2015 Reading Challenge Book 014 Eno and Plum by Terry LaBan

2015 Reading Challenge Book 014 A Cud Comics Collection Eno and Plum written and drawn by Terry LaBan

BOOK TITLE-A Cud Comics Collection Eno and Plum
AUTHOR-Terry LaBan
FORMAT-Trade Paperback
FIRST TIME READING-Yes
COST-$1

One thing I have recently come to love about Amazon is how many extremely cheap used trade paperback and hardcover comic book collections I can get. Recently I got a bunch of Amazon gift cards. So was looking for a bunch of cheap comics. Having read a 3 or 4 page story about Eno and Plum years ago,I think it was in an issue of Dark Horse Presents or Instant Piano,I enjoyed this very early 90s comic.

This collection collects the Eno and Plum stories from 3 issues of Dark Horse Presents and the following 4 issue Cud Comics series.Mr LaBan explains in the foreword how thanks to a barber shop he got majorly inspired by various Gold Key,Harvey and Archie titles. So when he started making his own comics he did stuff like those titles he read as a kid. But with a adult spin on them.

Eno is your fairly normal early 90s era mid 20s slacker. All he really wants to do is watch TV,listen to music,smoke pot and have sex with his girlfriend. Plum ,who to me looks like a grown up Betty Cooper of Archie fame,has a bit more drive  than Eno. Like lots of women of her age in the early 90s she is in love with the fashion and pop culture of the 70s. And while our two leads are really entertaining. I found I liked 3 of the side cast a bit more. First off their is Plum's ultra rich father. He is an ex-hippie that started a business selling candles in the Haight. Which has grown into a multi million dollar company. Any time Eno and Plum need money,which is all the time,they turn to him for a loan. Seeing him being conflicted with running this huge business and the ideologies of his old hippie ways is pretty funny. Then there is Edgar Reamington. He is a Yuppie straight out of the 80s. Edgar also has a massive crush on Plum. And will do whatever it takes to get her.One of the ongoing story lines in this trade has Edgar thinking that Plum hates any man that has a job and makes decent money. So to get her to break up with Eno,he gets Eno a job with Plum's father making a candle that will appeal to Generation X.Which backfires in a great way. Then there is the final side character. Catherine,who is Plum's best friend. And is a thinly veiled version of Cathy of comic strip fame.

The first few stories in the collection are stand alone. But once we get into the Cud Comics reprints we get an ongoing storyline. I need to find out if Terry LaBan has done more Eno and Plum comics.

Now this trade is very much of it's time. It is very very early 90s.With lots of jokes that are dated now. Like how every time Eno and Plum have sex,they are so worried about getting pregnant or catching something they wear full body hazmat suits.Plus Eno dresses just like I did during that time. You know,the typical jeans,t-shirt,flannel shirt and backwards baseball cap. Turn the baseball cap forwards and that is how I dressed for a long time. And still do sometimes now. The storyline about Eno creating a candle to appeal to the Gen X demographic is the best part of the comic. But also the most dated. I am wondering if it is a parody of the OK Soda campaign of that era.Wait does anyone reading this remember OK Cola?

Anyways this is an about 200 page trade. Printed on paper that is a step above newsprint,but isn't that shiny paper most trades currently use.And it is black and white. I have stated my preference for b/w artwork a bunch of times.What surprised me is when I ordered this,knowing it was used,I expected it to be in fairly racked up shape. The trade to my old eyes looks like it was never read. There is no cracks on the spine,which are hard to avoid in thin trades. And the only wear is on the upper corners. But that looks more like damage from being on a shelf for a long time.

Eno and Plum gets a 2.95 outta 5.