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SO YOU WANT TO BE A SUPER-VILLAIN
Recommended (8/10)
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Epoch Presents
Writer/Artist: Rick Lundeen
Price: $1.95 US/$2.99 CAN |
I'll be honest... most of the really funny stuff in this issue is the kind of thing your mind immediately jumps to after hearing the title. It's not as hilarious as the "How To Be a Super-Hero" book published a few years back, or The Tick, but it does have a likable sense of humor, some clever moments and
some solid artwork. It never reduced me to fits of laughter, but it did make me
chuckle a few times, and I have to respect Lundeen's storytelling skills, as he
moves the story along at a good pace and provides both a solid opening and
ending. I definitely will be on the lookout for whatever he does next.
Too many books these days take way too long
to introduce their premise. Lundeen doesn't have that luxury with this one-shot,
and so he sets up the intro with a simple one-page bit of text that serves as
the opening gag as well. We're only three pages in when the book gets rolling,
and the main character has been well-established, along with the plot device
that will move the book forward. That's impressive, and the momentum doesn't
really stop, rolling smoothly until the mildly predictable but still
entertaining ending.
The most fun you can have with the
super-hero genre and comedy is to mock it within an inch of its life, and I
actually think Lundeen went a little easy on the genre. While he does make fun
of silly eyebrows and costumes, this is not really a scathing mockery of the
genre, and while I do appreciate the nice tone that gives the book, it also
makes it feel a bit harmless, which is never good for comedy.
That said, though, Lundeen does have great
comedic timing and skill. Whether it's the "thumbs up" sight gag after Peter's
ridiculously cute phone message, the death of Peter's getaway van or the
revelations about his hand-picked arch-enemy, there are a lot of funny moments
in this book. And the artwork is terrific, clean and clear with solid
storytelling fundamentals and some really nice work on facial expressions.
This is a concept that has a lot more
potential than a single-issue story, and I would have loved to have seen it
extended over more issues, but Lundeen makes it work as a quick one-issue gag
story as well, and I'm impressed enough with his talent to take a look at more
stuff in the future.
Email Randy Lander comments about this review. |
