Futurama Comics #43

May 29, 2009

Futurama Comics #43 (Bongo Comics)
By Ian Boothby & John Delaney

After a couple of weak issues, Futurama Comics really bounces back this month with one of the better issues of the series.Some banking issues sends Fry looking for a second job. After a few highly amusing flops (complete with highly amusing cameo guests) he settles on a job as an in-dream salesman. His sales wind up showing him a hidden desire of Leela’s, and Fry being the sweet guy that he is, tries to bring it to fruition. This really feels like a plot that could have been done on the TV show. The characterization is solid, and the gags hit pretty quickly. Lots of sight gags, lots of verbal jokes, and they all work well together. I was getting nervous about this series, to be frank, but with this issue it appears to be bouncing back.
Rating: 8/10

Comic Book Guy:The Comic Book #5

February 20, 2011

Title: The Death of Comic Book Guy Part Five
Writer: Ian Boothby
Pencils: John Delaney
Inks: Dan Davis
Colorist: Nathan Hamil
Letterer: Karen Bates
Editor: Bill Morrison
Publisher: Bongo Comics

Let’s recap: Comic Book Guy is dead, Marge owns the comic shop, and the terrible reign of the Graphic Novel Kid has continued unabated… y’know, until he died too. Obviously, we know the CBG isn’t going to be dead by the end of this miniseries (of which this is the final issue), so I don’t think it counts as a spoiler to say that most of this comic book is concerned with unraveling the truly twisted array of plot threads, mistaken assumptions, and false identities that have built up over the previous five issues. In fact, that’s where the weakness of this issue lies. Almost the entire issue is one big wink at the camera, allowing Ian Boothby to painstakingly dissect the various ways in which the script misled and tricked us for four issues. It’s the sort of thing that’s fine as a climactic scene of a storyline, but to devote an entire issue to such a scene is massive overkill. It basically indicates that the first four issues were way too convoluted in the first place. There are still some nice jokes, gags, and Easter Eggs, the sort of thing that Simpsons fans will enjoy and comic book nerds (like myself) will find entertaining, but in the end, it feels like a long way to go to get there.

Rating: 6/10

Futurama Comics #41

February 7, 2009

Futurama Comics #41 (Bongo Comics)
By Eric Rogers & John Delaney

The Planet Express crew wind up as camp counselors on Mars. Leela is horrified to discover that Zapp Brannigan doesn’t remember her, and Bender recruits some of his old fraternity brothers in the hopes of reminding them what it means to be an Epsilon Rho Rho. This is one of the weaker installments in this series in some time. The main storyline plods along, and the Bender stuff felt like it was just rehashing scenes from the TV show, where it was done much better. Only the Leela/Zapp storyline really feels fresh, like something that would have fit in with the show instead of just being derivative of it. The artwork is fine — Delaney, as always, does a good job of recreating the visuals of the cartoon. Overall, though, with the exception of Leela and a solid gag about a banana (really) this series has been much better.

Rating: 5/10

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

Comic Book Guy: The Comic Book #1

September 6, 2010

Title: The Death of Comic Book Guy Part One

Writer: Ian Boothby
Pencils: John Delaney
Inks: Dan Davis
Colorist: Nathan Hamill
Letterer: Karen Bates
Cover: Bill Morrison
Editor: Bill Morrison
Publisher: Bongo Comics

Springfield’s most disturbingly on-the-nose loser finally gets his own miniseries. The Comic Book Guy enters into a competition with the mysterious Graphic Novel Kid to become the new advertising mascot Lard Lad. The competition turns out to have much farther implications than just the chance to wear an ugly costume and carry a comically oversized donut, though – it’s a matter of life and death.

This story, like most of the Bongo Comics line, is pretty silly, but that works in its favor for the most part. Comic Book Guy is a parody of the worst aspects of being a geek, so while a lot of the readership (let’s face it) can recognize some facets of themselves in his behavior, we also get the catharsis of seeing those more destructive elements serve as his comeuppance. The ending is cute, but a bit of an anticlimax, since we know that in a comic like this one Status Quo is God, and by the end the seemingly irrevocable change will be somehow revoked.

Boothby and Delaney do have some fun with the Easter Eggs this issue, throwing in lots of gags about the greatest sci-fi and comic book death scenes, a fantastic double-page spread full of nerdtastic artifacts, and other amusing or entertaining nuggets throughout the issue. It’s fun to look at, and makes it a bit more fun to read, even if it doesn’t really give the book any added weight.

But then, nobody reading this comic book came in looking for Shakespeare either. Heck, they didn’t even come in looking for Stan Lee. They were looking for something goofy and geeky, and that’s what we got.

Rating: 7/10