Cute as a Fox: A Review of Dennis Hyer's Inhuman Relations

Cute as a Fox:

A Review of Dennis Hyer’s

Inhuman Relations (A Cartoon Collection)

R. W. Watkins

It seems like just yesterday that I was reviewing Dennis Hyer’s The Complete Mullein Fields (2014) and relating his promise of an Inhuman Relations compilation. Well, a year or so later, and Mr. Hyer has indeed delivered. Collecting strips originally published between 2012 and 2015, Inhuman Relations: A Cartoon Collection (5 × 8 paperback, 172 pgs.) is nowhere near as comprehensive (or elaborate in its presence) as Hyer’s oversized 2014 Mullein Fields collection; but great things do come in small packages, as they say. Furthermore, according to Hyer’s website, at least 35 percent of the book is new, “by way of re-written dialogue, reconstructed panels, and/or material drawn especially for [it]”. So imagine, if you will, a cross between a Fawcett Peanuts paperback collection and a Fantagraphics Love and Rockets anthology with bonus panels.

For those who have visited The Comics Decoder regularly over the years, Inhuman Relations should not be unfamiliar terrain, for the web strip has been a staple of the ‘Funnies’ section since the site’s 2009 inaugural issue. In fact, that same year, the first three years’ worth of the strip was collected in a volume from Lulu. Since then, the strip has undergone revisions, complete with cast recharacterisations. Obviously influenced by Walt Kelly first and foremost, the anthropomorphic strip can be easily looked upon as an outgrowth of Hyer’s earlier Mullein Fields. Set in the greater Atlantic City area of southern New Jersey, it focusses primarily on the exploits of the fedora-wearing Fred Tricarico, a somewhat cynical and tormented thirty-something fox; his Lebanese vixen girlfriend Maureen ‘Mo’ Chahoud and her overbearing mother; Maureen’s flakey Jewish best friend, Tirzah Lieberman; and Fred’s best mate, Slavko Vorkapich, an alligator bar-owner.

As in Mullein Fields, all the essential earmarks (a family focus, seasonal continuity, humourous social commentary) of classic American dailies can be found in Hyer’s second regular feature. Unlike the earlier strip, however, Inhuman Relations is decidedly more adult in both its plots and characters. Business, installments and earning a livelihood now take priority over trick-or-treating and adjusting to a new school. That’s not to say that such grownup matters are grim and boring, or that characters necessarily have a clue what they’re talking about, mind you.

In fact, other than in the occasional flashback to the main characters’ formative years, there are no children or adolescents present throughout this book. As a result, those brief glimpses into the past fill a sort of void – especially for those who know Hyer best for his young Henner siblings and Didelphis sisters of Mullein Fields.

As evidenced by the revisions and new drawings, Hyer wanted this collection to be “something other than a straight reprint of the comics”, so he adopted the restructured ‘comic book’ format of Walt Kelly’s classic Pogo paperbacks. New material incorporated, the book has been divided into thirteen loosely connected but sequential story arcs, each listed with its own title in the table of contents and bearing a satirical synopsis (e.g., “NIGHTMARE ON NELSON AVENUE – Terror at 30 Feet Above Sea Level”). Such organising may have been purely arbitrary, but at least such titles and synopses set the tone for the entire book, and pulls the reader into the setting as well as into Hyer’s head.

Just as Mullein Fields tackled problems involving ecology and modern-day schooling, Inhuman Relations often touches on contemporary social issues such as ‘nanny-state’ health and safety policies, abuse hysteria, and foreign conflicts – sometimes all in the same context.

Some of the funniest moments to be found in this collection hinge on absurdities reminiscent of those found in Seinfeld plots. For example, Slavko’s whimsical desires to suddenly obtain things – from his favourite pub to a discarded filing cabinet – make for ludicrous scenarios of the Cosmo Kramer variety.

Sometime Slavko’s whims can extend to his friends, for on one occasion he intervenes and has Fred purchase the undriveable wreck of an ’81 Pontiac Catalina once owned by Fred’s grandmother.

More obviously, Tirzah’s way of dealing with a stalking and intimidating coworker owes quite a bit to the eccentricities of George Costanza.

Of course, after Fred frightens off Tirzah’s tormentor, she shows him her appreciation by purchasing him a rickety fifty-year-old Polaroid camera for ten dollars at a thrift store.

Tirzah’s ill-fated party is a high point of the book (‘The Party Favor’), with Hyer milking such a scenario for its humour like a witchdoctor would a snake. In addition to Slavko’s aforementioned filing cabinet, his insufferable Uncle Boris, and the racially motivated fight between the Lieberman and Chahoud families, there’s Slavko’s gator girlfriend Gladys and her crystal-ball con-artistry.

Disney’s Mad Madam Mim was never this nutty!

On a personal note, I’m probably most impressed with Hyer’s deftness in capturing those simple moments of existence when time seems to stand still. Consider for example the scene at the bar, in which the drab, rainy day serves as a backdrop for Fred and Slavko’s discussion of the latter’s uncle and his shenanigans. Once rather commonplace, scenes such as this are rarely found in today’s mainstream comic strips. Ironically, this is something that Hyer has been capable of capturing on occasions since the early days of Mullein Fields. In visiting such scenes, I cannot help but wonder if such moments can be found in even real life these days. Maybe so, but they’re usually not acknowledged and certainly not celebrated.

On the downside, like The Complete Mullein Fields before it, there’s no pictorial introduction of characters with corresponding names at the outset of the book (á la Schulz’s Peanuts collections of old). However, as I noted about the former collection, sometimes it’s more beneficial for the newcomer to learn the characters and their habits by jumping straight into a plot without any preconceptions. I guess it’s like the difference between passages in a geography text and cultural immersion.

As mentioned above, Inhuman Relations is definitely more adult-oriented than the previous Mullein Fields, and therefore lacks the cuteness and naiveté that defined the earlier strip to such a great extent. Adult characters like those of Inhuman Relations can certainly be ridiculous, too, and the ‘funny animal’ style of cartooning is given to ridicule and parody by default; but there’s a certain charming humour inherent in the ironies and absurdities that one associates with the world of children – cartoonists like Schulz and Bill Watterson knew this like few others. Sadly, that element is mostly absent from this collection, and the absence is somewhat gnawing for those of us seemingly biased by our familiarity with Hyer’s previous strip.

There is also the fact that the strip’s central character, Fred, is completely absent from the book’s final chapter, ‘Day of the Dad’ (ten pages) – warranting not even as much as a stray mention in passing. This struck me as rather odd, for it leaves the reader lacking a sense of closure of some sort. I was half expecting at least a final wry word from Fred, even if it meant a full-page panel in which the fed-up fox breaks ‘the fourth wall’ with a snide aside to the reader.

Rest assured, however, that such flaws do not fatally subtract from the overall allure of this collection. Inhuman Relations is simply the best slice-of-life comic strip out there today, and Hyer is the premier ‘funny animal’ cartoonist currently plying his trade. Entertainment outlets of such regular quality are few and far between these days. Even rarer is a person of true talent, vision and artistic integrity. On top of this, beloved members of the ‘old guard’ appear to be dropping like flies as we march onward into the 21st century. Great art and its creators are increasingly fleeting, so do yourself a favour and tap into a genuine source while you still can. Pick up a copy of Inhuman Relations from Amazon or CreateSpace before it’s too late.

The paperback edition of Inhuman Relations is available from CreateSpace and Amazon.

A digital edition is available from Gumroad.