Random Floppy Reviews: Captain America and This Month's Boom! Kids Titles

MARVEL ADVENTURES SUPERHEROES: CAPTAIN AMERICA
Marvel

This cover is misleading. That is to say, it's a little static and unexciting. It certainly doesn't hint at the wonderful absurdity found within this issue. It's another tongue in cheek superhero tale as Captain America and Rick Jones are literally pulled into teh internets by the evil forces of Hydra. The criminal organization traps our two heroes in their devious new website, pitting them against actual message board trolls and other avatars representing the internet's slimy underbelly (thankfully the 4chan guys aren't called in). My favorite part of this story is the look of Cap himself. He's constantly clenching his teeth and leaping into battle like a spastic maniac. But wait that's not all! There's also a short back-up story scripted by whack-job Roger (MUPPET SHOW) Landrige. It's the WW2 era cap battling a German MODOK prototype who comes equipped with clunky stovepipe arms.

THE MUPPET SHOW #4
Boom! Kids

Miss Piggy finally gets her close-up! It's hard to write a good Miss Piggy story. Let's face it, it's a man's world in Jim Hensen's imagination and the only leading lady is a vain, obnoxious shrew obsessed with landing her (frog)man. A close look at Jim Henson's treatment of Miss Piggy hints at some repressed issues. His son has gone on record as saying Jim's favorite character was Pigs In Space star Link Heartthrob, who once performed the Village People's hit Macho Man. I'm just sayin'...

Anyway, Landridge manages to deliver yet another terrific MUPPETS comic. Each issue explores the defining mission of a character. Unfortunately, Piggy's mission in life is to land her husband, that confirmed bachelor Kermit. That aside, the show vignettes are as clever as usual. And the art even manages to do justice to Miss Piggy, truly the hardest Muppet to draw appealingly.

THE WORLD OF CARS #3
Boom! Kids

Do I have to go over how much I dislike THE WORLD OF CARS for a third time? It's like reliving the same trauma over and over again (and I mean trauma like a Mickey Rourke date rape). Just go read some previous reviews and sporadically add the phrases "issue three", "remains flaccid and redundant", and "oh alcohol, please end my pain."



THE INCREDIBLES: FAMILY MATTERS #3
Boom! Kids

The Incredibles continues Mr. Incredible's tragic sexual impotency storyline. Any kind of psychosexual metaphors you attach to the movie's superhero cliches are pulled into clearer focus here. The poor guy is left to wander the house powerless as his wife goes off and has exciting, explosive adventures. Even his own daughter continues her journey to being a fully realized woman when she experiences her first kiss. For all their powers, even The Incredibles cannot escape the threat of suburban ennui.
And there are these cool looking muscle-men monsters with giant blocks for hands that can smash concrete and stuff.

Random Floppy review: TOY STORY #1

Boom-Kids! Official Site

The latest Boom-Studios/Pixar joint hits the comic shop shelves this week. It's a pleasant enough story, but not exactly worth the investment. Reminiscent of 2001: A Space Odyssey, a strange looking plastic orb is left among the toys. Nobody knows what kind of mysterious new toy this thing is, so panicked hijinx ensue. This is basically a riff on Buzz's introduction to the fold in the original film. Problem is, it's not a story that can adequately fill an entire issue.

It used to be standard operating procedure for humor comics to have three or four stories per issue. You write a premise, fill it with a few gags and wrap it up in 8-10 pages. The old pros at ARCHIE still follow this formula and perhaps that's part of the reason why you still see those books on the stands today.

TOY STORY #1 takes an eight page story and stretches it to fill an entire issue. There are large, sparse panels with very little dialogue. It's the equivalent of listening to a bad comedian drag out a joke. This title would do well to follow the old formula. After all, there's an entire toy chest full of characters to play with. A collection of three stories plus a few one-page gag comics thrown in would work perfectly. You can even change the title to TOY STORIES. Somebody get me Mark Waid's number. We need to talk!

Preview TOY STORY #1 HERE.

Random Floppy Reviews

- TINY TITANS #16
- SUPERGIRL: COSMIC ADVENTURES IN THE 8TH GRADE #6

Here are a couple of great little books for the youngest readers. The Eisner nominated TINY TITANS is cute without being cutesy. This issue casts Lobo as your average obnoxious gym teacher, which is a pretty funny way to introduce his character to a new generation of readers. The only complaint is that the story is so simple you can blow through an issue inside of five minutes. Kids will surely get more out of a trade compilation. I also recommend waiting for the SUPERGIRL trade if you haven't been following the series already. It's a quirky, girly take on the character (I mean just look at that cover. It doesn't get any girlier than that. Well, maybe if they made Streaky The Superhorse a unicorn... that would be girlier) with just the right dash of drama. But issue #6 wraps up a story arc better enjoyed in one volume.




