The Muppet Show Comic Book (2009) #1

Langridge takes the show on the road–I wonder how many times someone’s made that statement about this issue.

The Muppet Show, as a comic book, has a limited number of possibilities–I think I’ve already suggested Boom! have a guest star (i.e. a comic book guest star) for each issue–so Langridge’s solution is to make the performances mobile.

It’s fun issue, though it has one of those endings of Langridge’s I don’t quite get (Piggy says something to Kermit, congratulating him, and he apparently uses it as an advertising slogan for the road show). Also, Langridge takes Fozzie out of the equation, something I’m not sure about.

I’m sort of assuming Fozzie’s absence becomes important later, as Langridge does use continuity in the series (another odd feature, given the original television show).

Some really nice songs, great jokes and lovely Langridge artwork make the comic a fine read.

The Muppet Show Comic Book (2009) #0

I’m not sure why Boom! did a zero issue of The Muppet Show. Maybe to show off a different artist could illustrate Langridge’s scripts to good effect?

Paroline does a good job faking Langridge’s style, so much I didn’t even realize it wasn’t him until the second or third page. I just assumed he was being lazy because it was a zero issue.

As it turns out, he’s not being lazy. While the issue is a story within a story–Fozzie and Rizzo are trying to pitch a Pigs in Space movie and we get their disastrous pitch and the movie summarized–there’s a lot of the Muppet Show regulars. In fact, I think everyone shows up for a moment, except Rowlf and Scooter.

So, after thinking it was a strange thing to put forth as a zero issue, it turns out it’s a good sample of Langridge’s take on the Muppets.

Muppet King Arthur (2009) #4

A happy ending for King Arthur? The writers even comment on it. It does work, of course–so well I didn’t even think of a happy ending being out of place until they mentioned it.

For this issue, Boom! upgraded the paper stock to something shiny. It holds the colors much better and gives Muppet King Arthur a lot of visual oomph. The art was excellent before, but here it’s shiny.

It’s amazing, with this great art, King Arthur was a book I thought I’d be complaining about (visually). What a difference an artist makes.

The story takes some fun turns–Kermit and Robin’s pun-off is a pleasant couple pages, but the discussion of it is even funnier (the unintentional puns winning out).

Benjamin and Storck take a lot of time wrapping things up, taking time to give characters exits. Makes for a very pleasing read.

Great Muppet series.

Muppet King Arthur (2009) #3

And the need for an overall narrative–or at least plot progression–finally catches up. The comic even opens with it, as Kermit (as Arthur) complains to his knights about their lack of activity. They’ve just been sitting around since the last issue.

So off they go looking for the Holy Grail. Muppet King Arthur might be one of the loosest adaptations in the ‘Muppets in popular, public domain literature’ genre, but it’s not like King Arthur really has a good four issue story in it. Taking that difficulty into account, this series’s approach makes sense.

But it’s also funnier without all the Arthurian drama. For example, Mordred–Kermit’s nephew Robin–is against him for not being taken seriously. Similarly, Piggy’s Morgan Le Fey is Arthur’s romantic interest, which works well.

Lots of good jokes, some great full page gag sequences….

I just wish there wasn’t only one more issue.

Muppet King Arthur (2009) #2

Apparently someone agreed with me. The art this issue is from James Silvani (with a different colorist too) and the whole thing is different. It looks fantastic. The Muppets are fully realized, not amateurish sketches, and Silvani loves the Camelot backgrounds. It’s an amazing difference.

The script is even better too, with Benjamin and Storck doing something very nice for a limited series–they’re following up the first issue, but not really doing anything to hinting at what’s coming next. It’s not a bridging issue, but it’s also not building in a traditional limited series fashion.

It almost reads more like an issue in a Muppet anthology series (there’s nothing here one would have to read the first issue to understand).

The anachronism humor is all solid, with a lot of good puns. There’s also a lot more of a “Muppet Show” feel, with a couple segments and direct references.

