Book Review: 'Wacky Packages: New New New'
(C) 2010 Abrams ComicArts and Topps Company When Topps Chewing Gum reintroduced Wacky Packages to the public in 1973 after a short mid-1960s production run, I was 10 years old and still re-assimilating to American culture after living abroad for six years. I was picking up the language in leaps and bounds, and my reading comprehension skills were above the fourth grade level. I was a spirited, fun-loving kid then, and like many of my peers, I loved the irreverent "Wackys" that poked fun at name-brand products and, by extension, America's consumer culture. When I was a lad of 11, I thought that this parody of Cheer detergent (a brand my mother often bought) was the epitome of hilarity. (C) 1974 Topps Chewing Gum, Inc. Of course, at that age I didn't think in terms of Oh, Topps is satirizing America's consumer culture. Adult-style analyses such as that would only occur to me years later. 10-year-old me thought the parodies of products one would find at...