In Review: Man Vs. Rock

By Antony Esmond on February 4, 2016

WARNING: This comic features very adult material

Man Vs Rock – The Series
Written by Kevin Bieber and Victor DeTroy
Art by Jared Lamp
Published by BoxRott Publishing
150 pages – Black and White

The Story: Forget about the story. What are you, a communist? It’s a Man fighting Rocks!

The Review: It is weird that as a regular reviewer on downthetubes, John Freeman has avoided sending me this particular nugget of abusive beauty (just kidding John – I’m sure you have more class than to read a shocking exhibit of insanity like this comic).

I have to tell you that this comic series is absolutely up my alley. I’m going to begin this review by saying that the comics world 100% needs comics like this. We live in the internet age of faux outrage and snarky comments. It is full of Twitter spats and ‘sub-Tweeting’. I could literally belch online and get a thousand likes, a thousand hates and a thousand conversations about how belching is sexist/racist/right wing/left wing and fundamentally against global warning.

Man vs Rock does not care.

They REALLY could not give a flying fuck.

And for that fact I love them without reservation.

This is a comic that is insane on every single level. It is vile, irreverent, dirty, sordid, crazy, extreme, violent, sexual and brutal. It is also fun, exciting, political, thought provoking and anarchic.

It has a central character in Professor Buck Stone “from the Robert E. Lee University of Northern Aggression in New York City) who does not care about who he insults or murders in his ongoing fight against rocks (yup rocks, inanimate objects who are trying to take over the world). He spits in the face of Presidents and goes round spouting rubbish like “I’m a geologist Goddammit. I have connections’.

When Buck does anything he does it angrily. He drives round in a truck with ‘F*** YOU ROCKS!’ written on the side of it. It is unsurprising that the rocks are looking like they might win the day.

The characters surrounding Buck are equally crazy. The President himself refuses to attend an emergency meeting until he has finished ‘masturbating to Marley and Me’. Surely one of the greatest lines ever written in a comic book. (Who says that political satire is dead?)

It is the unrelenting ridiculousness of this comic that makes it so enjoyable. The writing never lets up and is matched marvellously by the extreme and freakish nature of the line-work on the art by Jared Lamp. Faces and uber violent situations are given a grotesque underground feel perfectly suited to the extreme nature of the story and dialogue. The art is full on and literally eye fucks you from panel to panel.

The only niggle I had with it is that the lettering could do with a few tweaks here and there (yes, I know you don’t care – just bathe in the light of crazy!)

You’ll also need to take a shower after reading this comic.

I would not be surprised if this was a comic created in the serial killer wing of a high security prison.

For every single reason listed above I loved this comic. I want more of it and I want it now!

• You can find this madness at www.ManVsRock.com or follow their illegal antics on Twitter @ManVsRock

Many thanks for reading.