Scumbag Vol. 1 Cocainefinger

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Scumbag, Volume 1: Cocainefinger

Written by: Rick Remender

Illustrated by: Lewis Larosa, Andrew Robinson, Eric Powell, Roland Boschi, and Wes Craig

Publisher: Image Comics

Format: Softcover, 144 pages, Color

ISBN: 9781534318908

Ages: 18 and up

Meet Ernie Ray Clementine, a rough-necked, rock and roll loving junkie whose only concern is how he’s getting his next fix. One day, crawling after a syringe he dropped down an alleyway, he stumbles across two strangers fighting over a different syringe. He happens to pick up theirs instead and does what any respectable junkie does, injects it into his veins. Instead of the high he’s used to, he sees a blue hologram of a woman pop up who tells him he’s the world’s last hope. The woman was hoping for someone with higher values and moral integrity to lay the faith of the world on, but instead she’s stuck with the worst candidate for superpowers, a scumbag. Fortunately for her, Ernie’s character growth is insane. By the end of the book readers will be cheering for a man who in the beginning of the book shat in public on the streets on New York City while taking a bump off the grimy sidewalk.

Remender brings his trademark attitude to this story and it’s exactly what fans of his have come to love and expect from his other series like “Deadly Class” and “Black Science.” This book features artwork from five different illustrators, one for each chapter. This technique works well for the story and feels cohesive. Two of the illustrators Boschi and Craig have worked with Remender previously on “Winter Soldier: Bitter March” for Marvel and “Deadly Class” for Image. Some of the content may be a little mature for younger readers, making this book more of a public library addition than school library. At the end of the day it’s a redemption story about a down on his luck, bottom of the barrel character who slowly becomes worthy of the powers he’s given.

Jonathan Khan
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