BATMAN: BRAVE & THE BOLD #4

Now here is a good stand alone issue. It's got plenty of story to make it worth a kid's time. Plus it's got a wonderfully arrogant Aquaman. If DC runs with this incarnation Aquaman may actually get the respect he deserves. The entire Brave & Bold animated series has been delivering a silver age Batman with more charm than camp. The comic does the same.




THE MUPPET SHOW #3

Oh hey, look. Another great issue of THE MUPPET SHOW. This one focuses on Gonzo The Great as Scooter attempts to find out just what exactly Gonzo is. I guess he never saw Muppets From Space, the movie which answered that question. Personally I like this issue's answer better. It's much more poignant.




THOR: TALES OF ASGARD #1

Can kids today appreciate reprints of silver age comics? If they're by Stan The Man and Jack The King, I say hells yeah. I started reading this stuff nearly twenty years after it was originally published and now my ten year old daughter totally digs the ORIGINS and SON OF ORIGINS OF MARVEL COMICS collections (not to mention BRING ON THE BAD GUYS). The bold, crazy Kirby art and Lee stories of Asgard are... dare I say it?... timeless. And it's educational too. Did you know the Earth's core is hot because Surtur the Fire Demon is trapped there by the gravity of our spinning planet? Science and Norse lore- Lee was a friggin alchemist! I have two complaints: 1) The glossy paper is all shiny and junk. Kirby's bold art and the richness of the new digital colors need the matte finish of standard newsprint. 2) The cover. Sure it's nice and all, but trust the original material to sell the book, guys! You could sell twice as many issues if you put this on the cover:

Random Floppy Review: MUPPET ROBIN HOOD

Preview at Boom Kids!

This was a nice surprise. I've never been much for the Muppet spin-off movies. They range from pleasant (Treasure Island), to the abominable (Wizard of Oz). So a comic book spin-off of Robin Hood sounded to me like weak sauce after Langridge's MUPPET SHOW series. I was wrong.

It's a light and funny version of the classic story that makes clever use of the Muppets ensemble. It digs deep to find just the right characters to play each part. They even drop a couple jokes to dismiss the idea that Kermit's nephew, Robin, should play the lead. In fine Muppet tradition, they are jokes that break the fourth wall. The art has a gentle cartoony feel that conveys action and comedy well. For the most part the likenesses are successful; Kermit and Sweetums (cleverly cast as Little John) look the best. Unfortunately nobody has been able to crack the Miss Piggy dilemma yet. She looks artificial and out of place, sometimes even downright scary. The only other minor gripe I might have is that the story borrows a page from SHREK. In a parody of consumer culture, Robin returns to Nottingham to find it converted into a theme park. But that's probably the kind of thing only an old bitter nerd would notice. Kids don't carry the same pop culture baggage.

There are two variant covers. I dig the David Petersen one pictured above.

Random Floppy Reviews: INCREDIBLES & CARS

Boom! Kids Official Site

THE INCREDIBLES #2: FAMILY MATTERS

The premiere issue of THE INCREDIBLES opened with a big old superhero battle against robots and dinosaurs. Issue 2 opens with Mr. Incredible trying to open a jar of pickles. This is just as challenging for the big guy because he's mysteriously losing his super strength. As the action slows down a bit,the humor picks up. Mark Waid is capturing the cadence of the film's characters without simply retreading material from the film. You can actually hear FroZone's voice in your head as he and Incredible nosh on pickles in the family kitchen, trying to figure out the source of the problem. There's a visit to a cool sc-fi laboratory where the attending eccentric scientist type runs various bizarre tests on Mr. Incredible, then another job for the entire family complete with a school bus in peril. It's another fun issue with a clever lighthearted cliffhanger ending. This story arc should make for a good trade edition.



THE WORLD OF CARS #2

Last month I had the unfortunate duty to inform you that THE WORLD OF CARS was thoroughly lame. Issue 2 performs an amazing feat. It's actually lamer. Just look at that cover. I mean really, that's all the review you need. As with the THE INCREDIBLES, there's less action to be found in the second issue. Unfortunately there's absolutely no engaging storytelling to fill the void. It's just more boring panels of boring cars talking to each other. About boring stuff, by the way. The story further details the exciting account of how Lightning McQueen must swallow his pride in order to get corporate sponsorship. Kids love that kind of stuff. The whole corporate sponsorship plot is what made Speed Racer such a box office smash last year.



