Sir Testimulump #1

Posted: Tuesday, August 16, 2005
By: Steve Saville

Creator: Ben Hutchings
Publisher: Green Comics (Self Published)
Address: 5 Langridge St, Wanniassa, ACT, 2903, Australia.
Price: $.30 and 3(AU)

This comic is real value for money, then again at thirty cents it would be hard pressed not to be. Sir Testimulump is a small comic [8 pages] about a small man so it is fitting that it can be bought for a small price. I mean thirty cents, that would hardly cover photocopying.

Sir Testimulump, the main character of this collection of 6 one page strips, is, according to the cover, a "loveable, sweaty, old pervert." Sweaty yes, old possibly, perverted definitely, but loveable, now that is debatable.

Ben Hutching's character is a disgusting little creep who attempts to hide his own inadequacies behind his perverted stalking of woman. Sir Testimulump is similar in both style and content to Viz, albeit a crudely formed manifestation of that comic. In fact Sir Testimulump's girlfriend is not a million miles away from the Viz character, Millie Tant. Sir Testimulump himself looks a little like a humanoid Casper and he does have a certain grubby charm even if it is only due to how truly pathetic an individual he is.

Ben's drawings are comparatively simple but appropriate as the subject matter is hardly sophisticated. A pervert prowls around his community harassing innocent woman, I mean deep and meaningful this ain't.

To his credit Ben knows where to draw the line and while his character is offensive and the humour cheap and nasty this comic pulls up short of being truly offensive. In fact the strips where Sir Testimulump attempts to hide his perversion behind a conservative persona or institution are very effective and verge on making a valid social comment. In some places the humour appears a little clichéd and obvious but the reference to Michael Bolton, the angry cop and the students on the lawn alone are well worth the cover price.

The heavy use of rhyme in the dialogue is an unusual technique and it works. It gives a football club sing a long feel to the strips. I am yet to decide whether this is a good thing or not.

Sir Testimulump is, to put it simply, a cheap smutty snigger. Thirty cents worth of a cheap, smutty snigger in fact. It does not pretend to be anything else. The key to it is to have low expectations and not take it too seriously.

In a Word: Cheap

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