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MAGIC PICKLE #4
Highly Recommended (9/10)
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Oni Press
Writer/Artist: Scott Morse
Editor: James Lucas Jones
Price: $2.95 US/$4.50 CAN |
Those of you
who dislike puns will hate this issue. The rest of us, of course, will be
laughing ourselves silly, as Morse takes the term "food fight" to very literal
extremes, and resolves the more important question of Jo Jo's affections for
Danny Johnson as well. Though I felt as if Jo Jo's part of the story was rushed
off stage a little too quickly, I can't help but get behind the wacky tone of
the book. When I first started reviewing this book, I said that you had to love
a book that starts out with "and in local news, a rogue group of farm-fresh
produce has seized control of the art world." You've also got to love a book
where the final battle hinges on the outcome of a food fight in an elementary
school.
I did have problems with this
issue that I didn't with the rest of the series, namely that I felt like there
was a lot more material to explore, and the stopping point seemed a bit
artificial. Interactions between Jo Jo and Pickle at the house, as he shows an
almost "Tick-like" ability to miss the obvious (such as a throw rug), are pure
gold, and I would have loved to have seen more of these two growing into their
partnership. In addition, though the Danny Johnson subplot has been important,
it's definitely been a side element, and to have that resolution as the ending
of the mini-series seemed a bit odd.
Of course, a bit odd doesn't
even begin to describe the rest of the book, and I mean that in a good way. The
goofy and stupid nature of the various Brotherhood of Evil Produce members makes
for some solid laughs, and seeing Jo Jo casually reach up and slam the Romaine
Gladiator back into her lunch bag reminds us that this is all in fun. The
super-hero elements are parody as much as anything else, because no one is
really in any danger here.
Morse really kicks things
into overdrive with the puns this issue, once the food fight begins. As a fan of
the pun, at least in small doses, I greatly enjoyed the banter between Pickle
and Romaine. I also really enjoyed the fight sequence, complete with a nice fork
spinning maneuver that apes martial arts films in a hilarious bit of parody.
Though I was a little letdown
with the abrupt ending, there is a bright side to that. It seems clear that
there are many more stories to tell with Magic Pickle and Jo Jo, and it is my
hope after reading this initial series that we will be seeing many more of
them.
Email Randy Lander comments about this review, or discuss it on the Fourth Rail message board. |
