In the strange world of David Rees, becoming as cool as the
invincible master Karate Snoopy is the ultimate goal for all karate
disciples. Besides practicing with each other, these martial arts
students also fight Bruce Lee style against their imaginary selves,
their circulatory systems and, occasionally, their own
fingerprints.
Rees’ second satirical comic collection, “My New
Fighting Technique Is Unstoppable,” is a bizarre homage to
the braggadacio of martial arts. As part of a month-long national
tour, Rees will read from “Fighting Technique” at Book
Soup next Tuesday.
Illustrated with repeating images of clip art and narrated with
a consistent rhythm of bleep-worthy words, “Fighting
Technique” is another excuse for Rees to unleash his brand of
random humor on unsuspecting fans.
“The thing that’s funny about my comics is that
there is so much cussing; it’s hysterical,” said Rees.
“It’s so dumb, but it keeps going. For some people,
it’s just not funny, but I think it’s great.”
It is safe to say there is a large population of people who find
Rees funny; the “Fighting Technique” Web site has
received over 25 million hits in the past year.
Rees’ comic career spin-kicked off in front of an ordinary
office computer where he held a temporary job as fact-checker for
Maxim and Martha Stewart magazines.
“Basically, I made cartoons so I wouldn’t go crazy
from boredom,” said Rees. “I kept myself amused all day
playing with clip art.”
Rees, who graduated with a degree in philosophy, had a brief
stint as a comic artist for his college newspaper where the
prankster in him reared its ugly head.
“I used two different styles of drawing and writing and
submitted them with fake names,” said Rees. “No one
found out that it was the same person.”
It seems Rees’ imagination is constantly getting the best
of him. One of the main characters of “Fighting
Technique,” Karate Snoopy, is inspired by rapper KRS-One, who
once claimed to be able to smash someone’s new rapping career
instantly with his extraordinary ability as a battle-rhymer.
“I admire people who are so sure of themselves,”
said Rees. “They give out a sense of calm and confidence like
Karate Snoopy does in the comic, the sense that they can’t be
bothered. I wish I could be like that.”
Rees also wishes to keep the language simple in his comics,
which include his debut “Get Your War On” and the
upcoming “My Filing Technique Is Unstoppable.”
“A lot of my comics deliver a sense of confusion that
arises from the use of language,” said Rees. “I
don’t like writing descriptive passages like fiction writers
do. Clip arts, on the other hand, are easy and effective. I like to
just make jokes and have fun with language.”
A regular cartoon contributor for Rolling Stone, Rees relishes
what he considers the ideal job. During his spare time, he jams
with his band, the Skeleton Killers, playing love ballads every
Tuesday night.
“It relaxes me,” said Rees. “Pressure is what
takes the fun out of work, so I try not to let that get to
me.”