Saturday Revue January 23rd: Hipster Picnic

Bro, Check It!
Braaiiiiinnnnns!

When a comic begins like this, you know it's going to be interesting....

Like that guy who sat doodling in your freshman Philosophy 101 class, 'Hipster Picnic' is a strip-style wanders between humorous gag-a-day material, reflective melancholy,  and off the wall explorations of the id. Focused on two chill dudes and roomates who just happen to be zombies, it's wonderful brain candy...er ahem, pardon the pun. The creation of Patrick Yurick, Hipster Picnic hangs out right here. 

The Rating

A trip back to your college newspaper funnies, with a twist. Get baked on Sunday morning and give it a read.

The Raves

With its surprisingly endearing blend of bromance and dark humor, political commentary and life, this strip really took me back to the days when I grabbed my college paper while wolfing down a rather unhealthy lunch and pretending I was further ahead on my coursework than I was.  The jokes it makes at the expense of hipster culture, geeky boys with no cleaning skills, life in today's urban environment and the weird feeling that it had fused 'Calvin and Hobbes', 'I am Legend' and 'Bloom County' into a new and stranger whole were a trip. 'Hipster Picnic' is adept at poking fun at the incongruities of vegans who ask for things to taste more like meat (human in this case ;) ) people who think they're changing the world by what they wear, the jackass you share a room with and the weird guy next door. It also had plenty of fun with all the tropes of the zombie genre and dearly loves a good pun. It likes to turn the zombie genre on its head and make at you look at the world as ruled by the Living Dead...who still have to lurch to their day jobs. So much for resting in peace...

 The art style encourages taking 'Hipster Picnic' as a Sunday Funny of the Far Side persuasion, with generally crisp lines, sharp colors and good clean inking that gets the message across without getting overly involved. The comic is really at its best when it uses its wonderfully goofy premise to shine a light on the insane and brainless things we do in our own lives.

The Razzes

But like college kids, Hipster Picnic gets experimental. And that's when things get weird. It has a solid art style and gag-a-day approach, but when it deviates from that it begins to come off as artistically less than its potential. Several artistic forays are made in different directions that might have been best left unplumbed, and it's always nice to see the work come back to what it's good at. The same can be said for the writing style, which sometimes has a hint of too much of that Philosophy 101 class in it, or starts to try to add drama and comes off  a little bit soapy.
The site navigation could also use a tuneup. For instance, take pity on your readers and add a 'previous' button please?
But like a driver with one too many tokes, 'Hipster Picnic' weaves a little but always stays in the lane, and the annoying bumps in the road aren't really a big deal. Besides, the zombies are extra points...

The Revue

Read it Sunday morning in your pajamas, and have something gooey for breakfast. You'll enjoy it.