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The first and last story is Click Track with the story continuing from the
last issue. I found these stories more to my liking than the previous
issues. Click Track and Billie Boyd meet Click's neighbour Elmo which
brings some humor, some romantic tension, some clues for the mystery,
plus wacky people.
Click Track is a story that really grows on
you. Click is more likeable in these stories. A wide variety of
expressions are displayed here, all of them everybody can relate too.
Some of it makes a hidden statement about sex and violence but it leaves you to
figure that out for yourself. I can't wait to read the next one. I've also
come to really enjoy the artwork too. Expressive, easy flow for story
telling, good everything.
Next story is a bit about the Fire Breathing Pope. It gives you a
detailed explanation about him and how he is able to breath fire.
Afterwards a wordless story involving a dirty boy in the Vatican, with a
religious punch line/image. The story after that has plenty of words, it's
about a Star that complains about the world, but the Pope sets him
straight. The final story is a crossover between the Pope and Courageous
Man. It involves a battles and some jokes with a somewhat cliche ending.
Then we get a one page gag with the Popes cat. Wasn't really funny.
Inserted is another one page death gag that again wasn't all that
funny and after that comes a Mr. Beat story. This is about body parts
falling off and it's sorta funny but has a predictable ending. Long slim
panels are used and the lettering is very weird but it's deliberate. It's
kinda funny with all the sound effects, I think this tale may have worked
better if it were a cartoon but I suspect something this gruesome wouldn't
get aired.
We get a new feature in here called Amy Unbounded by Rachel Hartman.
It's about a young girl named Amy living in medieval times. She has a
very active imagination which she acts out. This ticks off her parents as it
leads her to forget what she's doing in the real world. That said, Amy is a
good kid and is very likeable. This story has to do with Amy and her
father visiting a bitter old woman. It's very good, quite possibly the
best in this book. Another great thing about this tale is it balances out
the material a little bit, as some stuff is more for boys than girls. This
material can be enjoyed by both but young girls will particularly like it.
Stardust and Thor is next, for those that didn't read my last month's
review Stardust is a superhero and Thor is cute puppy dog. Stardust
works doing pizza delivery while the stores owner/cook looks after Thor. This
story tells about a man who gets very angry and starts to take out his
frustration on all the things that bother him. Half of you kinda agree
with him as torching a telemarketing company is doing the world a great
service. But he goes a bit far and Stardust has to stop him, only to see
him escape and attack something else. Thor follows the action only just
missing it and then takes off trying to catch up. The story has a
humorous ending which wasn't exactly what I expected.
Next up is Eep. It's a circle with two dots representing eyes. The art is
good as the artist plays around with layouts and story telling a bit. But
beyond that it's a waste of space. Which is a shame as the artist is good,
but the short gags aren't funny at all. I think if the artist got a good
writer and expanded the depth of Eep this could be a very successful
comic.
Captain Camel & The Space Chicken is a space hero/sidekick story. It's a
second part of a longer story, which sticks out like a sore thumb in this
book. Camel and Chicken go looking for a piece that they've been paid to
find and there isn't much more I can say without giving away the story.
The art is fine, probably not to everybody's taste but it isn't bad.
Although I wonder why in a strip so clearly designed for kids is there
#%&*! type swearing. It just feels forced and unnatural. This story
disappointed me as I wanted more than what I got. Hard to enjoy a
continuing story when it's broken into such small chunks.
Boy and Dog is a very simple strip, looks great but the artist makes
his pictures a tad too big for my liking. Two panels per page, which
is too bad as I think the strip would be better if it were a little
more normal. This story has some cute jokes in it and a different
ending which doesn't relate to the rest of the story, but whatever.
Next is Story and Art by Jamie Cosley. Two kids it seems, one named
Story the other named Art. Guess what they do? They take three pages
to tell a joke about this. Art is fun to look at, but it's just way
too little entertainment value for the time it took to read it. After
that we get a one page gag.
Part 2 of Forty Winks starts off with an our story so far bit. It
continues with Pandora telling of a trial she recently went through and
within that getting a new name for herself the Dreamscape she lives in.
Pandora is becoming a dream guide and they get new names to use while
in the Dreamscape. That said, there isn't any waking/sleeping Pandora
seems to be here all the time. She is drawn to look a little like a Manga
stereotype, with big eyes and pointed chin, but to me it looks more like a
hook for manga fans because inside she's not usually drawn like that.
Overall, I think I liked the first issue a bit better than this one.
That said, there are some gems in here. I give this issue a 3 and a
half out of 5 stars. I hope future issues have more 'done in one'
stories like Amy Unbound than very small chunks of continuing story.
Look for a review for the next issue here, next month.
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