The Humans, Vol. 1

Inspired by old drive-in and exploitation movies, this graphic novel challenges readers to get to the root of why they enjoy those films enough to pick up a comic-book version. Is it the bad acting and ridiculous scenarios? Or the lurid action? Trying to capture the former while amplifying the latter to over-the-top proportions, the story follows a group of motorcycle thugs called the Humans who fight with other motorcycle thugs and cope with the return of one of their own from service in Viet Nam. Also, they%E2%80%99re all apes. There%E2%80%99s lots of fighting, drinking, drugging, riding, cursing, and (big surprise) debauching of women in the chaotic plot, adding up to amplified machismo obviously meant to offend. This wants to be a satiric collection of movie clich%C3%A9s about bikers, Viet Nam, hippies, psychedelic drugs, and more, with a Planet of the Apes mash-up, but it comes off as trying way too hard by presenting a bunch of politically incorrect, tired old tropes. Neely%E2%80%99s art is best when depicting sweeping vistas or explosive psychedelia, and he would perhaps be capable of a work that better transcends the adults-only subject matter. (Mar.)