Some stories are just mean. They push you down, kick dirt in your face, and leave you bloodied and bruised. Big Man Plans #1 is one of these stories. It’s mean as all hell and makes no apologies for that. Eric Powell and Tim Wiesch have created a comic that’ll make you want to give up on humanity, but you know, in a good way.

Big Man Plans is the story of a little person who is sick of being pushed around. His whole life, he’s been mocked, kicked, and ridiculed. Now, he’s decided to push back, and holy hell does he push back. Powell and Wiesch don’t pull any punches in this issue. It’s violent, crass, and crude. It drags you down into the muck and never lets you come up for air.

In a lot of ways, Powell and Wiesch are telling a story of lost humanity. The central character is a shell of person, a void that’s filled only with sex, violence, and destruction. He’s an animal, even referred to as a dog at one point.

Powell’s artwork is topnotch. Even when the story gets slowed down in heavy exposition, the art will keep you interested. Powell never shies away from the ugliness and that’s what makes this comic work. Sure, it’s bitter and bleak, but that never stops it from being engaging. In fact, it’s all that ugliness that makes the story so damn interesting. By the time you get to that last page, you’ll be ready for whatever hell is coming down the road. You’ll even welcome it.

You might feel good about yourself after reading Big Man Plans. You might want to set the world on fire. Hell, you might think the world deserves to be set on fire. Big Man Plans is good. Really, really good. Even when it makes you feel sick and bad, it’s still good. We all need a little bad in our life, after all.