May this be the only time you see the word “furries” on this page.
N-Guard #1
Marikosa Enterprises (July, 2008)
“The Mother Of All Field Trips” part 1: “When Nature Calls”
WRITER/CREATOR: Jonathan Bryans
PENCILER: Philip Jackson
INKER/COLORIST: Mickey Clausen
LETTERER: Thomas Mauer
EDITOR: Craig Johnson
Welcome to the planet Forestya. As you can see, the humans didn’t get to show up here, so the animals went humanoid. Years ago the Forestyans had a falling out with the Spider Empire. During a class field trip, the Empire’s forces go on the attack at a place called the “Stones Of Nature”. Four kids–Boon, a racoon who protects another student from a bully, Kat Nipp, a cat, Klondike, a bear and the aforementioned bully, and they forgot to name the bunny girl–are chosen by Mother Nature to become the Guardians Of Nature, using magic stones to unlock elemental powers. They chase off the spiders. Longtail, leader of the Forest Force (the military) agrees to keep the kids protected, and one of the councilors asks Longtail to take personal care of Boon, his son, since his wife/Boon’s mom died.
What they got right: The plot of the series is fleshed out nicely. The art is quite good, and the character designs work as animal people.
What they got wrong: Boon and Klondike are the only ones we get even a hint of personality for, and there isn’t much. Boon rejects and then accepts the “call to action” rather quickly. Klondike would seem the more likely to reject the call to help others, and only claims to join to watch Boon fail. The rabbit girl doesn’t even get a name and I don’t know if she’s Klondike’s girlfriend or was just sitting there when Klondike picked on the kid in the seat in front of him on the bus.
What I think overall: I get the impression they were hoping to make a cartoon or have a cartoon feel, with the “Let’s get wild” call, which makes me wish the suits were more superheroic, but they aren’t bad. There’s a good idea, but we do need more time with these characters. It’s a good start, though.
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