On the Strawberry Shortcake side, we get three stories. In the first tale, Strawberry gets a case of the blueberry flu. Unable to run her shop, some of her friends come in to save the day. Then the Shortcake gang go on a treasure hunt for a pirates treasure and learn that one man's junk is another's treasure. Lastly in a story that doesn't even feature the sparkling red head, a character named Sugar Plum goes on the hunt for a rare book that she mistakenly loaned out.
All three stories were charming. Little girls would really enjoy these. The art, though drawn from the modern version of the toys, was very clean and bright. The only thing missing were the fruity smells that the dolls were known for.
The Sesame Street side only contains one story. Starring perhaps my least favorite of all the muppets, Elmo, it also features my all-time favorite furry blue monster- Grover. In this yarn, Elmo is playing superhero when Super Grover crashes onto Sesame Street. Taken a little aback by the new competition on the superhero front, Super Grover helps Super Elmo learn that his super power isn't flying or strength- it's his heart.
When a story can make a character that normally makes me want to barf fall in love with him, you know you've found something special. But after this FCBD offering, Ape Entertainment only released one further comic based on the Jim Henson property. For the life of me, I can't figure out why Sesame Street didn't become the instant success that it's sister property, The Muppet Show did. The only thing I can come up with is that Sesame Street is geared toward pre-schoolers and this book is pretty wordy. Also, whereas both kids and adults loved the Muppet Show mostly little tykes are fans of Sesame Street.
Strawberry Shortcake didn't fair much better either. Ape's first series was only 4 issues long, but that was a mini-series (and one of the cover's boasted a scratch and sniff feature.) But after the release of this free comic, Ape only released a smattering of one-shots. Why couldn't this series take off?
In 1985, Marvel released a Strawberry Shortcake series under its Star Comics kid's line. But that title only produced 7 issues. What doomed that book was the fact that little girls weren't reading comics in the 80s. Though more girls are reading comics now than ever before, it's titles published by DC and Marvel that seems to be garnishing the most attention. If you're the publisher of an indy publication, it's hard to gain a presence in stores but it's almost impossible to reach out to readers of the fairer sex in those situations.
So, if neither of these series is still being published or considered hits, the why did I review this book? Well, to be honest, I was so busy at work this week and I forgot to devote time to the Family Comic Friday book that I wanted to read. Plus, I didn't realize until after I read this comic and did some research that I learned that these books were not winners. But I decided to go ahead and review this book if only to let parents and guardians know that there are some great comics out there for really young kids and girls that are NOT published by the big two. You just have to search for them or ask your local comic book shop to carry them.
Worth Consuming.
Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.
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