7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
"Woe And Calamity!" What A Poor Edition!, October 17, 2008
This review is from: Neal Adams Presents: Bucky O'Hare And the Toad Menace (Paperback)
There's no decent alternatives for "Bucky" fans - shell out the extra $10 to $20 for the hardcover, colorized edition or be stuck with the flimsy, black & white version.
I discovered "Bucky O'Hare and the Toad Menace" earlier in the year in the form of the TV show, and upon realizing that it started out as a comic book, I had to have it. Foolishly, I tried to save some money and went for the 2006-released "manga" format, hoping that it might replicate the experience of the full-sized hardback edition. I was wrong: I was astounded by how un-fun the paperback made the story and its illustrations.
Michael Golden's artwork - so intricately detailed - looks positively squished in 7×5 inch format, to the point that I had to lean in and squint to try and identify what was what, who was who, and from where the voice bubbles were coming from. While I'm sure that an experienced manga-reader with sharper eyes than mine would find this less of a problem, I don't think that a minimized format is the best way to introduce our heroes to a new generation of casual readers. In addition, the quality of production is rather poor: the book feels like a slightly-thicker "Archie" digest, and probably wouldn't last two trips in a crammed backpack before beginning to fall apart.
Since the physical reading of the book won't be your best experience, it's thus easy to note some of the storyline's and formatting faults...
For starters, the book contains two arcs: the original tale leading up to the draining of the mouse planetoid and the shorter story done by Peter Stone, Andre Coates, and Joel Adams to tie-in with the TV show. The lapse in continuity is only second to the notable lapse in art style. Also, even after having read the whole book, I still had no idea of what the characters were like: Willy Duwitt's personality is explored the most, but the rest of the crew - Bucky, Jenny, Dead-Eye, and Blinky - rely on stereotypes to the point that any genuine emotion from them seems very much out of place.
Finally, there's the "just accept it"-clause. Example: 70 pages in, we find out that Jenny possesses some kind of supernatural power. Thirteen pages later, we find out that she's a witch and psychically connected to a secret order of witches. This never has any other relevance to the story nor is it ever explained. Hmm.
Alas, fans, there really is no other way to go than to try and track down that ever-elusive hardcover print. If you absolutely need your "Bucky" fix, then I suppose this will do...but rest assured, the crew most certainly has looked better. Poor funding was an issue in the story - it's an even bigger one with Vanguard Productions!
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