Review: Mystery Science Theater 3000 #1
“Look alive Kukla, Fran, and Ugly! It’s me! Kinga Forrester! She who controls your oxygen!”
Imagine my sheer delight when Richard sent me this awesome comic book! I love every incarnation of this fantastic series and my joy soared even further as I looked inside and saw that the series initiator, Joel Hodgson, developed the idea for comic books! Tom Servo’ arms also work in the comic book version! This series takes the current cast from the Netflix series featuring Gizmonic Institutes Jonah and goes where no Gizmonic worker has gone before!
The Creative Team;
Joel Hodgson must have as great a love for comic books as he does for cheesy movies. The premise dreamed up by him and the other writers show us the show’s antagonists as they introduce a new invention, the Bubbulat-r. This allows people from the real world to enter comic books. After a brief demonstration from TV’s son of TV’s Frank, our heroes enter the strange machine and wind up in what looks to be an old Dell comic called Johnny Jason, Teen Reporter. Tom Servo turns into the main character and he has a hilarious time adjusting to 1960’s style and customs as he does so. Great stuff includes the transition from modern day into the comic book world of yesterday (60’s, ‘70’ style) and Tom Servo’s acquisition of human appendages.
Nauck and Manley have their work cut out for them as they have to transition from modern day to 1960’s comic book style art. The introduction is awesome as the beloved TV characters are spot on to their real-life counterparts and we get some great over the top renderings to match the over the top TV personalities. Then when we get into the comic book world of the 1960’s it’s throwback time, complete with perfect square and rectangular panels and yellowed pages. With an artistic style to match. Great stuff includes the Bubbulat-r itself and Tom Servo riding a horse.
In Conclusion:
When I first saw this soon-to-be-masterpiece I didn’t know what to expect. Were they going to sit in silhouette like on TV and dis badly done comics? And if so, what comic book company would allow their beloved titles to be riffed on MST3K style? Maybe it would be like a photo comic and they would be sitting in the theatre, just like on the show and be riffing to stills from the movies. But I am so glad that they were much cleverer than that. This comic is ingenious and shows the Gizmonic gang going places that they couldn’t take us on TV. A lot of references to pop culture and jabs at other comic book companies lie within! Just when you thought MST3K couldn’t possibly get any better! ****1/2 (9.4 rating)
Mystery Science Theater 3000
Writer: Joel Hodgson, Harold Buchholz, Matt McGinnis, Mary Robinson, Seth Robinson, Sharyl Volpe
Artist: Todd Nauck, Mike Manly
Letterer: Michael Heisler
Colorist: Mike Manly, Wes Dzioba
Cover Artist: Todd Nauck
Genre: Humor
Publication Date: September 12, 2018
Format: FC, 32 pages; Miniseries
Price: $3.99
Publisher – Dark Horse
About the Author
Kevin Given Kevin Given has studied with "Longridge Writers Group" and "Writer's Boot Camp" a speech/communications major from the University of Maine Presque-Isle/Orono sites. He has created the "Karl Vincent Vampire Hunter" franchise which includes 2 novels and 8 comic books. They can be found on amazon, Indyplanet and Kindle. For a limited time you can get digital copies of "Karl Vincent: Vampire hunter" #1 and "Files of Karl Vincent" #1 for free on Indyplanet. Kevin is producing the third novel in the series "Dracula Rising" (working title) and developing "Foul Blood" into comic book form.
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