Sep 16 2008
Gumby - Free Comic Book Day Special 2008
Greetings from your friendly neighborhood Searnold [Shár- Nŭhld]. Welcome to my comic book review blog - thanks for tuning in. Today is Tuesday, September 16th, 2008.
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Today’s Issue:
As promised - as per your request - is the Gumby Free Comic Book Day Special from 2008 published by Wildcard Inc. This book has an interesting creative team breakdown: Mike Hersh - story/inks/pencils, Mel Smith - co plot/pencils/editor, Shepherd Hendrix - pencils/inks, Lance Borde - pencils/pin ups, Ken Hooper - pencils, “Your Name Here” - colorist. That’s right - one of the highlights of this issue is that it doubles as a coloring book.
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Premise:
Gumby gets infected by an internet worm. In order to get it out, he must swallow a smaller version of himself and go on an adventure through the dangerous jungle that is his body.
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The Awesome Parts:
Well… perhaps awesome is too strong a word. It sure was free though. I’ve been reviewing a lot of free entertainment recently, and I’ve got to tell you - it continues to be my favorite kind. There were occasional moments in the story that caused me to chuckle, such as Gumby trying to hide his addiction to eating crayons. And the coloring-book concept is a great idea for little kids.
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Less Than Awesome Parts:
Everything else. <—-(only sort of kidding.) I’ve got to say - I watched Gumby when I was a kid - and I don’t remember him being such an idiot. I’m not talking about him being childish. He, as a character, is a complete bafoon in this comic. Maybe that’s what kids are into these days? I simply didn’t see the appeal. I think it was supposed to be funny - but it wound up just being stupid and not making sense. The book was also chalked full of references that no child could possibly grasp (like the song “Feelings” by Morris Albert and the movie Apocalypse Now.) I understand that children have simple minds and thus need simple entertainment, but my problem is this: does a comic book have to be bad to appeal to a child? I don’t think it does. I think a comic book can be smart and well written but still designed for a very young audience. Case in point - “Fluffy” written by my friend Mike Gray which I reviewed a few days ago.
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My Recommendation:
No no no no no. Even though it’s free, please don’t even give it to your kids as a coloring book. I don’t think they’ll understand it and I don’t think they’ll find it funny, and they’ll wind up with the wrong idea about comic books. This is a skipper for everyone. I wish I could go back in time and stop MYSELF from ever having read it.
Alright, I’m done ranting for today. As always - thanks for reading - see you next time.
-Searnold