THE INCREDIBLES #2 and THE WORLD OF CARS #2 both hit the stands this Wednesday, May 20.

Random Floppy Reviews

A quick look at a few issues out this month:

DC SUPER FRIENDS #15

To me, the best part about SUPER FRIENDS is that the script could have been written in the Silver Age. Batman has to solve a mystery presented by some new villain as one by one all the other Super Friends disappear around him. The only difference between this story and something from 1966 is the cartoony art style. It's a stylized look, but not at all stiff. Added fun for adults is to spot all the old school Batman references in the panels. Although I'm not sure I would ever visit a store called Finger's Toys (On Kane street!).



MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN #51

By now everyone is in on the joke about how goofy a villain like Paste Pot Pete is. Even in the unjaded world of Marvel Adventures Spidey has a good laugh at Pete's expense. The villain is basically just an annoyance to the web-slinger, until he finally manages to beat Spidey and steal his web shooters. It's a fun story with a healthy load of Spidey quips and a good old fashioned ham-fisted moral tacked on the end.

Spider-Man has always been the strongest title in the MA line, but there's a change on the horizon. It looks the title is about to bring on the adolescent angst. I'm nervous because we've already seen every other Marvel title get bogged down in cheap melodrama. Let's hope the MA line doesn't lose it's charm.



MARVEL ADVENTURES SUPER HEROES #11: THOR

Louise Simonson delivers a standard life lesson framed with Norse gods and ice trolls and ass whuppings (And Tom Grummett delivers a fantastic cover. Mr. Grummett just doesn't get the credit he deserves. He consistantly delivers classic, dynamic work). Loki's latest scheme is to pit a couple of Asgardian monsters against his reviled half brother Thor. But Thor triumphs by reasoning with the troll and ultimately learns a little something about his own prejudices. The art is a touch unconventional for a superhero book. There's some bizarre foreshortening and cartoonish faces and hands, which is basically awesome.

Random Floppy Review: THE MUPPET SHOW #2

I really hate to sound like a sycophant. After the glowing review I gave to the last issue, you would think I should tone it down a bit. But I cannot. I must gush. Make like you're at at Gallagher show and reach for the plastic.

Roger Langridge manages to top his excellent premiere issue of THE MUPPET SHOW. But how is that possible, Doug? You already said that was as good a Muppet comic as one could ever hope to make. And yet issue two proves me wrong.

Langridge delivers a tighter script that takes better advantage of the vaudevillian setting. There are classics like Pigs In Space, as well as a salute to some of the more esoteric set pieces from earlier seasons and one of Henson's favorite devices- the running gag. Plus Gonzo delivers a magnificent pun followed by a definitive sardonic aside. And as much as we all love Kermit, it's Fozzie who totally brings it this time around. The main storyline about his efforts to get back his comic mojo feels much more natural than Kermit's existential angst in issue #1. The bear is Willy Loman meets Henny Youngman, desperately searching for a schtick that can bring down the house. And of course it's that musical sage Rowlf who offers the most productive advice.

The issue doesn't hit stands until tomorrow and already a second printing has been announced to accommodate orders. So get 'em while you can. Wakka wakka wakka.

Random Floppy Review: THE MUPPET SHOW #1

And now we have the crown jewel of the BOOM! Kids collection. The Muppets franchise has successfully used many different platforms- film, animation, and even comic books. But not one of these various spin-offs has ever topped the original show. The series' freewheeling fun and variety remained unduplicated. The first movie came close (and featured one of the greatest special effects ever committed to film), but ultimately the conventional story requirements of a feature film couldn't match the manic energy of the television series.

Roger Langridge now steps up and attempts to deliver a comic book worthy of Jim Henson's legacy. Not just worthy of the entire Muppet franchise, which has seen it's ups and downs, but specifically the lightning in a bottle charm of the original show. Packed into one issue are all the familiar characters, plenty of sight gags, a song or two, and Pigs In Space. There's also an ongoing backstage tale concerning a mystery that's troubling Kermit The Frog. In short, the comic plays out as any classic episode would.

