This is a comic series I’ve written about a few times. The reason I keep coming back to Toy Boy is that the second I get a review copy in the mail, the kids fight over it.
The last reading material my kids fought over was Harry Potter. So when they like something this much, I pay attention.
And given that Toy Boy isn’t from a major publisher or widely known, it’s not the familiarity factor. They just like the writing and they enjoyed this issue’s twist on the Halloween caper.
Summary:
It’s Halloween and Toy Boy isn’t happy about it. He has a thing against the holiday due to a childhood costume disaster. Eventually, he reluctantly agrees to make public appearances but, in true comic book superhero fashion, a super-villain disrupts the happy holiday by turning the kids into mindless drones.
What Kids Will Like About It:
The action sequences are always good in a Toy Boy comic but what my kids really love is the dialogue. My eldest son said it’s like good Buffy The Vampire Slayer dialogue. A couple of samples:
The villain: I was but a simple confectioner content to live my life making candy. But the bank foreclosed on my factory and now all of Chicago will rue the day they crossed Sugar Daddy!
Toy Boy: You just made that up, didn’t you?
Villain: Yes. Was it ‘rue?’ I felt that was a little over the top but I just ran with it.
What Parents Will Like About It:
Like the Simpsons or Pixer’s films, Toy Boy is an all-ages story in the true sense of the word. That means it’s not dumbed down for kids, it means that it’s smart material that children and adults can appreciate. The story makes fun of the cliched idea of a villain controlling children on Halloween and there are some jokes thrown in about how eating candy isn’t that good for you, anyway.
Extras:
There’s a four page preview of the next story, which will include two teams of super heroes/villains. There’s also a nice printed page in the back called “From the Toy Box” which details several items from Toy Boy’s arsenal, including the hidden elements of what is more than a silly clown hat. It reminded me of the old DC comics pages that detailed Batman’s utility belt or Superman’s Fortress of Solitude.
