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MAGIC PICKLE #4
Recommended (8/10)
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Oni Press
Writer/Artist: Scott Morse
Editor: James Lucas Jones
Price: $2.95 US/$4.50 CAN |
Scott Morse's delightful parody of super-heroes comes to a conclusion. Fortunately, the door is wide open for further tales of Weapon Kosher and his determined but unwanted sidekick, Jo Jo Wigman. This is a comic book that parents should feel free to share with their children... as soon as they're finished thumbing through the pages and enjoying it themselves.
Weapon Kosher returns to his secret technology-laden headquarters in an effort to track down the Romaine Gladiator, while Jo Jo heads off to school. Kosher need not have looked far for the Gladiator, since he's tucked away in Jo Jo's lunch bag. A tremendous battle ensues. I am referring, of course, to a massive food fight among the children at the school cafeteria.
Morse's oddball style is as entertaining as ever, but what sets this issue apart visually from the previous three is the energy and motion he conveys here. There's a strong flow to the food fight scene. It's kinetic and well choreographed. In this issue, I also finally get a sense of the physical differences between Jo Jo and Lu Lu. They struck me as a shade too similar in design in previous issues, but they came off as more visually individual here.
For three issues, we've heard Weapon Kosher tell Jo Jo that she's out of her league when it comes to fighting the rotten tomatoes that form his rogues gallery, but Morse turns that expectation on its ear. It makes for a hilarious scene, not just of what's done to the Romaine Gladiator, but who does it.
Overall, though, what really makes this book work is its nature as a send-up of super-hero comics. Jo Jo, though enthused about having a super-hero pal, actually acts as a voice of reason, pointing out the silliness of certain super-hero cliches. In the process, Morse has crafted a book than is truly for all ages. Sometimes, that term is erroneously used for something that's of interest only to the younger set, but Magic Pickle manages to be fun for little tykes and old farts alike.
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