Fail of the Dead #1

I've been collecting comics for a very large portion of my life. It's generally a good rule of thumb that if snow appears on the cover of a comic book, then it's a Christmas themed book. There's a few exceptions to this rule that generally involves the presence of a snow or ice themed superhero or villain. Or if the book takes place in Antarctica like the Greg Rucka vehicle Whiteout. But with this one-shot from Ape Entertainment with a zombie whose tongue is stuck to a snowy statue, I thought I had a holiday win.

Well, I had a win. It just wasn't a festive one.

This undead filled comic is humorous in nature. Most are one-page or even one-panel comics devoted to the mistakes made by dumb zombies. There's a couple of multi-page stories. But for the most part, the jokes are confined to a single page. 

Very little words. Lots of laughs. If you are a fan of Troma, you'll enjoy this book as a few of the chuckles come at the expense of toilet humor. The first entry in this comic takes the potty joke literally. 

So why did I think that this was a holiday book? I clearly judged a book by it's cover. I thought the scene was a parody of that moment in A Christmas Story in which Flick is double-dog dared to stick his tongue to a frozen flag pole. I should have busted the tag and check the contents. But then I might have missed out on a few laughs. Thankfully, this was a bargain bin find, so I didn't spend much on something I didn't expect.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Super Human Resources Season 1

There's a new trend in book-selling that I am completely on board with. It's the dollar used book store. All items, including games, DVDs, CDs, and even comic books are a dollar or less. With these type of stores, you can fill grocery bags with kids and young adult books for around $10. Every time I visit one of these places I find some great stuff and the book I am reviewing today just happens to be one of those gems!

Super Human Resources is a 4-issue series about office temp Tim. Tim has accepted a job in the HR department at Super Crises International. It's the corporate headquarters for the world's greatest superhero team, the Mighty Super Crises Squad! Only problem is, these heroes are a bunch of idiots! Tim learns that with great power comes a whole bunch of stupidity and that means liability.

Whenever a battle between good and evil occurs, property is damage occurs. That means that SCI is fiscally responsible for the mess the Squad makes. This team makes a ton of damage and that means it's going through a ton of cash to repaid for their faults. As a result, SCI and the Mighty Super Crises Squad is forced to shut down. Could Tim be the superhero's superhero and save the day with his amazing office skills?

This indie comic was extremely funny. In some ways this book succeeds in where the TV show Powerless failed. It had memorable characters. It was a clear satire of office life and a parody of the superhero genre. Plus most importantly, this book had superheroes! 

All the time, comic books put in characters into different titles that come out the same month in stories that do not really interlink. So, why would it have been a problem if Grant Gustin's Flash made a stop or two at Wayne Technologies on Powerless?! Yes- the superheroes in the comic are all-new to this series. But while HR's Tim was the star of the show, it was those with powers who made this plot line more relatable and relevant.

Ken Marcus and Justin Bleep do a really awesome job on this book. There's a Season Two and I really want to get my hands on it. Another cool thing is that one of the chapters is a holiday issue in which SCI has a hilarious office party that ends in complete disaster! 

If you are looking for a comic that combines the Avengers, The Tick and The Office, try Super Human Resources. I highly recommend this book because it's completely unexpected and thoroughly entertaining.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Individual issues and the collected first season can be found at Comixology.com.

Sesame Street/ Strawberry Shortcake Free Comic Book Day Flip Book (Family Comic Friday)

 

  In 2013, Ape Entertainment attempted to produce titles based on the television series Sesame Street and the popular girls toy line Strawberry Shortcake. To advertise the forthcoming releases, the publisher issued this free comic book day comic. On paper, these should have been home runs. But for some reason, these titles couldn't find a successful readership.

   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.

Scratch9, Volume 1: Pet Project

A very cute and very original all-ages tale in which a house cat runs away from his person and gets caught by a mad scientist, hoping to use the animal for some sort of mind switching experiment. Only, the plan backfires and the kitty gets the ability to conjure his previous 8 lives in order to save some friends he met along the way from said evil genius.

From a mummy with a portal to the afterlife to a futuristic cyber-cat armed with heat-seeking missiles, the 9 lives of Scratch are filled with humor, adventure, and fun.

Sure, this book is geared for kids, but it’s filled with praises from some of the best in the comics biz, including Marvel Knights co-creator Jimmy Palmiotti. So, even adults will delight. 

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.