Archaia 2018
Written & Illustrated by Jay Fosgitt
Coloured by Joana LaFuente
Lettered by Mike Fiorentino
When a gang of bullies cause trouble in Fraggle Rock, Gobo and friends will need to find a way to teach these Fraggles the values of kindness and community.
I love Fraggle Rock and the fact that each issue in this series is going to be told by a different creator telling tales of a series they can either relate to or love is simply wonderful. This is the epitome of what an all-ages book is, it’s something that kids will love and adults who grew up with will find it takes them back to those days where they were more innocent. There is also the matter that everyone who reads this will be touched in one way or another because the lessons that we learn from this is undeniable.
This time around there’s going to be a party “The Splish Splash Friend Bash” and it’s going to be their best one yet! Then again these are Fraggles and it’s safe to say that they think this of all their party’s. There used to be a time where there were these half hour programmes on the television that showed how to get into trouble and work your way out of it by relying upon your friends and family. We don’t see that any more that’s kind of disappointing and something you don’t notice right away until a series like this hits stands. Now it’s all “reality” television, which is scripted or rigged or just plain nonsense so we are fed mindless entertainment instead of getting programmes that teach people how to be better than they were or how to cope with and solve their problems without resorting to name calling or lawyers.
This issue has a very important appearance by one the more beloved characters in Uncle Travelling Matt! He’s outside in “our” world and sends postcards to his nephew Gobo. His were great little stories always a story within a story and honestly it gave the kids something to aspire to or just to centre around and emulate. I love his experience this issue and what Jay does with it is spectacular. It really is nice to see that Jay has not only the right understanding on how to create a story but also to use it to structure it and make if flow but he’s having fun with it too.
Jay’s take on the Fraggle’s in his own unique style is wonderful to see. They remain cute and still individual and the different variations of new characters and the way the caves look it really has the appeal for the younger generation to that aww insert characters name here. The creativity and imagination on display here is so much fun to see it is hard not to be happy. The utilisation of page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows off a delightful eye for storytelling.
There are certain franchises that mean more than others that is an undeniable fact and some of those stay with us regardless of how old we get. This is also one that we want to pass on from generation to generation as we want our children, nieces or nephews and those around us to really love the same things we did. Also it doesn’t hurt to sneak a lesson in here and here as well. Trust me we all know some of the Fraggle Rock theme song and if you went up to anyone on the street and said Fraggle Rock I bet they could sing part of it.
This is why all-ages comics are important and why they are beloved and need to shared, this franchise just makes us happy and the world needs more joy in it.