Other media on comic books 5 - World Comic Book Review

Revolution #1 (Review)

October 21, 2016September 30, 2016 by Neil Raymundo

Revolution #1
IDW Publishing, September 2016
Writers: John Barber & Cullen Bunn

And now it seems IDW Publishing are following the tired, weary path of cross-selling. The title does not immediately make it clear but “Revolution” #1 is the first installment in a massive inter-franchise crossover event from IDW Publishing, featuring popular toys and cartoon properties including “Transformers”, “G.I. Joe”, “Action Man”, and “ROM”. While not present in the first issue, IDW also announced the inclusion of “MASK: Mobile Armored Strike Kommand”, another toy line from the 1980s. This follows on from an announcement in 2015 between IDW Publishing and Hasbro, a toy manufacturer, to extend their licensing arrangement for an unspecified period of time. The license apparently had an initial duration of ten years. Unsurprisingly, the crossover event excludes one of Hasbro’s most successful toy lines, “My Little Pony”.

Frozen #1 and Disney’s Shifting Position on Parody

May 6, 2022August 5, 2016 by DG Stewart

Frozen #1 (review)
(Joe’s Books, July 2016)
Writer: Georgia Ball

Disney Enterprises Inc (“Disney”), a multinational entertainment company based in the United States, have apparently licensed the rights to produce a comic book based upon its commercially successful animated motion picture, entitled “Frozen” (2014).

There is nothing remarkable about the two stories contained in this first issue. Both stories post-date the events of the motion picture. “Frozen” is a story of two princesses living in a fictional Arctic kingdom called Arendelle. The two are orphaned sisters, and one has dramatic ice-creating magical powers. Their friends include an almost sentient reindeer, a reindeer herdsman, and an animated snowman. No other aspect of the motion picture is required to understand the comic book.

Hanna Barbera Future Quest #1 and 2

October 21, 2016July 23, 2016 by DG Stewart

“Hanna Barbera Future Quest” #1 and 2
(DC Comics, August and September 2016)
Writer: Jeff Parker

Many children watching television cartoons such as “The Herculoids”, “Mightor” and “Space Ghost” in the early and mid-1970s must have fantasised about the prospect of these characters, and more, interacting within the same continuity. In that regard, writer Jeff Parker is playing in the fields of imagination of tens of thousands of kids across the world in writing this series.

SMOSH #1: Lost in Translation

June 19, 2017June 13, 2016 by Neil Raymundo

SMOSH #1 (review)
Dynamite Entertainment, May 4th, 2016
Writers: Michael McDermott, Yale Stewart

“SMOSH” is a comedic comic book series published by Dynamite Entertainment, based on the same-named web-based comedy channel from Youtube stars Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla. The duo only serve as co-developers of the story alongside Dynamite editor Rich Young, with zombie anthology FUBAR’s Michael McDermott and online webcomic JL8’s Yale Stewart on writing chores.

The stories themselves are based on recurring SMOSH comedy skits that Messrs Hecox and Padilla conceptualized and starred in, which in a way justifies the use of the SMOSH brand even without the active participation of its creators.

Dynamite Entertainment’s decision to publish an SMOSH comic book is a commercially sound one – Messrs Hecox and Padilla’s network of Youtube channels boasts of more than 36 million combined subscribers. It also helps that the bulk of SMOSH’s audiences consist of that very lucrative teen/tween demographic.

However, the execution palls as neither of the two writers commissioned seem capable of translating SMOSH’s brand of comedy into comic book form.