Uncle Grandpa #1
I have no idea what Uncle Grandpa is. After reading the comic book based off the television show, I still have no idea what Uncle Grandpa is. Even after googling Uncle Grandpa and scouring the IMDB page, I STILL don’t know what Uncle Grandpa is. I feel like it’s a show on Cartoon Network in the vein of Adventure Time and Regular Show. But where Uncle Grandpa differs is in effort-- this book/show is trying way too hard.
The comic is a collection of short stories with a maze and a colouring page thrown in for measure. A couple stories are only a page long and as I scroll through my tablet to refresh my memory about what the premise was, I can only admit a harsh truth- I just don’t care. That’s not to say every story in here is a dud, it’s just that nothing in this book is original or even funny. There’s a tiger that farts rainbows from his butt, a feat that nearly any ‘cool’ animal on the internet has done—specifically unicorns.
The premise seems to be have a kitchen sink approach to writing. A werewolf with the arm of Frankenstein and jorts is funny because it is random and not because it is a fully mapped out character with heart. And when it comes down to it, that’s what this book is missing; heart.
Will kids find it funny? Probably. Will it last? Probably not. Because kids are smarter than this, they see through the weak façade. Maybe not at first, but eventually as time moves on they remember the stories with meaning. This is why people still talk fondly about The Lion King and so few remember We’re Back! A Dinosaur Story.
On the plus side, this is a very attractive book. Each creator can feel confident that they added something gorgeous to their portfolios. Stand-outs Evgeny Yakovlev and Yehudi Mercado are definitely ones to watch out for. It’s a shame that, as writers, they are working with very shallow material.
After writing this review, I now have a sense of what Uncle Grandpa is; it is a flash in the pan character trying hard to be a new Ren & Stimpy. But whereas Ren & Stimpy still managed to tell a story, Uncle Grandpa is just trying to make you laugh. Kind of like your annoying cousin who doesn’t get when the joke is over. It’s done, we get it, farts are funny, please move on.
Uncle Grandpa #1
Writer(s): Yehudi Mercado, Scott Roberts, Jimmy Giegerich, Evgeny Yakovlev, Brendon Gillas, Laura Howell
Art: Yehudi Mercado, Scott Roberts, Jimmy Giegerich, Alex Chiu, Evgeny Yakovlev, Brendon Gillas, Laura Howell
Colours: Whitney Cogar
Letters: Warren Montgomery
Publisher: Kaboom!
Purchase: http://www.boom-studios.com/uncle-grandpa-01-cover-a.html
The comic is a collection of short stories with a maze and a colouring page thrown in for measure. A couple stories are only a page long and as I scroll through my tablet to refresh my memory about what the premise was, I can only admit a harsh truth- I just don’t care. That’s not to say every story in here is a dud, it’s just that nothing in this book is original or even funny. There’s a tiger that farts rainbows from his butt, a feat that nearly any ‘cool’ animal on the internet has done—specifically unicorns.
The premise seems to be have a kitchen sink approach to writing. A werewolf with the arm of Frankenstein and jorts is funny because it is random and not because it is a fully mapped out character with heart. And when it comes down to it, that’s what this book is missing; heart.
Will kids find it funny? Probably. Will it last? Probably not. Because kids are smarter than this, they see through the weak façade. Maybe not at first, but eventually as time moves on they remember the stories with meaning. This is why people still talk fondly about The Lion King and so few remember We’re Back! A Dinosaur Story.
On the plus side, this is a very attractive book. Each creator can feel confident that they added something gorgeous to their portfolios. Stand-outs Evgeny Yakovlev and Yehudi Mercado are definitely ones to watch out for. It’s a shame that, as writers, they are working with very shallow material.
After writing this review, I now have a sense of what Uncle Grandpa is; it is a flash in the pan character trying hard to be a new Ren & Stimpy. But whereas Ren & Stimpy still managed to tell a story, Uncle Grandpa is just trying to make you laugh. Kind of like your annoying cousin who doesn’t get when the joke is over. It’s done, we get it, farts are funny, please move on.
Uncle Grandpa #1
Writer(s): Yehudi Mercado, Scott Roberts, Jimmy Giegerich, Evgeny Yakovlev, Brendon Gillas, Laura Howell
Art: Yehudi Mercado, Scott Roberts, Jimmy Giegerich, Alex Chiu, Evgeny Yakovlev, Brendon Gillas, Laura Howell
Colours: Whitney Cogar
Letters: Warren Montgomery
Publisher: Kaboom!
Purchase: http://www.boom-studios.com/uncle-grandpa-01-cover-a.html
A Look Inside