Even if they missed his earlier Muppet comics from Disney Adventures digest, fans of Langridge will not be surprised to see beautiful the art looks. As live action muppets, Kermit and Fozzy are funny and charming. Turning them into pen and ink drawings can easily rob them of the lifeforce that comes from a human puppeteer. Accommodating for that by making them look more organic would just be creepy and wrong. Langridge's precise and consistent style serves this material well. He carefully recreates the characters as muppets and still manages to instill in them their own life. It's not as subtle and nuanced as Henson's live action work, but it's as close as one has ever gotten in this medium. His eye for detail and ornate backgrounds suit the old vaudeville theater setting. The backgrounds are richly detailed and occasionally reveal him to be a knowledgeable fan of the show. Check out this close-up of a two page spread where George the Janitor, a more obscure character from season 1, meets his replacement, Beauregard:


Earlier this week I talked about how cool it was that the BOOM! Kids titles were getting newsstand distribution. Another old fashioned method they're employing is subscription service. Now this is usually unheard of in the financially uncertain world of independent comics. But I guess when Disney has your back you can afford to guarantee a full series run.

You can subscribe to THE MUPPET SHOW, THE INCREDIBLES or THE WORLD OF CARS through BOOM!'s website right here. Which is kind of great because what kid doesn't like having something show up in the mail box for them?

Random Floppy Review: FRANKLIN RICHARDS APRIL FOOLS SPECIAL #1

A long long time ago in a Marvel universe far far away (the 80's) the son of Mr. Fantastic and The Invisible Woman was a little boy whose future looked ominous. Every now and then a sinister look would cast over his face and destructive energy would emerge from his eye sockets. What kind of offspring was this, produced by the union of two people exposed to mysterious radioactive rays?

Years later we finally have the answer. Franklin Richards is Bill Watterson's Calvin. A red haired boy genius brimming with curiosity and demonstrating a destructive streak. His Hobbes is that leftover from the 70's cartoon series HERBIE The Robot. Together they get up to all sorts of shenanigans in the Baxter Building while mom and dad are off fighting Annihilus in the Negative Zone. It's a fun idea but it could stand to be a bit less derivative. The more blatant attempts at aping Calvin & Hobbes serve only to remind readers that they could be reading Calvin & Hobbes instead.


As a back up feature in The Fantastic Four, Franklin Richards worked well. The stories are fun but slight. Unfortunately the standard floppy format doesn't work well for this material. The art is too simple to fill the traditional six panel spread. Since there's not a lot going on kids will burn through an issue in less than five minutes.

I recommend it, but try one of the digest compilations. The smaller format suits the art better and you get the most for your money.

Random Floppy Review: THE WORLD OF CARS

Damn shame about this one. It just doesn't work on any level.

Granted the source material is Pixar's weakest film. Despite that, the CARS franchise continues to reap the studio's largest pile of merchandising cash. This comic is just another piece of licensing - another toy or sleeping bag.

The script is a rehash of the film's Hero-Learns-Humility plot. Whereas the movie could at least fall back on some kinetic thrills to pad out the story, the comic fails to bring these speeding cars to life. It's panel after flat panel of static images with banal word balloons pasted in. Dig these pages at www.boom-studios.net if you don't believe me. That first page loaded with type and head-on medium shots is sure to capture kids' imaginations. After that we have the supposed money shots of Lightning McQueen tearing up the raceway, but it just doesn't flow as it should. They look like toys sitting on the page. The coloring? It doesn't help. The best I can say is it looks like a coloring book completed by someone very good at staying inside the lines. I can't even say anything nice about the lettering when you have such confusing balloon placements as this:


This is truly the weakest of the new line. With THE INCREDIBLES and THE MUPPET SHOW* you can tell the creators have been inspired by the source material to make something exceptional. The inspiration for THE WORLD OF CARS has obviously come from Disney's merchandising department.

*Review coming Friday. Spoiler: It's awesome.

Random Floppy Review: BILLY BATSON & THE MAGIC OF SHAZAM #4

So this is the last part of a four issue story arc by Mike Kunkel. It's excellent stuff, but you would really do well to pick up the previous three issues or wait for the inevitable trade. Let this review, then, serve to let you know it's a terrific series. We need to see more of this type of comic.

Jeff Smith ret-conned the Big Red Cheese's origin a couple years back in SHAZAM! THE MONSTER SOCIETY OF EVIL. His version, balancing the whimsy of CC Beck's original stories with some modern revisions, was a tough act to follow. Kunkel manages to do so by taking the silly spirit of Shazam and cranking it up to 11. Kunkel's animation background is obvious. Each page resembles a storyboard densely packed with funny and dynamic images. Imagine a superhero comic told entirely in Sergio Aragones' Mad Magazine marginals. Or better yet, see for yourself:


Earlier this week I complained a bit about large, vacant page layouts so common in comic books today. Kunkel proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that exciting storytelling can be the size of thumbnails.

As for the story, he manages to have it both ways. It's a superhero tale full of fisticuffs and exploding monsters. But then Batson saves the day by using brains to trump mindless violence. A cynic might call it exploitive- laying on the fight scenes before saying, "No but really kids, violence solves nothing! You gotta use your brains!"

