Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

The Muppets The Four Seasons #1The Muppets: The Four Seasons #1 of 4
Disney Comics (Marvel)
Langridge

The Muppets make their Marvel debut with this issue as Marvel takes over the license from Boom! Studios for this beloved property. At first glance, you would think that this title would be just as good, if not better than when Boom had the title. The book still has Roger Langridge doing the writing and the artwork and the book is now in the hands of Disney, which already sells merchandise as well as providing Muppet attractions at their theme parks. However, this title is not as good as when Boom produced their twenty or so issues of these characters. I am hoping the remaining three issues in this mini-series are better.

The premise of the book is basically to bring the Muppet Show to life in the comic books. You might think to yourself (if you are familiar with the show) that this is impossible because the show had singing, dancing and slapstick. However, Langridge duplicated all of that to perfection in his first few four issues mini-series, such as Meet The Muppets and The Treasure of Peg Leg Wilson. So what doesn’t work with this title?

First off, too many of the characters don’t make much of an appearance. There is no Swedish Chef, Beaker, Bunsen Honeydew or Rowlf. Piggy has a couple of lines, but barely any, while Fozzie and Gonzo have a cameo here and there but I don’t believe they ever speak. This is too many of the favorites to leave out of an issue in my opinion.

Another problem is the issue barely has any skits in it. Sure, there’s Pigs in Space and a couple of others but for the most part, it only has four, three of which I’m not sure have ever been in an actual Muppet Show episode. This was very disappointing.

What works in the comic is how Langridge uses Kermit, Scooter, Statler and Waldorf and the band. He weaves a great story around these characters while introducing a new one into the fray. All along keeping the springtime theme for the book. The book works very well with what it does provide, it just simply isn’t enough to make this a great comic book.

The book is also great at pushing across the songs and the poems in the comic. Langridge is very clever with his lyrics and they help to keep the tempo of the book nice and upbeat.

Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle ReviewsLangridge is also a master cartoonist. If you pick this book up just for the artwork you are already getting your money’s worth. Langridge captures all of the fun and the liveliness of the Muppets in ways you probably can’t imagine until you’ve looked through the book. It’s a visual joy to read this book.

The Muppets has proven to be a fantastic read in the past under the guidance of Roger Langridge. I am definitely willing to forgive the missteps in this particular issue because I believe the remaining three won’t disappoint me. For this individual issue you are getting a very average Roger Langridge Muppet comic book here.

3 out of 5 geek goggles