She gets disappointed when she isn’t on every page.
Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego #1
DC Comics (June, 1996)
“Shop Till You Drop!” WRITER: Barry Liebmann ARTIST: S.M. Taggart COLORIST: Rick Taylor LETTERER: Tim Harkins EDITOR: Laura Hitchcock
The popular video game series is actually how the real Acme Detective Agency finds new recruits to deal with Carmen Sandiego and her Villains International League of Evil (VILE). To catch the former crime fighter turn criminal, new detective (and 12-year-old boy) Evan Sawyer teams with agent Bazooka Mel to track down a series of stolen artifacts…that Carmen is selling via telethon! This is not her usual style, and it turns out to be a trick to ferret out the last bad guy she didn’t catch as an Acme agent.
What they got right: If you’re looking for something serious like Where On Earth Is Carmen Sandiego, the cartoon also based on the computer game series, you won’t be ready for this. The comic is sillier than the first game show, and not just having the hero be a kid. The thing may be silly, but it’s a different to teach kids about world geography and there’s a page at the end discussing all of the places Evan and Mel go to. They also work in Warren D Warrant, the guy who gives you the warrants in the game.
What they got wrong: There’s an unnamed female cop that hangs out at Acme for some reason and goes from Caucasian to Latino, at least in skin color. I don’t see the point of having a second chief, but the only game I’ve played in the series is the NES version of Where In Time Is Carmen Sandiego so what do I know? Maybe there’s a reason.
Recommendation: If you want a serious story, like the cartoon, you’re not going to like this comic. If you can handle the stranger stuff (although I personally didn’t find the jokes funny), you might get some enjoyment out of this. We’ll be looking at the other three issues as this week goes on.
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