Wormwood: It Only Hurts When I Pee

Rumpa pumpa, friends. If you enjoy Leprechaun curses, stripteasing queens, and dead little girls with lollipops, the second Wormwood book is right for you!

It took me a while to read this one, but only because I was super busy. As usual, Ben Templesmith‘s writing was witty, fun, and very imaginative. His ideas are a little strange, but that’s what makes Wormwood so much fun. I love that Templesmith seemed to completely give himself over to his imagination in these books — especially in this one. He introduces the Calamari brothers, these alien squid creatures who absorb world and whom Wormwood has a dark history with. He also introduces the Leprechaun queen, who is so gross you just can’t help but love her. (Personally, I think she and Mr. Pendulum would make a great couple.)

We also get to see what Wormwood does for a living (you know, aside from hanging out at Medusa’s place drinking beer and neglecting his tab).

What I love most about the Wormwood series is that the art is not perfect. Templesmith is very talented — see his art archives — but the style he uses for Wormwood is more rough than his other stuff. For example, when he draws Medusa, her proportions are slightly off, making her look skewed. This gives her an otherworldly appearance. She’s damn sexy for a drawing, but it’s hard to forget that she is a guardian of the gate.

While I enjoyed Birds, Bees, Blood & Beer, I loved It Only Hurts When I Pee. Have you read it? What did you think? Leave a comment and share your thoughts, please!