Kill Your Boyfriend
The Humor Is Dark,
Violence Is Conceptual
By J. Stephen Bolhafner
Published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Thursday, May 25, 1995
Are you bored with school, bored with your parents, bored with your boyfriend and just generally bored with your existence? Well, here's a quick prescription sure to put some excitement in your life: KILL YOUR BOYFRIEND!
Put that gun down. "Kill Your Boyfriend" is a comic book, a one-shot, self-contained story published by DC's Vertigo line, written by Grant Morrison with art by Philip Bond. Morrison is also the writer of "The Invisibles," a monthly series that may grow into Vertigo's hot hit once "Sandman" ends its run.
Our nameless heroine is just an ordinary, bored teen-ager until she meets the man of her dreams - an angry young street tough who shows her the liberating power of criminal behavior: "Vandalism's best when it's totally meaningless and unfair."
The humor here is dark, sometimes pitch-black. There are also light touches, though, like the group of rebel artists led by a Warhol wannabe who declares "The only true art objects are the gun and the bomb." It turns out, though, he's only interested in conceptual violence. "If we start breaking the law," he warns, "we'll never get an arts council grant."
If you thought it was funny when Marvin got his head blown off in "Pulp Fiction," you will love this book. If not, well . . .