Writer: Malachai NicollePublisher: Dark Horse Comics
Collects: Axe Cop Episodes 0-70; Ask Axe Cop #1-42
Axe Cop is a popular online webcomic written by 5-year-old Malachai Nicolle and illustrated by his older brother Ethan. Filled with zany characters, outlandish scenarios, and imaginative plots that could only have come from the mind of a child, it's no surprise that Axe Cop finally found an outlet in Dark Horse.
Following the hilarious and violent adventures of the eponymous Axe Cop (whose catchphrase is "I will chop your head off!") in his day-to-day battles with aliens, robots and general evil-doers, aided by an overwhelming supporting cast, this is just about the funniest thing I have ever read.
No adult writer, in any medium, can possibly replicate the pure, unfiltered creativity of Malachai's 5-year-old brain. Axe Cop is thought given form, and captures that raw childhood imaginative energy perfectly on the page. It almost defies criticism, because to enjoy it one must regress oneself to that long-gone mindset that favours instant gratification over slow development. Not to say that it lacks relative depth and complexity once you've swallowed your pompous grown-up pride and knelt down to look your inner child in the eye, rather than sneer judgementally down your nose.
Many overly-protective parents will no doubt decry the excessive violence in this story, and while they are not wrong to highlight it, they are simply looking at it from the wrong perspective. As noted by older brother Ethan in one interview, Malachai's world is the world of video games, where "killing" a bad guy simply means defeating him and moving on. Any further meaning is inferred purely by the reader. This is not some pop-psychology experiment where we get some insight into the mind of a modern child. In fact, the more you scrutinise Axe Cop the more it falls apart, like some kind of reverse Watchmen. It cannot work through grown-up eyes.
But there is no denying the evolution of Axe Cop from a storytelling perspective. It goes from simplistic, "A happens, then B happens, then C happens, the end" plots to incredibly intricate (in comparison) epic tales, with the cast of characters seemingly doubling every story, eventually culminating in "The Ultimate Battle", with Malachai's imagination let loose with awesome results. Even the "sad story" of the time when Axe Cop accidentally killed a good guy packs a mighty punch considering the surrounding material. Axe Cop, like the climb out of childhood itself, is deceptively simple, occasionally catching you off-guard in the process.
None of this phenomenon wold be possible without Ethan of course. Although he clearly has a good eye for ideas, not only harnessing his brother's gift, but gently honing it to make stories easier to read, his artistic talent is actually quite remarkable too. Axe Cop could have had anybody draw it and it still would have been successful, but Ethan lends it a chaotically cartoonish style that is perfect for the stories being told. His eye for layouts is skilled, knowing how to ration panels appropriately, and the comedic background details are almost as funny as the rest of the book.
While he'll always be second-billed in the great story behind Axe Cop, I would not be surprised if Ethan soon finds the offers starting to flood in. There are clearly two talented people working on this book, and it would be foolish to ignore one of them. That said, I am also curious to see what becomes of young Malachai in the future. Will his unique gift for stories wear off with age, or simply become more refined? Will he even want to continue?
Either way, I will lovingly savour the stories he has already given us -- a memorial of days most of us wish we could return to -- while keeping an eye out for two brothers who turned a silly Christmas Day game into one of the greatest Internet successes of all time.
Rating: 5/5
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