Review: Underbelly HC (Weasel #7)

Underbelly: Additional Observations on the Beauty/Ugliness of Mostly Pillowy Girls HC (aka Weasel #7)
by Dave Cooper
Published by Fantagraphics Books. $22.95 USD

I like Dave Cooper's work a lot. I find it disturbing, exciting and sexy, usually all at the same time. I dig these plump women with their rosy cheeks, crazy eyes and sneering, hungry mouths. Cooper draws hideous women for whom I might willingly destroy myself.

This latest hardcover collection is, like Overbite, an art book, with glossy color pages of Cooper's gals in oil on canvas. Whether they were done for commission or exhibition, I'm not sure, but there is a common theme to many of the paintings: women fighting with each other or just wrestling for fun. Brunettes and blondes tend not to mix. Whatever Cooper is exploring in his art these days is his business, but to me it's still vital and interesting if not any great leap from the last effort. That said, as someone who came to know his work first as a comics creator, I do really miss seeing stories from him.