Today’s Comic> Muppet Snow White #1

The ghost of Miss Piggy isn't happy.

Muppet Snow White #1

BOOM Kids! (April 2010)

Gonzo and Rizzo take on the part of the Brothers Grimm and attempt to tell the story of Snow White. Too bad the other “actors” aren’t playing right. Pepe gets his own choice for Snow White, a pig named Spamela Handerson, who isn’t all that bright. Miss Piggy isn’t happy that someone else will get the “Happily Ever After” with Kermit, who is playing the Prince. And nobody wants their heart removed. (That makes sense.) The Electric Mayhem take on the Seven Dwarfs part, with Scooter and occasional member Lips taking on the last two spots. The story itself gets as far as Snow White and Pepe (who decides to be her token cute sidekick so he can keep hitting on her) finding their way to the Seven Dwarfs house.

What they got right: This is rather in keeping with the previous fairy tale parody comics (although not as overdone as Muppet King Arthur, which turned me off at the preview pages), with self referencing humor but still telling the story. There’s not much to say about it, since it was mostly story set-up, but it entertained me, and that’s what counts.

What they got wrong: Thanks, writers, for reminding me why I hate Pepe the King Prawn. Every time he says “okay” I want to punt him like a cheap football. And I’m not going to say the art is bad, because it really isn’t. On the other hand, it doesn’t really excite me like the other Muppet artists (although better than the art in the first Muppet King Arthur, the other thing that turned me off). Finally, why create an original character (like Pamela Anderson is even that big these days, no breast jokes please) when there were two Muppets that could have easily gotten under Piggy’s skin the same way? Why not Annie Sue or really go into the background with Miss Mousey? At least they have an IQ.

Recommendation: Not the best of the Muppet parodies, but still a fairly decent comic. If your going to introduce a Muppet fan to comics, you should get one of the first two parodies or grab the main series (or even Arcana’s Fraggle Rock mini), but if they’re already a comic-loving Muppet fan (and already into the Muppet comics) this isn’t a bad comic to go with.

Then again, no moment really stood out for me as a “Best Scene” nominee.

Tomorrow’s Comic> The Phantom: Ghost Who Walks #10