Every month I buy a comic/graphic novel on Amazon. Whether it’s brand new, old, indie, manga, autobiography, whatever, I’ll read anything once. Usually I just read my books in peace, hogging all the delicious art and stories to myself and never sharing it with anyone. Well, our grand lord and web master Josh decided I should probably review one. Something about content for our viewers? What a crazy notion.
I digress.
So, I saw this deer boy eating chocolate, and I says to myself, “Why not? I like chocolate. Bambi was okay. I would like to see Bambi eat chocolate.” So, I whipped out my debit card and made the purchase.
Much to my relief, it was not about cute half-animal half-humans eating chocolate. (Okay, I’ll admit, I would still have read the thing if it was and probably would have enjoyed it.) Instead, I was thrust into a post apocalyptic world, where a 9-year-old boy with antlers named Gus lives with his crazy, dying religious zealot of a father in The Forrest, isolated from the rest of the world. They drop hints here and there about some past tragic disaster. Of course, the father prefers not to talk about it entirely and would rather pray, drive the fear of God into Gus, and suffer from radiation poisoning.
Why the title Sweet Tooth? Well, Gus merrily walks toward the edge of The Forrest, where he is forbidden to go, and finds a lone candy bar, obviously separated from its pack. Because Gus’ father is too busy shoving God down his throat and dying to provide the most basic of lessons to his child, such as “don’t eat things that you find on the ground,” Gus eyes the bar suspiciously and eats it. He munches on the bar like his life depends on it, eyes rolling back in grotesque pleasure, invariably awakening a monster that lives within.
No, not really. He just really likes chocolate. And the bars keep popping up.
His father finds out about his secret chocolate fetish and goes ape shit. Spittle forms at his mouth as he spews about the dangers outside The Forrest, and before you know it he’s moaning and talking about God again. With his last breath he makes Gus promise to stay in The Forrest, and he succumbs to the radiation poisoning.
At this point, Gus is presented with an opportunity to seek salvation away from The Forrest. Torn between staying in The Forrest like his father has commanded or finding his way to a Promise Land for mutants, Gus has to make the toughest choice. Or you know, the one that will keep the story going. I’ll let you guess which one that is.
All in all, I was entertained. The world is well-crafted, and Gus is pretty endearing. Also there was some killing and weird mutant fetish whores. Things that would typically pique my interest for much longer, but I just wasn’t completely drawn into the story. Maybe because it’s just another basic run of the mill post-apocalyptic tale. I will eventually buy the second volume, and if it changes how I feel overall, I’ll let you know.
For now, Final Verdict: 2 Mad Maxes and a half of Bambi out of 5.
