The Good
This feels like it was tailor-made for people who thought “I ENJOYED the last issue, but I’m not sure it went FAR enough in terms of its absurdity!” This issue is a mad romp through the Collector’s base (in which there are plenty of other Collectors to keep Howard and Rocket busy) while throwing the Guardians of the Galaxy into the mix for good measure. Chip Zdarsky doesn’t just throw them in for the hell of it, though, it does feel organic when they make their appearance and a large part of that is the method in which Rocket and Howard launch their prison break. It’s hilarious. This issue feels like it turns up the volume on the humor without actually descending into real meanness, which is the key to great comedy coupled with great parody. There’s even a strong emotional moment by issue’s end to show that this book’s not going to be all fun and games, and it works to not only make Howard more likeable and even relatable, but to give weight and gravity to the stakes that are being presented. Great stories of all stripes live and die by their stakes, it’s what made cosmic comics so boring for so many years and why that’s turned around: the stakes became more character focused. Zdarsky writes these small moments, that lead to a much larger one, without smashing the reader over the head with them (unless it’s very, very funny to do so). There’s also a three page story at the end penned by Zdarsky and drawn by Rob Guillory that is, without hyperbole, one of the funniest things ever in comics. It involves Luke Cage and Iron Fist suing Howard the Duck over the name “Hero(es) for Hire” and it’s fantastic. It’s completely outside of the continuity of the issue, but that doesn’t matter as the issue still feels like it delivers a satisfying experience within its main story.
Joe Quinones handles the pencils, and while things start out somewhat shaky, they eventually fall into place with some amazingly funny imagery and some truly great blocking. While there may not be a flat-out joke in every page, there’s always something to be impressed by and the slapstick comedy comes through as well as the frenetic pace that never feels like it loses the reader, and a large part of that has to be credited to Joe Rivera’s inks that help to reign in and guide the eye across the often chaotic scenes. Rico Renzi’s colors are interesting in this one as it’s a much darker issue in terms of its setting. The ship that Howard and Rocket find themselves on comes off as sterile and harsh, and Renzi’s colors emphasize that fact, especially with as delightful as the stars of this issue are.
The Bad
The art starts off very shaky this issue with linework being wobbly and details being muddled or mushy. It steadily improves over the course of the issue (which is in contrast to how that usually goes) until it looks great at the end, but the first several pages are not the same quality standards as the rest of the issue. It might not be as noticeable if the team hadn’t set the bar so high with last issue and what this one becomes.
The Verdict
Humorous characters tend to be hard to write because they are extremely difficult to make compelling while still hewing to what makes them funny. Deadpool runs across this problem all the time and truly great creators know how to work around the problem without betraying the core funniness of the book. Zdarsky has a great head for writing Howard as a complete screwball, but then turning things on their head and not just having some introspective, powerful moments, but they’re moments that actually tie INTO the humor. The art might not be perfect throughout, but when it gets there, it’s truly great and it still tells the story entertainingly throughout.
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