
IDW Publishing 2017
Written by Paul Allor
Illustrated Nelson Daniel
Lettered by Neil Uyetake
When the mysterious Mr. Boddy turns up dead at his own dinner party, everyone's a suspect! Miss Scarlett, Colonel Mustard, Mrs. Peacock, Professor Plum—all the familiar faces from the famous board game are back, with a couple new twists. But will Boddy's Body be the last to fall, or is it just the beginning?
Beloved children’s board game turned International Camp Cult Classic Movie now a comic book what’s not to love about that. Well for starters who’s bright idea was it to add new characters? Don’t mess with what works and add new people for whatever goddamn sake you think the story needs. Obviously if you need to add characters the story didn’t work to begin with. WHY do you have mess with such a classic this way?
Do you have any idea how excited I was to see Clue listed as a comic book to be released? With all due respect to Paul whose past work I have enjoyed immensely this is complete and utter shite. Maybe i’m guilty of bias but really to update the characters is one thing to completely remake them and change their names is another thing entirely. Mrs. White is now Senator White pfft okay let’s go with that I suppose. There are so many changes to what we know of as Clue here that I got bored by these new characters and their characterisation. I mean everyone has an agenda and is brash, rude and sketchy. Whatever happened to the days of subterfuge or trying to hide your agenda?
This was a stellar opportunity to take something much beloved, admired and near forgotten and bring it back in way that would thrill everyone. Instead what we get here is worse than America’s Got Talent or American Idol it’s drivel of the lowest caliber. Miss Scarlet an Australian Hip Hop superstar and Mr. Green the hated Pharma Bro going at it seems so trite. I get you are trying to establish a connection between them and one of obvious animosity but really these new professions and the trappings that come with them fail at every turn for me.
The supposed Mr. Boddy dies at his dinner party. The Butler breaks the fourth wall repeatedly which kind of annoying even saying no one knows they are in a comic book. This isn’t campy or an homage to the movie or game it’s simply one person's pathetic attempt at trying to do something they shouldn’t. I have never in all the time i’ve been reviewing written as scathing or personal attack style as I am right here and I apologise for that but I get angrier as I read more of this story.
While i’m not slamming Paul as a person or for his body of work, which is considerable and admirable, I am slamming MY PERCEPTION of what I am seeing here. I wanted Clue and this isn’t it. This isn’t an update or the classic or anything in-between for me. When Boddy dies suspicion is cast upon those attending the dinner party and chaos ensues. There’s no mystery here there’s no structure to the story that makes me wish to continue. Hell if this were as campy as the movie at least I could enjoy it but it’s neither campy or serious it just is. It tries too hard to be something it’s not and finds no real purchase upon which to stand. While I can see the idea behind this the end result has no redeeming quality to it.