The inept detective brothers El’ Ape and Deadbeat Sleeze are chasing a man with a thumb for a head through the streets of The Big Apple when they literally stumble upon the Cosmos Father’s men killing some air traders who’d hiked their prices up. Running for their lives, the Sleezes end up in the Shuttle Port and (again, accidentally) wind up in the ladies. Five minutes later they’ve nicked wigs and clothes, applied some lippy and are making their escape from the goons. And we’re off!
Oh, how I’ve missed these two. The Sleeze Brothers: Some Like It Fresh was published by Marvel’s Epic Comics imprint in the States rather than the UK, with Transformers colourist Nel Yomtov their new editor. The rest of the regular creative team return for this final edition of their own comic, with co-creators John Carnell and Andy Lanning writing and pencilling respectively, Stephen Baskerville inking, Steve White colouring and Helen Stone lettering. There’s no clear release date online with various sources stating different months of 1991, so I’ve decided to cover it somewhere in the middle of 2026, 35 years after its release.
The title refers to clean air, something of a rare commodity in this future Earth city and a key point in the first issue of their UK monthly two years prior. In fact, the city is so polluted and fresh air so rare it’s traded by nefarious cartels in sniffer bottles like portable SodaStreams, and there are morality groups and politicians calling for its banishment. A complete prohibition is the goal of the PRATS, the Planetary Reform Air Temperance Society, a group of Mary Whitehouse-esque Daily Mail-reading (possibly) women who our two lads happen to be disguised as.
Within a handful of pages the scene switches to a massive space cruiser called the Overlook (a second horror movie hotel location for the series and, alongside the title of the issue, the umpteenth movie reference in general) where the PRATS and the rival gangs are all having meetings. The Sleezes can’t even escape properly! There’s a funny moment when the robotic bellboy elaborates on all of the luxuries the hotel contains, only for the brothers to be told none of this applies to them as the PRATS don’t believe in such things and they end up in a rat-infested hole.
You see, they haven’t only dressed up as women, but as key speakers for the PRATS! Although, given what comes out of their mouths you get the impression they’re not even trying to put on voices, which just makes the whole scenario even more absurd and funny. Also the fact that anyone who has met them before sees through their disguises straight away. Called upon to give his speech El Ape, in complete desperation for something to say and not blow his cover, ends up saying the air suppliers should be nuked, resulting in chants of “burn the supply” and “kill their children” from the supposed do-gooders!
Vanity Case also returns, hired by a PRAT to investigate wigs that disappear at night only to return each morning. Vanity is just one of the brilliantly-named cast members here. The sole male PRAT is called Dr. Masticator, the angry and disgusting police chief Pigheadski’s first name is revealed to be Elmo, the Cosmos Father’s number two is Angelo Tagelitelly, J. Edgar Hairdryer mades a welcome return, as does President Sinartra and Mr Big’s first name is Ronnie, because of course it is!
Accidentally disposing of Pigheadski’s undercover cop, El’ Ape is recruited to take on the role of the never-seen-before Mr Big, meaning the opposing groups are after him for different reasons, what with one side setting up Mr Big to be killed. It’s a classic Sleeze Brothers tale that continues to escalate more and more out of control, and with the strip lasting a lengthy 48 pages this gets more chaotic than any story before it, which is saying something.
Innuendos abound too. I remember reading the first issue in 1989 when I was only 11 and, while I knew it was naughty in places and I kept some of the images hidden from my parents, most of the more adult jokes just went over my head. I could see the same happening here for younger readers. I’d have loved this as a kid and wouldn’t have really thought of anything as unsuitable, although now I can see it was definitely for more mature readers. This page featuring Sinartra and his tank-like lower body being one such example.
There are plenty of running jokes too, such as the miniature ninjas hired to take out Mr Big (El’ Ape in this case). Each one fails spectacularly. It’s not from lack of trying though. It’s certainly not from any outsmarting of them on the part of the brothers either. Rather, each one falls foul of Ape’s complete lack of awareness for anything other than what’s directly in front of him. Seeing each assassination attempt fall apart by accident made me roar every time.
The brothers end up having two cases to solve which only sets things up for twice the amount of failure. They’re not doing it to be altruistic, it’s because if they don’t help Pigheadski he won’t drop the charges they were accused of in their regular comic and El’ Ape wants to date Vanity so they decide to help her too. He dresses up as Mr Big to meet with the Cosmos Father who wishes to make amends (an obvious trap) and Deadbeat dons the wig again to solve the other case.
Of course, this is The Sleeze Brothers so we just know these two separate mysteries are really one and the same. As if the comic wasn’t already hilarious, this is when it really kicks off! Mr Big is released from prison and makes his way to the Overlook. The air dealers are filling the PRATS’ wigs with air to smuggle it to Earth. The head PRAT is in on it and she sneaks off from their meeting to rendezvous with the crooks.
Everything is already set for a brilliant finale when it’s revealed that the cops are listening in on the meeting through an ear piece on El’ Ape. Not only that, they have a trigger phrase he should recite if he gets into trouble and they can burst in and take everyone out, which coincidentally just so happens to be the exact same trigger phrase the gang will use when it’s time to take out Mr Big (or rather, El’ Ape). We know chaos is coming but nothing could prepare me for how this issue ended.
After an air container gets ruptured in the action, the sweet fresh O₂ leaks out and we get an excellent Sleeze Brothers equivalent of the ending of every gangster film ever. It’s not a mass shoot out, it’s a mass love-in instead, with everyone happy and laughing and loving life, high on fresh air. The fact this very reaction is seen as illicit in this future world, as a dangerous out of control drugs high, sums up the perfectly crafted idiocy at the heart of this series.
But despite the large scale of the ending it’s the littler moments that’ll live on in my head long after the comic is returned to my shelves. As with the original series it’s these moments that caught me unawares, the gags that made me grin from ear to ear and chuckle like I was 11 all over again. These made for the most unforgettable panels. Just two such examples are below, the second of which in particular nearly made me choke on my cuppa because I’ve just started a weekly rewatch of the RoboCop TV series again, so this really hit the spot!
Some Like It Fresh can easily be picked it up for a few quid on eBay. If you see it, grab it! Printed on high quality paper the art truly shines, the script is punchy, there are laugh-out-loud moments on every single page and at more than double the length of one of the monthly stories you’ll be laughing a lot. Seriously, a whole lot. We’re still not finished with the brothers Sleeze on the blog, either.
Go and check out the original introductory post to see my whole Sleeze Brothers collection and you should spot three publications I haven’t showed you yet. Since they cover a span of over a decade I’ll not be reviewing them in real time! Instead, watch out for all three next year. Not only that, there’s a special cameo they made that I’ll also be sharing as an extra. So thankfully there’s more mayhem to come from the pair and I for one cannot wait.
OiNK Blog 