Tony Carrillo certainly is a funny guy. He has to be. After all, it would be tough to have a nationally syndicated comic strip if he wasn’t splitting sides.
His humor, which can be described as a mix of “things that happened in my dream” to “my boss is a boxing glove-wearing kangaroo,” comes through in a strong way in his latest book, “F Minus: This can’t be legal.”
With his second book of published cartoons, Carrillo hasn’t lost his touch. He still creates his signature single-celled comics featuring the likes of “The World’s Worst Grandpa,” talking alligators and fire extinguishers in hell.
Part of what makes the F Minus comic strip so humorous is its diversity. Carrillo creates new and unique scenarios for every one of them. Unlike other comics that feature recurring characters, themes and locations, Carrillo does a fantastic job of keeping it fresh and new, every day. Admittedly, there are a few strips which seem eerily similar in setting and location, but they are so far and few between, you’d have to be looking for it to find it. And the joke is different every time anyway, so it’s not really a major problem.
The book is a compilation of comics Carrillo has had published. It’s a great way to catch up on some you may have missed, or to rehash some you may have just plumb forgotten about.
Highlights include the comic on page 46, featuring a spider web with a hotdog caught in the middle, and the spider thinking to himself, “Jackpot!” How is a spider going to eat an entire hotdog? Too funny.
Another gem features an angry man talking to a leprechaun and looking into a half-full pot of gold, with the leprechaun explaining to the man that his ex-wife took half of his stuff in the divorce. How can you NOT laugh at that? I didn’t even know leprechauns got married to begin with.
Page 96 features a personal favorite, as a bartender is delivering a dead mouse to a lady at the end of the bar, explaining to her it’s from “the gentleman at the end of the bar,” only it’s a cat, and he’s holding a cocktail in his paw and has one eyebrow raised. Cats don’t drink cocktails. C’mon.
As funny as the book is, it does fall flat, however, in certain areas.
It could have greatly benefited had it featured chapters, with little introductions, or written commentary about certain comics, explaining how he came up with the idea, or maybe if there was a funny back story. Carrillo is a very funny person, and having more of his written work to read would have provided a more fulfilling experience.
If you are a fan of the comic, it’s a must own book. There is no possible way you can claim to be a fan and not own it. It’d be like saying, “I like broccoli,” but never buying it or eating it.
If you are new to the comic strip, it’s a great way to catch up on older strips you may have missed. Either way, for under $15, you really can’t go wrong.
Besides, who doesn’t like having their sides split?
Reach the reporter at mel.flores@asu.edu
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