Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Sea Bear & Grizzly Shark #1
Image Comics
Ottley & Howard
This one shot appears, at first, to be ridiculous. It's about shark that lives in the woods and a bear that dwells in the ocean. For $5 you would simply have to be nuts to purchase it, right? I mean, the issue can't possibly be any good despite the creators attached to it, you know? Well, not only is it funny, clever and strange. It also happens to be well written and exceptionally illustrated. It's effectively a double feature as each character has its own full length, twenty-two page story. For $5, you really can't get much more bang for your buck these days.
The first story, by Jason Howard of Astounding Wolf-Man fame, wastes no time kicking it into high gear. A family is out fishing and gets massacred on a boat by the Sea-Bear. One child survives and grows up determined to get rid of the beast. However, the story turns towards a conspiracy tale with a science fiction slant as the main character finds himself fighting various creatures, robots and other goodies in an attempt to unravel the mysteries. The story was surprising because it turned so quickly away from the hunter-hunted type story and never drifted back into the horror genre after the first scene. I liked the science fiction aspect of the story and it was also loaded with action because of all of the interesting characters that kept joining into the fray. This had a lot to offer the comic.
The second story, by Ryan Ottley of Invincible fame, is probably more in line with what I was expecting in this comic book. Some folks are out in the woods and the Grizzly Shark starts picking them off one by one. As the story progresses the stronger characters survive and combine their efforts to turn the tables on the Grizzly Bear. This story was much more graphic and much more funny. The characters that Ottley unveils are nothing short of hilarious and keep the comic book moving quickly with laughs along the way. This story is much more straightforward which helps to round out the book as a whole.
The artwork plays to much different strengths. While Ottley's story is much more gory, he uses his depictions to gain a laugh or two. For example, a female jogger is snatched up by the Grizzly Shark mid-stride leaving only pieces of her still "running". Not to mention the character that is ripped in half but still manages to survive the bulk of the story. Ottley does a great job at keeping this comic book light-horror with this artwork. Howard gives a much more action-packed art style. It's more of a classic confrontational story where the characters are angry and willing to fight anything and everything. Both styles work well in their stories and both bring something unique to the comic book as a whole.
If you like a couple of oddball stories in your comic book diet then this is the issue for you. Robert Kirkman throws in a goofy origin paragraph to add to the overall book. It's a fast and fun read. While I'm not a fan of comics that aren't colored and not a fan of the $4 or $5 comic book I enjoyed this one a lot. I definitely recommend it for someone that is looking for something different and fun.
4 out of 5 geek goggles
