Written by James Cuartero
Illustrated by James Cuartero
Self-Published
James Cuartero's Worst Kind of People series returns for a third issue, bringing along the same terrible types of characters we've come to be familiar with in the first two issues. There's the man who promises a better life for his wife, only to leave her a football widow. Another builds a chore-bot that quickly finds other work while a third man chooses a rather odd way to indicate he no longer loves his spouse.
Yup, these are not the types of folks you want anywhere near you, whether they're having their hands make out together or giving answers to questions we'd rather not ask in the first place. Cuartero keeps the mildly uncomfortable humor going page after page, with each one seeming to be a little worse than the one before it.
The key to these comics is not amazing art (Cuartero's pencils give you the gag, but aren't anything special in and of themselves) but the good sense of comic timing. These (usually) four panel gags don't stick around too long, ruining the joke. They show up, make you either chuckle or shudder, and move right on to the next thing. While sometimes crude, they're never offensive just because Cuartero can--anything gross about them is for a specific purpose, which I can appreciate.
The Worst Kind of People is not for everyone, and I'm sure Cuartero knows that. I find the jokes funny, and am sad to see that there are no more updated online, with the last entry being just before I talked to him at the Small Press Expo. I hope we've not seen the last of this series, but if not, it was a fun three issue run. You can still pick up the first two volumes from Cuartero himself, I believe, if you want to see what brings out the worst in Cuartero. I had fun learning the answer--maybe you will, too.