me masturbating!"
Cyndy, Killeen TX
 |
Page
12, top panel
What's
with the girl's body there? is she making fun of the
mentally handicapped?
Laura - Austin
TX
|
 |
I'm
sorry but I laughed pretty loud at the "he's
dead" line - proof that it's not the joke,
it's the timing!
Christopher - Athens GA
|
Sooo.... do you
think whoever got paid to write this at 19 pages lost all
ideas and just concocted the whole cliff scene bullshit?
They could have printed five blank pages and I would have
learned just as much in the end, there.
Thomas - Cleveland OH
HA! So
the message in the end there is if you DON'T
do drugs you end up nearly dying!
Thomas' wife Brianna - Cleveland OH
According to the
chart on
the last few pages, sniffing reduces you to a skinless
blob with half bone and half nerves. Frightening.
LOL, note that it DOESNT say you can't breathe fumes from
a pipe or bong, though!
Brent, Jersey City NJ
Back cover shows them floating away on a river of piss.
(once again and finally) Theresa - Málaga, Spain
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