Sunday, March 18, 2007

The amazing Screw-On Head


In the scientific community (of which I am a member), it has been recorded that occasionally a piece of art comes along that is so brilliant, fun, and inventive that the item is labeled a danger to the public. It is then locked away deep within a vault located beneath the treacherous waters of Lake Death Valley (it's there; only us members of the scientific community know about it, though). The danger related to said item is the fact that it causes one's pleasure glands to expand at such a rate that it forces one's head to explode in a mixture of red mist, brains, and itty-bitty skull fragments, leaving behind only a smile on a stump. After a successful skull transplant, I am able to warn you all about the terrifying brilliance that is "The Amazing Screw-On Head."

Originally released as a single issue or "one shot" comic by publisher Dark Horse in 2002, "The Amazing Screw-On Head" was written and drawn by "Hellboy" creator Mike Mignolia. With a thin plot, poorly conceived characters, and a script written like a "Monty Python" comic on crack, "Head" came and went with little notice, unless you went into the comic-book store that I worked for at the time of its release. If you did, odds are I forced you to buy what is still my all-time favorite comic ever made, and you probably thought it and I were weird, and you never came back. Well, now I'm going to force you to watch a DVD that's even weirder still, and this time you'll thank me for it.

"Screw-On Head" tells the familiar tale of a robot secret agent, The Amazing Screw-On Head (voiced by Paul Giamatti), who has worked for every American President since Washington, and whose head literally screws off and is interchangeable with other robot bodies. "Head," his man-servant "Mr. Groin" (Patton Oswalt), and their stuffed zombie dog, "Mr. Dog," are on the trail of the evil Emperor Zombie (David Hyde Pierce) and his vampire lover, Patience (Molly Shannon), who are attempting to raise a demon of Lovecraftian proportions whom they can serve after he takes over the world. Hey, I said it was familiar.

Originally created last year as a pilot for an animated show on the Sci-Fi Network, "Screw-On Head" failed to find its audience, and in its amazing wisdom the low-rated cable channel decided to air extreme wrestling and heavily edited movies about a killer Sasquatch instead. Thankfully, Lionsgate picked up the 22-minute long pilot and packed it with a few special features and released on DVD.

Every single inch of this show is simply amazing. From the spot-on style of Mignola's art work to its brilliant voice talent, "Screw-On Head" is the best way any esoteric comedy fan could spend 22 minutes and fifteen bucks. It´s rare that a show has me chuckling out loud when I watch it by myself, but the thundering belly laughs that resounded throughout my house (even after multiple viewings) prove that this is the funniest animated show since "Futurama" left the airwaves back in '03. For a more current comparison, "Screw-On Head" is like the Cartoon Network show, "The Venture Brothers," but funny. In fact, with its great character designs and well-paced script, it may be the best genre cartoon I've seen Prynoski do since "The Real Ghostbusters" tore up Saturday Mornings in the late eighties. Which isn't surprising considering Prynoski is a director/producer on the current cartoon-comedy champ, Adult Swim's "Metalocalypse," and if you haven't seen "Metalocalypse," don't; you wouldn't understand it, especially if you live in Boston.

In the scientific community (of which I am a member), it has been recorded that occasionally a piece of art comes along that is so brilliant, fun, and inventive that the item is labeled a danger to the public. It is then locked away deep within a vault located beneath the treacherous waters of Lake Death Valley (it's there; only us members of the scientific community know about it, though). The danger related to said item is the fact that it causes one's pleasure glands to expand at such a rate that it forces one's head to explode in a mixture of red mist, brains, and itty-bitty skull fragments, leaving behind only a smile on a stump. After a successful skull transplant, I am able to warn you all about the terrifying brilliance that is "The Amazing Screw-On Head."

Originally released as a single issue or "one shot" comic by publisher Dark Horse in 2002, "The Amazing Screw-On Head" was written and drawn by "Hellboy" creator Mike Mignolia. With a thin plot, poorly conceived characters, and a script written like a "Monty Python" comic on crack, "Head" came and went with little notice, unless you went into the comic-book store that I worked for at the time of its release. If you did, odds are I forced you to buy what is still my all-time favorite comic ever made, and you probably thought it and I were weird, and you never came back. Well, now I'm going to force you to watch a DVD that's even weirder still, and this time you'll thank me for it.

"Screw-On Head" tells the familiar tale of a robot secret agent, The Amazing Screw-On Head (voiced by Paul Giamatti), who has worked for every American President since Washington, and whose head literally screws off and is interchangeable with other robot bodies. "Head," his man-servant "Mr. Groin" (Patton Oswalt), and their stuffed zombie dog, "Mr. Dog," are on the trail of the evil Emperor Zombie (David Hyde Pierce) and his vampire lover, Patience (Molly Shannon), who are attempting to raise a demon of Lovecraftian proportions whom they can serve after he takes over the world. Hey, I said it was familiar.

Originally created last year as a pilot for an animated show on the Sci-Fi Network, "Screw-On Head" failed to find its audience, and in its amazing wisdom the low-rated cable channel decided to air extreme wrestling and heavily edited movies about a killer Sasquatch instead. Thankfully, Lionsgate picked up the 22-minute long pilot and packed it with a few special features and released on DVD.

Every single inch of this show is simply amazing. From the spot-on style of Mignola's art work to its brilliant voice talent, "Screw-On Head" is the best way any esoteric comedy fan could spend 22 minutes and fifteen bucks. It´s rare that a show has me chuckling out loud when I watch it by myself, but the thundering belly laughs that resounded throughout my house (even after multiple viewings) prove that this is the funniest animated show since "Futurama" left the airwaves back in '03. For a more current comparison, "Screw-On Head" is like the Cartoon Network show, "The Venture Brothers," but funny. In fact, with its great character designs and well-paced script, it may be the best genre cartoon I've seen Prynoski do since "The Real Ghostbusters" tore up Saturday Mornings in the late eighties. Which isn't surprising considering Prynoski is a director/producer on the current cartoon-comedy champ, Adult Swim's "Metalocalypse," and if you haven't seen "Metalocalypse," don't; you wouldn't understand it, especially if you live in Boston.

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