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STAR WARS: TAG AND BINK ARE DEAD #1
Highly Recommended (10/10)
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Dark Horse Comics
Writer: Kevin Rubio
Pencils: Lucas Marangon
Inks: Howard M. Shum
Colors: Michelle Madsen
Letters: Steve Dutro
Editor: Dave Land
Price: $2.99 US/$4.50 CAN |
It's incredibly difficult to do a licensed book, especially in the well-covered Star Wars territory. It's also incredibly difficult to do a humor book that is funny rather than stupid. You would think it damn near impossible to pull off a funny Star Wars book, but I figured if anyone could do it, it was the guy behind the inspired "Troops" parody that played off the notion of the Cops TV show
with Stormtroopers. As it turns out, I was right, because Rubio turns in a
hilarious examination of two regular guys in the midst of extraordinary events.
Their reactions are often selfish, sometimes quite stupid and usually
hilariously funny. Marangon, the artist, also has a gift for comedy,
particularly in the expressions on the hapless lead characters' faces. This is
basically the equivalent of those "Abbott and Costello Meet..." movies, except
instead of the Wolfman or the Mummy, they're meeting Darth Vader and the forces
of the Empire.
Most of the comedy from Star Wars comes from making fun of the sheer amount of coincidence or glossing over of detail that goes on in any space opera. Tag and Bink takes advantage of that, with some wonderful dialogue exchanges about the ratio of might between the Empire and the Rebels or situational humor focusing on the helmet problems that Stormtroopers have. There are also fun moments for any Star Wars
fan when he or she sees Tag and Bink filling in roles in the plot of the first
movie, including a close encounter with the Millennium Falcon (two of them,
actually) and an encounter (sort of) with Ben Kenobi that explains why he was
able to avoid security so easily.
There was a worry in my mind that maybe Rubio had one joke in him, and that he'd played it out with "Troops." Not the case. He's got dialogue-based humor, slapstick humor, situational humor and jokes based on familiarity with the material. There's something for everyone here, especially if you're a Star Wars fan. Rubio
hits the same sweet spot that Kevin Smith often did in his movies, poking fun at
the movies without ridiculing them.
Of course, credit should also go to Marangon, who turns in a really nice performance. His work is more cartoony than you might expect on a Star Wars book, but it sets the tone quite nicely. He's got the basics down well, whether it's the rebel troops, Stormtroopers, Death Star, C3PO or any of the other visual details you'd expect to see in a Star Wars comic. In
addition, he's got a flair for comedy, whether it's cute inserts like a "Honk if
you love evil!" bumper sticker or physical comedy like Stormtroopers (or Tag and
Bink) being smacked around. His storytelling skills are top notch, hitting the
timing that is evident in Rubio's script every time.
I don't generally buy a lot of Star Wars comics, because I find most of them to be weak, watered down versions of the source material. However, if more Star Wars comics were like this one, taking off in an original direction from a beloved source, I'd be buying a lot more of them. I'll certainly be eagerly anticipating the next issue of Tag and Bink, and hoping for more in the future from Rubio and Marangon.
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