Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Muppet Show #11
Boom Kids! Comics
Langridge
Roger Langridge continues his arc dealing with monsters and other Halloween related characters with a look at Frankenstein. Which Muppet would make a good symbolic Frankstein? You guessed it: Beaker. This issue may be my favorite among the arc that has visited such characters as the Wolfman and the Mummy because it matches the theme perfectly with the characters within the story. Of course it doesn't hurt that the issue is very funny complete with songs and skits. This is a terrific issue.
The issue starts off with some power outages in the theater during the middle of a show. Turns out Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker are up to some of their unusual experiments. This particular one circles around the notion that Beaker is too overworked and is suffering fatigue. Bunsen decides it would help if there was a substitute Beaker to take over for a while so the real Beaker could take a rest. The Frankenstein Beaker isn't exactly a working model though.
The bulk of the issue plays off the power outages and the making of the perfect Frankenstein Beaker, complete with a brain swap. There are other elements to keep the horror theme going with an appearance of the hunchback, bride of Frankenstein and even some angry hens with pitchforks.
The issue has some great skits like 'A Man of Many Parts' with Sweetums as well as some of the usual suspects like 'Muppet Labs' and 'Veterinarian's Hospital'. The issue also has a great 'Who's On First' riff by Statler and Waldorf. The comic book is wall to wall fun.
Langridge is a master of drawing the Muppets. He has all of the characters nailed perfectly. He understands the character's movements and what makes them funny. He's got the expressions down cold and puts the characters into positions that will bring them to life. The issue is the normal level of artistic perfection in the form of a cartoon.
The Muppet Show is usually a fun comic book. I think the themed approach for a few issues is definitely a good idea and this small build up has helped to make this issue just slightly better than the last. If you ever wanted a spotlight on Beaker then this is the issue for you. Even if you aren't a huge Beaker fan you probably will find a good number of laughs in this comic book. I definitely recommend this.
4.5 out of 5 Geek Goggles
