Thursday, August 27, 2020

Graphic novel spotlight - Earthworm Jim Launch the Cow

  

 Earthworm Jim: Launch the Cow! by Doug TenNapel

If you're at all aware of the Earthworm Jim video game or short lived animated series, you know this book is going to be far from a traditional narrative. If this review is your first introduction to the character, allow me to give you a quick summary: a regular earthworm encounters a magical space energy and a high tech space suit which together turn him into the sentient (though rather dim) hero Earthworm Jim. He joins forces with Princess-What's-Her-Name, the genetically modified Peter Puppy who turns into a marauding monster when hurt or angry, and an unnamed mid-western farmer to fight off the evil Queen Slug-for-a-Butt and her minions Professor Monkey-for-a-Head and Psycrow. Weird, right? But to my way of thinking, it's the best kind of weird. It doesn't try too hard to fit into the workings of the real. Instead, it just asks us to follow along on a vaguely off-kilter mission that uses it's own internal logic. Kooky humor abounds, both visually and in the dialogue. If you have any affinity for chaotic humor, give Earthworm Jim a look.



 

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