Archie Comics 2019
Written by Ian Flynn
Illustrated by Tracy Yardley
Coloured by Matt Herms
Lettered by Jack Morelli
During a recon mission on the asteroid Ceres, Cosmo and his crew learned that the evil Venusians have been using a mineral called Aphrodite, which allows the Venusians to mutate lifeforms to do their bidding. As if that wasn't bad enough, one of the elite Venusian warriors, Battle Princess Shih, kidnapped Cosmo's best pal Orbi! With no time to lose, the Martians race after Shih, determined to rescue their friend before something even more awful happens to him...
I am so enamoured with this book. I grew up watching cartoons on Saturday mornings, and weekdays after school, that in our current climate are deemed too violent which is utterly silly. This reminds me of those days it has the right mix of humour and danger that makes it such a standout. There is this brilliant mix of characters in this book all of whom have their own ideas of what it is they do and who is in charge. The dialogue is phenomenal and the way they act and behave is something you cannot resist making you smile.
The way that this is being told is fantastic. I think it's amusing that after all the time they've spent together that Astra would realise that Cosmo's headaches were the result of these visions of his. Also the language barrier with Max and the way he and Cosmo go back and forth is hilarious not to mention the sheer amount of imagery that we see which has all these, I am trying not to laugh as I type, references we all know and love that shouldn't work but by goodness sake it certainly does. I am particularly fond of the way the gang enters Cronius Aerial Base.
The story & plot development we see through the sequence of events unfolding as well as how the reader learns information is extremely well done. I am particularly impressed with how Ian manages to make this all-ages friendly so that adults have a wide range of humour and the younger set will appreciate this style of cartoon splendour. The character development is incredible as we see the character interact with one another as well act and react to the situations they find themselves in flesh out their personalities. The pacing is spot on great as it takes us through the pages and reveals the twists and turns which create a wonderful ebb & flow to the book. I love the way that this book is structured and how well the action flows here.
The interiors here are superb! The linework is great and while everything is done with a tongue-in-cheek attitude it works perfectly well here. There is some really nice utilisation of old school classic techniques, think Sunday Strips, as well as from Dynomutt and all of it gives the reader this comfortable feel like visiting some old friends. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a really strong talented eye for storytelling. There is so much expression happening within these page with the way we see Vegemites (sorry I start singing Men at Work when I say that word) and our intrepid explorers. The colour work from Matt is spectacular as usual and he manages to breathe that fun air of life into this in ways complete the entire book.
There is such a thing as fun for the whole family and this is it! Archie has it's hand on the pulse of what makes people happy, they always have and this just continues to demonstrate it. Cosmo the Mighty Martian should be that guilty pleasure that finds it's way into your reading pile anytime it's out.