Today’s Comic> The Muppet Show #1 (ongoing)

The Muppet Show #1

(now ongoing)

Boom! Kids (December 2009)

WRITER/ARTIST: Roger Langridge

COLORIST: Mickey Clausen

LETTERER: Deron Bennett

COVER “C”: Amy Mebberson

(covers “a”, shown, and “b” by Langridge

EDITOR: Aaron Sparrow

DESIGNER: Erika Terriquez

With the theater destroyed at the end of the last mini-series, The Treasure of Peg-Leg Wilson, the Muppets hit the road to drum up some cash while the theater is being repaired. Ms. Piggy isn’t happy about it, and Fozzie decides to stay around and try to make it as a street performer. At their first stop, the owner of the land they’re performing on gives the gang a hard time, but a twist of fate (Gonzo and a tiger are involved, if that tells you anything) gets him off Kermit’s back, and Piggy finds herself realizing that an audience is an audience regardless of the performance venue.

Skits include a fitting alteration to the classic show theme, “Veterinarian’s Medicinal Compound”, a Sam the Eagle speech, the Swedish Chef “Country Cooking”, a song number with Sweetums and Robin, and the finale with Piggy (who else) and Rolf.

What they got right: Pretty much everything they always get right. There’s a heart to this story that wasn’t even in the show sometimes when it comes to the backstage moment. Putting the characters in a traveling road show is a nice way to tweak the classic formula (although I hope Staldor and Waldorf don’t have look-alike cousins at EVERY performance on the tour) and offer a fresh take on the show, while still keeping what makes it The Muppet Show.

What they got wrong: The musical numbers still don’t work if we don’t know the songs. However, he is getting better at it. The tweaked show theme was fitting, and since any Muppet fan knows the theme, we can “sing” along in our heads. The Piggy/Rolf song works better than the usual, but still suffers for the format (comics) and the Sweetums/Robin sketch just didn’t work for me.

Recommendation: What? You’re not reading this comic yet? What’s wrong with you? Get a move on!

Before I get to the Best Scene, check out the Season 5 theme.

And use it as a guide for this:

{click for full size}