Review:  Maybe it's the fact that the last review completely desensitised me towards anything and everything Crass Sophisticate could throw at me, but this issue actually kind of grew on me like a non-malignant tumor.  The pain and agony of mastrubatory trauma may not be immediately relatable to anybody, but unlike the past issues we've reviewed, it's actually a pretty funny take on just about the most extreme possible life malfunction that act could have caused a teenager.  It's no less extreme or crass, but it's not so far gone that you're scratching your head and brushing your teeth compulsively after reading it.  One from the heart, indeed...

Overall: 3 stars.

Alex Haas

Review: I was pleasantly surprised by this issue of Crass Sophisticate. Both stories made sense, were plausible, and the first was even reasonably tastefully done. From the other issues we reviewed, I was expecting something coarser and cruder, especially given the issue's topic of masturbation.

Overall: 3 stars. This still isn't a book for everyone, but it wasn't the gross-out fest of prior issues.

Robert Weiman

Review:  This is the second issue that we have reviewed from the Crass team and I agree with Bob that this issue was better than the other one...though that would not have been a real challenge. This issue revolves around a man who is traumatized by an episode in his younger days revolving around masturbation (no, he wasn't "caught in the act"). 

I was pleasantly surprised that I actually found some of the panels to be funny.  The conversation between the dad and his son was made me laugh out loud.  Unfortunately, the writers/artists bizarre fascination with vomiting seemed to bring me back to thinking this was more of what I expected. The second story was a big less crude (but of course, did have vomiting in it) and was about a boy buying pornography. It wasn't bad, but didn't have any laugh out loud parts (I did like the centerfold drawing of the old lady though..that was pretty humorous)

Overall: 3 stars. A low three star review. The author's need to start realizing that sometimes less is more and that going for the gross out jugular all the time becomes just tired.

Ron Miller