Just Read: The Trouble With Girls (Volume 1)

I've written about this series once or twice before -- the short version is that I read it and liked it when it was originally published (from 1989 through the mid-90s, on a shoestring the whole time, apparently), and it was even one of The Wife's favorite comics, back when she was making more of an effort to read them. (She quite likes broad, winking, pseudo-sexist humor, and Trouble With Girls is full of that.)

In case you've never heard of the series, Lester Girls (who bears a striking resemblance to Clark Kent) is one of the world's top spies, billionaires, and womanizers..all pretty much against his will, since all he wants is to settle down with a boring job, a plain wife, and a house with a picket fence in a drab suburb. His best friend is Apache Dick, only slightly less adept at the spying and womanizing than Les. His nemesis is the Lizard Lady, a quintessential femme fatale and Yellow Peril in the Dragon Lady mode (though more frequently naked and/or murderous). Oh, and ace reporter Maxi Scoops is doggedly on his trail, wanting to get the big scoop on the international man of mystery.

It's all so far over the top that it's hard to see the top from here, but it's also exceptionally entertaining. The concept is deeply satirical, but also inevitably sexist (that's the point, you see), so I would warn any members of the Secret Feminist Comics Cabal to stay far away. Luckily, the SFCC seems to only care about Marvel and DC cover art at the moment, so we should be safe.

It's written by Will Jacobs and Gerard Jones and penciled by Tim Hamilton, usually inked by Dave Garcia. This volume collects the first seven issues of the original series, which is the place to start. (The series went somewhat downhill later on, especially in the spin-off mini-series, though the re-launch in color was strong for a while. Any single joke, no matter how good, can only go on so long.)