Somebody’s First Comic Book: Roger Rabbit #1

Wondering what Somebody’s First Comic Book is all about? The explanation is on this page!

TITLE: The Trouble With Toons & Good Neighbor Roger

CREDITS:
Writers: Kate Worley & Doug Rice
Art: Rick Hoberg, Dave Simons & Bill Langley
Editor: Len Wein
Publisher: Disney Comics

PRIOR KNOWLEDGE: I know Roger Rabbit! He was framed, if my memory serves me correctly.

IMPRESSIONS: The comic seems to pick up shortly after the end of the movie. Roger Rabbit goes down to the Ink and Paint Club to find that it’s been trashed and rushes to his buddy, Detective Eddie Valiant, for help in solving the case. But Valiant has been swamped with business ever since he and Roger defeated Judge Doom (in the movie), so he sends Roger to his buddy Rick Flint. Roger and Flint set out to find the man who destroyed the club, and a new partnership is born.

This comic book felt like the first episode of a movie-spinoff TV show where the producers couldn’t get the original actors in for more than a cameo. Flint isn’t really that interesting a character – he’s a generic old-school detective who doesn’t seem to bring anything to the story that couldn’t have been served just as easily by using Eddie Valiant. I can understand how, if this had been a TV show, getting Bob Hoskins would have been rather difficult. But we’re looking at a comic book here. Why couldn’t they draw Valiant instead of coming up with a low-rent substitute?

The second story, “Good Neighbor Roger,” is much better. This one is set in Toontown, where Roger is upset to learn his new neighbor is a weasel. (Remember them from the movie? Roger, understandably, has a bit of an aversion to weasels.) Roger decides to make nice, though, and hilarity ensues. This one feels like an old-fashioned cartoon with more modern writing, and I liked it a lot on that level.

Not a bad comic book, I guess, but I’d be more interested in reading more of Roger’s Toontown adventures than the Adventures of Rabbit and Flint.

GRADE: B-

Army of Darkness: Ash’s Christmas Horror #1

December 27, 2008

Army of Darkness: Ash’s Christmas Horror #1 (Dynamite Entertainment)
By James Kuhoric, Dave Simons & Nick Bradshaw

It’s Christmas at S-Mart, and for any other department store it would mean paniced parents, begging children, long lines and surly employees. What does it mean if you work with Ash Williams? Deadites. After doing such a great job of exterminating the undead last year, this year Ash’s boss wants him to step up to the big suit and play Santa Claus for the store, but Ash wants none of it… but will visits from a few ghosts of his past change his mind? This is, obviously, another twist on Charles Dickens‘ A Christmas Carol, but with that Army of Darkness flair that makes it unique. It’s not just another stale retelling, it’s using the framework to make something new. The story is funny, Dave Simons‘s art is strong, and there’s enough gore and sex appeal to make the story work for fans of the franchise. This works really well as a fun, offbeat Christmas issue.
Rating: 8/10

Cartoon Network Block Party #1

September 18, 2004

Quick Rating: Great
Title: D.E.A.D.L.I.N.E. and other stories

A great mix of comics and games for the kids!

Writers: Mo Willems; Sholly Fisch; Jesse McCann & Robbie Busch
Pencils: Matt Peters; Dave Simons; Gary Fields; Scott Neely; Jeff Albrecht; John Delaney & Mike Kazaleh
Inks: Robert R. Smith; Dave Simons; Gary Fields; Scott Neely; Jeff Albrecht & Mike Kazaleh
Colors: Heroic Age
Letters: Nick Napolitano
Editor: Joan Hilty
Cover Art: Robert Pope
Publisher: DC Comics/Johnny DC

While I’m not a viewer of most of the TV shows represented in this jam book of Cartoon Network properties, I didn’t get a third of the way in before I absolutely fell in love with the format. This comic is the perfect sampler for a kid – it’s full of characters they already know and love, and the book mixes in short stories with puzzles and games in a seamless fashion. Rather than stopping the book for the games, the games are mixed into the story.

There are three “regular” stories in this issue. We start with Codename: Kids Next Door in “D.E.A.D.L.I.N.E.” The Kids are called to rescue one of their own who is being held prisoner – it’s an extended gag strip, a cute five page story with a great punchline. We’ve got The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy in “Stage Fright.” When Grim decides to audition for a big musical, his stage fright almost blows it for him. Fortunately, the director finds a way to put the Grim Reaper’s unique characteristics to work for them. Finally, Dexter’s Laboratory presents “Garden Hose Nose Job.” When Dexter’s robot malfunctions he decides to fix it by borrowing his mom’s new garden hose. When she misses it, though, a guilty Dexter puts his robot to work.

All three of these stories are very cute and a lot of fun – just what you want to give your kids to read. The real innovative stuff, though, comes in the activity games mixed into the issue. Each is a one or two page story, a puzzle with a punchline, a great format. Courage the Cowardly Dog stars in “Hide and Shriek,” a story about some scary poltergeists hurling around furniture – mixed in with a simple hidden picture game. Ed, Edd ‘n Eddy star in “Mowin’ in the Wind,” a gag about them getting lost mowing lawns for money, with a maze in the mix. (Parents, if you insist on your kids keeping their comics pristine, you may want to photocopy this page.) Johnny Bravo stars in the one-page “The Dating Game,” where he’s got to find his blind date in a club full of women. This is a logic puzzle – Johnny get a few facts about his date and the reader is challenged to find her mixed into the room. The comic concludes with Cow and Chicken in “Fortune Hunter.” Chicken challenges the reader to one of those “pick a number” games – a simple magic trick – and teaches them how to use the same trick on their friends.

This comic book, simply put, is everything that should be done to get younger children reading comics. Familiar characters, fun and games and things they can share with other children. The stores are good and the punchlines are funny. If you have kids who watch these shows, you’ve got to pick up this comic for them.

Rating: 9/10