Dastardly & Muttley #4 – Garth Ennis, Writer; Mauricet, Artist; John Kalisz, Colorist
Ratings:
Ray – 7.5/10
Corrina: Wild Concept Is Being Stretched Thin
WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW!
Ray: The weirdest comic DC has put out in a long time continues to go off the deep end, as this issue centers around an increasingly surreal air battle. As the issue opens, Dastardly and Muttley are high in the sky, pursued by former allies of theirs with orders to shoot them down. And as if that wasn’t enough, Muttley seems to be deteriorating, his mind reverting to that of a dog on occasion. Meanwhile, at a Congressional hearing on the recent death of the President (in a cartoon deathtrap that sliced him into bits), they discuss the increasing surreality of the world around them, unraveling the concept of the series. Unliklistan? Really? Ennis is clearly having fun with the concepts at play here, but I’m not sure that sums up to a full comic.
What does work, though, is Mauricet’s art and the way it brings the concept to life. The air battle is one of the best scenes in the series, as the increasingly unhinged Zabarnowski abuses her second-in-command and risks her own life to chase down her quarry. The only way they survive is by a bizarre fusion of the two planes. The scenes in the latter half of the issue just keep getting stranger and stranger. A zoo where the animals suddenly gain intelligence. A pair of giant mickey mouse ears on the earth itself. A rather…descriptive depiction of what happens when someone gets kicked in the balls in this comic. All leading to an explosive (literally) conclusion. Does it make sense? Not at all. Was it an entertaining read? In the most bizarre way, yes.
Corrina: It makes sense, I guess, in that showed what happens when crazy cartoon concepts are integrated into the real world. A great idea for an off-beat comic but the joke would have been better spread over one or two issues, rather than being stretched to these lengths.
It is wild and more than a bit crazy, though I could have done without the kicks to the balls, or the unpleasant Zabarnowski. But you can’t say it’s not original, bizarre and kinda entertaining.
Disclaimer: GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