But isn't that the best kind of superhero comic? Shazam yeah, it is!

Mike Kunkel's blog, full of tasty bits.

Random Floppy Review: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #589

Marvel has done it again. Yet another silly villain from the past has been given the MATURE AUDIENCE makeover. This time they've taken the obscure Spider-Man foe- The Spot, a scientist with a suit covered in those portable holes from the Looney Tunes cartoons- and made him a bloodthirsty bad-ass.

I found this preview at Newsarama.com and quickly began formulating my indignant reaction. Some random thoughts I jotted down included -

Created by Al Milgrom in the 80's The Spot was one of the last of the seriously silly villains. His full bodysuit of teleportation holes was so ridiculous he couldn't be seriously enjoyed by anyone over the age of ten. Now he uses his Acme Brand portable holes to shove a knife into a guy's throat. I feel personally insulted! In their endless search of obscure nostalgia to exploit, Marvel has plundered my childhood bedroom, found this issue and smeared poop all over it.

But then a funny thing happened a few days later. I bought and read the entire issue and - you know what? I kind of liked it. It's tightly written by Fred Van Lente who remembers to pepper Spidey's dialogue with plenty of his traditional witticisms. Paulo Siqueira's art is clean and dynamic.

And I was particularly struck by this brilliant sight gag -


Oh sure, The Spot is still a psycho-killer and there's bloody stabbings and neck snappings, but it's not delivered with the kind of heavy melodrama found in most of Marvel's flagship titles. The story acknowledges how silly the Spot is, how bizarre it is to find him working as a hired killer and finally manages to end on a bittersweet note.

This still isn't for kids you wouldn't take to a PG-13 movie, but it's a fun read for yourself.

More info about The Spot courtesy of Marvel.com

Random Floppy Review: THE INCREDIBLES

BOOM! Studios must be the only publisher making money this year. While everyone else is cutting back they're crazy enough to launch a new line of Disney licensed titles. The BOOM! Kids imprint consists of three new titles all out in comic shops this month - THE INCREDIBLES, THE WORLD OF CARS and THE MUPPET SHOW. They've also signed on with Kable Distribution Services to make sure the titles get some good old fashioned newsstand distribution. Just think, these comics will actually be available to kids everywhere and not just comic shop customers. Speaking of, THE MUPPET SHOW and THE INCREDIBLES have already sold out of specialty shops and are going into second printings. This is all great news for BOOM! Studios specifically and the comic book industry in general. But are the books any good? This week I'll review all three first issues, starting today with THE INCREDIBLES -


THE INCREDIBLES - FAMILY MATTERS #1

It's hard to find a better working superhero writer than Mark Waid. He's delivered some of the best modern superhero tales for The Big Two. Since he's now the editor-in-chief of BOOM! Studios it would be downright criminal to give THE INCREDIBLES to anyone else. As expected, he's up to the task. Issue 1 hits the ground running with the family immediately taking on the villainous robot Futurion and his dinosaur army. I'll say that again - Futurion and his dinosaur army! This is the kind of battle every kid dreams of while playing with their action figures. The story balances this kind of action with the suburban family humor as adeptly as the film. It's a quick read and by story's end we're left with a traditional cliffhanger as Mr. Incredible confides in his best buddy Frozone that he is rapidly losing his super powers (a secret he doesn't want to share with the wife). Is our hero manifesting signs of sexual impotency brought on by an existential crisis as he grapples with his role of banal suburbanite or is there some really cool villain stealing his powers with a radioactive Extracto-Ray or something? We'll have to wait and see.

The storytelling is simplified in large sparse panels with few words. Normally I kvetch and gripe about this type of thing as it's usually used to stretch out a tale to as many issues as possible. But there's no cynical grab at maximizing sales here. It's a stylistic choice utilized to welcome five-year-olds into our cult of superhero fandom. That's not to say Marcio Takara's art couldn't stand a bit of a tweak. It's very loyal to the design of the cartoon. And the cartoon designs are very awesome indeed. But it lacks it's own personality. Look at the covers to see what I'm talking about (There are FIVE variant covers. Who says the 90's are over?). Mike Oeming's four-part cover series pictured above adds a vibrant and original flavor to the design. Mrs. Incredible's pa-dunk-a-dunk is spectacular!* A little more creative license on the interior art could take this series from very good to incredible (Ohhh! You see what I did there? With the word and the thing?). All in all, THE INCREDIBLES makes for an excellent intro to superheroes.

*Full disclosure: I've known Mike personally for years, but seriously - look at those covers? Am I lying?