The Ruff and Reddy Show #6 - Review and Spoilers

Better Together

Written by: Howard Chaykin
Art by: Mac Rey
Letters by: Ken Bruzenak
Price: $3.99
Release Date: March 28, 2018

At last! The concluding instalment of The Ruff and Reddy Show is here! Will our heroes (if that’s the right word for a pair so obviously self-centred and lacking in any kind of virtue whatsoever) fall foul of their past peccadilloes? Or will they soldier on through loosely plotted scene after loosely plotted scene before heading for a finale that is as lacklustre as the previous five issues of this series have been?

What do you think?



To be fair to Howard Chaykin, this issue does have more incident than the last five issues put together. The series is heading for, if not a satisfying conclusion, then at the very least a proper punchline. First, though, there’s some extraneous matter to get through.

Last issue ended with Ruff appearing to eat a canary on live TV; this causes brief stirrings of outrage from the LA commentariat, but not anywhere near as much as you might think. The much-heralded sex tape from last issue finally lands a third of the way through this issue and, rather than signalling the end of the duo’s reborn career, it merely lends them an aura of sleazy glamour that propels them ever onward. It’s almost as if their new agent planned it that way. Oh, hang on! He did! Clever man!

Unfortunately, the aforementioned agent doesn’t make it out of the issue alive, as he finally succumbs to the effects of a less than healthy diet. This affords the opportunity for more gags of dubious taste and effectiveness and the brief possibility that, without their agent, Ruff and Reddy might actually retire and leave the world of showbiz behind them.

That, of course, does not happen and, instead, Pamela, Ruff and Reddy’s agent from earlier on in the series, intervenes in their careers, ensuring, as head of programming at Interspecies Network, that the pair are stuck with each other in a sitcom on her network for the next five years. And that, apparently, is that.

There are, admittedly, some good gags here and the social commentary – particularly when it comes to race relations – is pretty much on the money. The problem, as it has been for the last five issues, is simply that this is a series where there isn’t enough at stake for characters about which we care very little.

Bits and Pieces:

While this issue wraps up the series reasonably well, the same problems that beset previous issues – an over-reliance on gags and thinly disguised cartoon versions of real life chat show hosts – linger here. Mac Rey’s art continues to impress, but the series’ satirical focus and leisurely pace are not enough to sustain it for six issues. A quirky, but largely forgettable read.

5.1/10