Comic Review – Todd The Ugliest Kid on Earth #1

            I have to admit, I was originally stumped about what to review this week.  Nothing really jumped out at me.  Sure, I could have reviewed the newest Transformers: Spotlight which actually gave a decent amount of depth to Thundercracker and made him seem like more than just a Starscream repaint for the first time that I can recall, plus it had the insecticons which was pretty cool to see.  It wasn’t until a few hours before I went to my local comic shop that I stumbled upon a short preview for Todd The Ugliest Kid on Earth #1, and I knew that I had found what I was looking for.  Not only was I intrigued by the writing on the few pages provided, but the art was outstanding.  Thank you internet for making up my mind for me.

Cover:

            Hey, the interior artist drew the cover!  And it has something to do with the guts of the book (even though you don’t realize that until the end)!  That’s already a win in my book.  The fact that artist M.K. Perker takes something as simple as a police lineup and interjects so much personality into it makes it really stand out to me.  This isn’t just the simple “four guys standing in a row” that you may be used to seeing.  Instead, we get a bevy of colorful characters all completely armed (yes, suspend your belief on that one) and looking fairly menacing, and in the middle of it all is Todd.  Looking small and unassuming, hell he has to stand on a stool to even be noticed in the shot, waving to us as if to say “Hi! You’ll enjoy my book, I promise.”  Todd was not wrong and that all starts with a quality cover.

            The only qualms I have about the cover is the darkness and the fact that it is fairly brown all the way through.  This made it blend in quite a bit to everything else on the shelf, and I honestly almost missed picking it up.  The logo is brown as well and does not stand out at all.  This is unfortunate as a great illustration was transformed into an ineffective cover because of a few easily fixable choices.

7/10 – I love the illustration itself but as a cover it doesn’t pop, nor is the logo plainly visible.  I have a feeling that this will be remedied in subsequent issues, at least I hope so.

Story:

            First things first, I have to give a nod to Perker and writer Ken Kristensen for the informative and hilarious intro page that gives you a rundown of the various characters in the book.  Even a (seemingly) minor supporting character like Mr. Finger, the blind pet shop owner, gets his own entry.  His is probably my favorite, stating that he only sells blind pets but he doesn’t know that, because he is blind himself.  Classic.

            The story itself is well crafted, making sure that what happens in the first few pages has an impact on the rest of the issue, and most likely the rest of the series.  Todd is a lovable loser, pretty blissfully ignorant of the fact that he is the victim of severe bullying.  Or, if he’s not ignorant to it, it really doesn’t phase him.  He has a condition that makes him apparently so ugly that he is forced to wear a paper bag on his head to spare the rest of us the horror, which if you have ever been a kid before (it’s pretty safe to say at least half of you have) you know that anything that makes you stand out is a bullseye for bullies.  This can lead to a solitary life for young Todd, and it leads to us as the reader feeling sorry for him, especially in light of the fact that both of his parents are horrible people as well.  Kristensen does a great job of making these people accurate representations of people we may know, while also upping the ante so that we know that they are caricatures. 

            The saddest part of the book is when Todd is confronted by the homicidal maniac that has been murdering kids.  This guy refuses to murder Todd because he only kills “beautiful children”.  While we can see this as a win for Todd in that his condition has finally proved to be a positive for him, it is also pretty terrible that he is deemed too ugly for even a serial murderer to finish him off.  Of course this leads to Todd being accused of being the murderer by possibly the dumbest detective I have ever seen.  I won’t give the whole thing away but it has to do with a couple sticky dolls that are introduced in the first few pages.  This is something you never expect to come back and be a major factor, but it most definitely is.  The end of the book is Todd being hauled off to jail , so we’ll see where this goes.

7/10 – You have to suspend belief for quite a few things here, but it really doesn’t effect the quality of the story or the enjoyment of it.  Kristensen has created an immediately sympathetic character and plays upon his innocence and naïveté to a T.

Art:

            There is a certain detail to Perker’s art and certain level of authenticity that bellies its cartoony nature.  I love the way the people are stretched and distorted as if they were caricatures, but they are so believable as people at the same time.  It’s as if the simplicity of Calvin & Hobbs was combined with a theme park caricaturist and lightly seasoned with a slight dash of Arthur Adams’ detail work.  I love it.  The humor in the art matches the humor in the story perfectly and the way that Perker draws Todd just adds to that aura of simplicity and relative contentedness that seems to hover over him, like a personal sun beam in a rainstorm instead of the other way around that is so often depicted.  The interesting part about this is the way Perker draws everyone, no one is a super model, nor are they even that attractive to look at.  So does that make Todd, incredibly ugly if he has to hide his face from regular ugly people, or is he actually a cute kid that, when ugly is the norm, is considered out of place?  Maybe I’m reading too much into it.

            I can’t speak about the art without giving a special nod to colorist Cemal Soyleyen.  This is probably the best colored, most complete art job I have ever seen on a comic that is not strictly painted.  The marriage between the linework and the color is incredible and not often seen unless it is all done by the same person.  Perker leaves just enough space and room for Soyleyen to embellish where needed while still making sure that the black and white artwork is not dependent upon its color counterpart.  This is a comic that could easily work as black and white but with someone like Soyleyen being not just a competent colorist but a downright superstar in the making, it makes it that much better.

The next three panels are some of the best one-liners I have read in a comic in a while.  This shows that not only has Kristensen crafted a good story, but he has peppered it with funny, and believable dialogue.

Note: he is asking the guy that was just about to kill him if he wants to be friends.  That's how tragic of a hero Todd is.

I just love the art in this panel and the way it shows how simple of a character Todd really is.

            The only thing that kind of bugs me is some of the lettering choices made here.  The balloons feel a little too large at times and the instances where they are trimmed just does not make sense.  Instead of just leaving the whole balloon, sides are lopped off and where you would think there was pertinent info, therefore necessitating the trim, there is nothing of the sort.  It’s kind of odd and stunts the flow of the comic as you are faced with a hard, flat vertical line out of the blue.

This is here for two reasons: one, to illustrate the word balloon cutoffs and two, because that top panel is great.  The inking and characterization on the people are both top notch.

9/10 – I can’t stay mad at you Todd.  This is some of the best art I have seen on a comic in a long time.  The absolute right balance of reality and distortion to create the perfect blend for a comic in general and especially one with a silly, but fun premise.

Overall: 8/10 – I would highly recommend this book for anyone that likes great art and a fun (and funny) story.  It reminds me of Chew, with kids and slightly less off the wall.