Today’s Comic> Fraggle Rock #3

"Ever feel like someone is reading over your shoulder?"

Jim Henson’s Fraggle Rock #3 (final issue)

(I’ve written “final issue” a lot this week.)

Archala (June 2010)

Before I get into the individual stories I’ll get this out of the way. All three writers in this Doozer/Gorg centered issue wrote the characters well. I could hear Cotterpin and Junior especially as if they came from the show.

The first story is “Where Have All the Doozers Gone?” and features a rare team-up between the Doozers and Gorgs, who know nothing about each other. Adrianne Ambrose weaves a tale about Cotterpin wanting to see how great a structure Doozers can build when the Fraggles aren’t eating their towers and the roof of the rock isn’t getting in their way, so they all travel to the Gorg garden. This interferes with the food supply of both the Fraggles and Doozers. It’s an interesting look at what happens when you take your dreams too far while not sending a “forget your dreams” message. Joanna Estep has the best art of the book.

The second story gives the Doozers a chance to party, but what is a party to a Doozer? Grace Randolph answers that in “Party, Doozer Style!”. Whitney Lieth does draw some good Doozers, but I’m not into her drawing of Red at the end. This is the only comic with a separate colorist, Cari Corene, and she does a nice job. I know it wasn’t intended, but if I were to raise a minor nitpick, Cotterpin in party clothes is just a hat, so she seems rather naked. I don’t think kids will notice, but that’s going to end up in one of the less kid-friendly blogs at some point.

“To Catch a Fraggle” is a look into just WHY Junior wants to capture a Fraggle. I wonder if Bryce P. Coleman saw the later episodes and the one episode where he actually DID capture a Fraggle, because his reason works. Michael DiMotta’s art is OK, but I don’t see it as comic art.

One disappointment is that my favorite Muppet artist, Amy Mebberson, only does one cover, but no internal art. This is a shame, but it’s a beautiful cover. I’m glad it’s the one that I ended up with for my Fraggle-loving friend. She may be a bit disappointed that this is the last comic, and they really should make an ongoing. The series as a whole has been pretty good for kids and fans. I would encourage Archaia to make it happen. Try for the individual issues, or get the collected trade, but I recommend this series to every kid and Fraggle fan.