Axe Cop Volume 1 [Paperback]

Stan Lee was still in his teens when he first started writing comics for Timely, Marvel's predecessor. Jim Shooter was probably even younger when he started writing `Legion of Superheroes' for DC. But both those boy-wonders can step aside, `cos compared to Malachai Nicolle, they left it pretty late. For, at the time this review was written, Malachai Nicolle had already co-created an international internet cult hit in the form of `Axe Cop', and was aged SIX! True, he had a little (or rather a lot) of help from his older artist brother Ethan (30 at the time of writing), but make no mistake about it, `Axe Cop' is a strip driven by the playtime joys, whims, interests and obsessions of a little boy, and that is undoubtedly the very secret of its huge online success. (http://www.axecop.com)

The star of the show is, of course, a tough moustachioed cop with an axe, who chops the heads off bad guys. Sounds pretty simple, doesn't it? But take one step away from that simple concept and you'll find yourself lost in a crazed realm of over-the-top imaginings that could only have come from the mind of a gleeful kid. For instance, Axe Cop's brother is a cop with a flute. Who turns into a dinosaur soldier. Or an avocado soldier. Or a ghost. Or a Tri-Ghostceratops-Rex. In fact, he's been through more transformations than Jimmy Olsen in the Silver Age! But transformations are no problem when your team has access to magic unicorn horns that result from incredible intelligence and grant wishes to the holders. Still, you need `em when you're up against aliens, zombies, giant robots, rival cops with telescopic guns and even sentient turds (hey, the writer's a six-year-old!)

There are all too many reasons to explain the success of Axe Cop, and just as many to suggest you buy this collected edition (which covers the main series up to the end of #70 `The Ultimate Battle' and `Ask Axe Cop' up to #42, plus also features a pin-up gallery by various guest artists.) There's the joy of simple nostalgia - reading Axe Cop will undoubtedly take you back to your own childhood, when the games you and your friends played had their own strange logic that made sense to you and no-one else. Then there's the pleasure of seeing idea after idea after idea just hurled out there and left to fend for itself - if decompressed comics are like poison to you, then `Axe Cop' is the antidote, getting through more ideas in one page than some `serious' comics do in a whole issue. There's the sheer fun of reading a series which has no more clue where it's going next than you do, a series that will make you laugh out loud at some of the antics therein. And of course, there's the fact that Axe Cop has a flying pet tyrannosaur with gatling gun cyber-arms! If there's anything cooler than that, I'd like to know what it is.

Oh, and there's also the artwork. Malachai may be the inspiration but Ethan is the artistic (and, to an extent, scripting) engine at the heart of `Axe Cop'. His robust, muscular, characterful art has a real Eric Powell-ish vibe to it, albeit more angular, and Nicolle's work displays a clear delight in the mad world he and his brother have crafted. This is particularly noticeable whenever the strip brings weird animals (like Presty the teleporting pug) into play. Nicolle excels when it comes to lunatic fauna, and he frequently has the chance to do so, since having animal blood spilled on you is a regular cause of transformation in the Axe Cop universe.

As well as the ongoing Axe Cop saga, this collection also includes the `Ask Axe Cop' one-page strips (based on questions from readers) which are frequently even funnier than the regular series, and eventually start crossing over with it. My personal highlight is `Ask Axe Cop #19' which investigates what kind of robot can beat an elephant in a fight. I think this strip might be the litmus test for whether or not the series will tickle your funny-bone: you will either find yourself in hysterics or utterly appalled by the violent immaturity of it all. If it's the latter, then for God's sake, don't read the one about the mermaid...

Let's face it, `Axe Cop' is never going to be a towering giant of comics literature, but of course, it was never meant to be. It's just an awful lot of fun, though feel free to dock a star if you reckon the joke won't have staying power, or the finale of 'The Ultimate Battle' is just a little too childish for you. Either way though, just relish the mad ride while it lasts, and enjoy this wonderful insight into the mind of a creative young lad with the best big brother ever.

Oh, and remember, folks.... pray for the sharks. Axe Cop does.

I bought this book in a moment of madness after reading a few of the comic strips online. However, I am really glad that I did as it has proven to be the ultimate bed-time story for me to read to my 2 lads. I should probably clarify that they are both blood-thirsty, smutty-minded little thugs (of whom I am so proud) and therefore not particularly prone to nightmares, otherwise this would be a disastrous book to choose.

The primary reason why I enjoy reading this book to them is to start them thinking about the boundless possibilities of the world. At the end of each story they always query with me the same thing; the author is only 6? Are you sure??? I explain that this is correct at the time of the stories being written and that his big brother did the artwork. You can almost see the lights coming on behind their eyes as they consider creating their own worlds without boundaries.

I did get bollocked by their mum though when she found out what we were reading. *sigh*

as soon as this book was delivered to my door and i opened it i couldn't stop reading it until i had finished it, it is original and it is randomly funny throw out. i cant wait to get bad guy earth because i know that its gonna be even more awesome:D