Muppet King Arthur (2009) #1

Muppet King Arthur has one rather big problem. It doesn’t really have any other problems, actually, as the writing is great–it’s funny as a Muppet comic–there’s plenty of the self-aware anachronisms the genre (the Muppet retelling) has always had, both in film and comic mediums. It’s also smart like a Muppet comic (or film) should be, accounting for adults more than children as an audience. It’s also beautifully paced.

So what’s the problem?

Artist Dave Alvarez is not ready for primetime. His artwork, if it weren’t digitally colored (poorly I might add, but they didn’t have much to work with), is about on par with a high school comic strip. It’s two dimensional and totally lacks personality. And he appears to dislike backgrounds as much as Vince Colleta.

It’s a shame. While I have hopes the writing will get even better, I know the art will not.

The Muppet Show (2009) #4

Langridge returns to form, storytelling-wise, for his Miss Piggy issue. She’s not the issue’s protagonist, but she’s not the subject either; instead, Langridge treats it as a jumble.

The show needs a guest and can’t afford anyone (it’s rather unfortunate Langridge doesn’t get to use real celebrities, since it always made the actual show so funny… maybe he should use other Boom! characters, which would at least be format adaptive–or other Boom! creators). They get a psychic who sends Piggy into a tizzy and hilarity ensues.

He also relies a lot less on sketches than he did in any of the previous issues, maybe because Piggy is so much more amusing. His non-Muppet standard sketches are always nice little asides, here one with a bunch of talking houses is incredibly charming.

It’s a fine close for Boom!’s initial Muppet effort; definitely encouraging anticipation for further efforts.

The Muppet Show (2009) #3

How does Langridge deal with his Gonzo issue?

Unoriginally, unfortunately.

Langridge’s focus on Gonzo is the traditional “what species is Gonzo” question. He has Scooter go around trying to figure it out. This issue is definitely the quickest read of the issues so far (and, I hate to say it, the least artistically–that adjective having a special meaning in the context of discussing this issue). Gonzo is barely a character. Instead, he’s the subject. And it doesn’t work.

It’s as though Langridge doesn’t like writing Gonzo–I don’t particularly remember him having a lot of page time in the previous issues–and would rather Scooter do all the heavy lifting.

Perhaps I’m confused because it’s already been done–Muppets from Space dedicated ninety minutes to answering the question.

Does Boom!’s license put that film out of continuity? I’m feigning curiosity.

But it’s still a very competently done comic.

The Muppet Show (2009) #2

Langridge gives himself a difficult task with his Fozzie issue. He has to make a comic about Fozzie getting funny again. Fozzie, of course, is painfully unfunny.

The issue opens with Fozzie bombing, then we move through the standard Muppet sketches (some featuring Fozzie, some not) and Fozzie’s attempts at reinventing his comic style. So it’s funny to watch these incredibly awkward failures–and the various Muppets’ responses to them–while still being (humorously) concerned with Fozzie’s predicament.

Unfortunately, Langridge’s conclusion is convoluted. He references an earlier sketch–Honeydew bringing a piece of cheese to life–and it reads like the cheese had something to do with Fozzie’s comedic rehabilitation.

But, as Langridge reveals the solution to Fozzie’s comedy problems (he shows the success in a traditional way… the reader walking in on the end of the joke), he ignores the cheese’s comments….

It’s good, but needed a tighter edit.

The Muppet Show (2009) #1

I’ve read Langridge’s Muppet Show before and remembered it was excellent, but I didn’t exactly remember why it was excellent. Langridge mixes humor and quite a bit of sentiment here but also introduces the Muppets being the focus of the off-stage antics. In other words, without a “guest star,” Langridge makes it all about the Muppets (in this issue, Kermit in particular), which changes the dynamic a little….

Langridge’s artwork, while not as iconic as some of the other Boom! Muppet series, gives the characters so much life. His expressions are just amazing. His moments are perfect, whether it’s the hecklers or it’s Robin and Kermit having a chat on the roof.

Langridge manages to make his Muppet Show both a translation of the television show and something entirely new. He introduces methods for adapting between mediums, but his storytelling emphasis is different. The Muppets’ show is most important.