2 out of 5

Whoops.  I tracked this anthology series down to see what Dennis Worden and Steve Lafler had contributed.  It’s not really too far out there or surprising – nothing pushes any barriers or gets too political, but neither does it amount, unfortunately, to much more than amusing.  This might, in part, be due to any given issue generally striking out at least a couple times (to this reader), …and generally in the form of Jim Siergey, whose cartoonish style is totes old school well done, but his perpetuation of pun humor is neither clever enough or overly stupid enough to merit yuks, and it doesn’t help the pacing that his strips are normally 3 pages to another artist’s 1.  But that’s not to say there aren’t other lowpoints.  Matthew Finch’s social commentary stuff is, I’m sure, great if you care, but otherwise it did nothing for me, and Johnny Barclay’s slapstick comix are sort of a joy of energy, but add to the muddled tone of a book that claims to be for mature readers.  Joe Sacco’s editorials at the start of each book seem to suggest he wanted to push the mag toward something edgier, but as editor, he apparently also enjoyed selecting more light-hearted humor.  Either way, his angry man rants are worth reading, cynical and snarling and half-truth / half-who-knows as ever.

Jerzy Szostek’s blocky figured tales are pretty awesome, and the Oregon Trail stuff is definitely a hoot.  So each issue has worthwhile material, and no issue is bad, but there wasn’t a point when CBP seemed to finally stand on its own and stake a significant claim.  Alas, that makes it fairly forgettable – sorry, Sacco – and makes it an easier decision to forgo the whole series in favor of an issue which features Your Favorite Artist.