The Filbert Factor #1
American Mythology 2018
Written by Mike Wolfer
Pencilled by Horacio Domingues
Inked by Ruben Gonzalez & Mario Zimprich
Coloured by Jeremy Kahn
Lettered by Natalie Jane
Filbert and his reluctant pals Hazel and Cashew find themselves the toast of the town after miraculously winning their middle school science fair competition, but the town itself is about to become toast when the swirling, yowling Meowstorm roars into the city of Turtleview. And wouldn't you know it, only Filbert and his friends stand between salvation and certain cat scratches and allergic attacks.
It is always interesting to me when people known for a specific type of genre branch out into something else. In this case a light-hearted romp through an all-ages adventure world of cartoon like animal creatures. It is almost like Shirt-Tales but more honest, I mean they were crime solving animals living in a human world and took being detectives quite seriously. So that we have this trio of friends who don’t go looking for trouble but end up in it and having to solve some big problems well it’s more fun that way.
There is an endearing quality to this that you just don’t find every day. Sure Mike will tell you that it was rejected by Free Comic Book Day for being too outrageous though after reading the book I'll have to disagree with the outrageous part. But in reality what it is, is proof that it doesn’t matter who you are, what you are or even how smart you instead it’s all about friendship. We’ve got the science nerd, the shy quiet one and then Filbert who god knows how fall in between them and the trio make a very good example of a dynamic that says love who you are and love others for who they are and we’ll all get along in ways that we can only dream about.
I like how the issue is structured as well as there are three stories here, one to open followed by the main one and one to the close the issue. The opening and closing ones are more like what we’d see in a Sunday Comic Strip it’s kind of straight forward cutesy kind of kids talking and daydreaming with each other and they make you smile. They are just what they appear to be this little moments in their lives that for one brief moment are captured to share with us.
The main story well that’s a bit different and a little far fetched if you know what I mean. I love the spin on Sharknado however and that make me smile a lot. I like how the kids had their science project then thanks to Filbert it had to be redone and that redo is what garnered the attention of the judges and the newspaper. So the way that weaves itself into the main feature well it flows extremely well.
The interiors are extremely fun and it’s interesting to see how they choose to bring these folks to life. Some like anthropomorphic hands while others seem to keep those of their species. The humans that we see all have this Mad Magazine quality to them and with the blue hues they look more like ghosts than real folks and yet still because of the way they come across in that unexplained familiar way we accept them. The utilisation of page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows off a great eye for storytelling.
Sure there are moments when it feels like gags are taken from the Looney Tunes but overall while kids will find it funny, interesting and entertaining the adults are going to be the ones laughing out loud. This throws caution to the wind and let’s it freak flag fly high exactly how good storytelling should be done.
American Mythology 2018
Written by Mike Wolfer
Pencilled by Horacio Domingues
Inked by Ruben Gonzalez & Mario Zimprich
Coloured by Jeremy Kahn
Lettered by Natalie Jane
Filbert and his reluctant pals Hazel and Cashew find themselves the toast of the town after miraculously winning their middle school science fair competition, but the town itself is about to become toast when the swirling, yowling Meowstorm roars into the city of Turtleview. And wouldn't you know it, only Filbert and his friends stand between salvation and certain cat scratches and allergic attacks.
It is always interesting to me when people known for a specific type of genre branch out into something else. In this case a light-hearted romp through an all-ages adventure world of cartoon like animal creatures. It is almost like Shirt-Tales but more honest, I mean they were crime solving animals living in a human world and took being detectives quite seriously. So that we have this trio of friends who don’t go looking for trouble but end up in it and having to solve some big problems well it’s more fun that way.
There is an endearing quality to this that you just don’t find every day. Sure Mike will tell you that it was rejected by Free Comic Book Day for being too outrageous though after reading the book I'll have to disagree with the outrageous part. But in reality what it is, is proof that it doesn’t matter who you are, what you are or even how smart you instead it’s all about friendship. We’ve got the science nerd, the shy quiet one and then Filbert who god knows how fall in between them and the trio make a very good example of a dynamic that says love who you are and love others for who they are and we’ll all get along in ways that we can only dream about.
I like how the issue is structured as well as there are three stories here, one to open followed by the main one and one to the close the issue. The opening and closing ones are more like what we’d see in a Sunday Comic Strip it’s kind of straight forward cutesy kind of kids talking and daydreaming with each other and they make you smile. They are just what they appear to be this little moments in their lives that for one brief moment are captured to share with us.
The main story well that’s a bit different and a little far fetched if you know what I mean. I love the spin on Sharknado however and that make me smile a lot. I like how the kids had their science project then thanks to Filbert it had to be redone and that redo is what garnered the attention of the judges and the newspaper. So the way that weaves itself into the main feature well it flows extremely well.
The interiors are extremely fun and it’s interesting to see how they choose to bring these folks to life. Some like anthropomorphic hands while others seem to keep those of their species. The humans that we see all have this Mad Magazine quality to them and with the blue hues they look more like ghosts than real folks and yet still because of the way they come across in that unexplained familiar way we accept them. The utilisation of page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows off a great eye for storytelling.
Sure there are moments when it feels like gags are taken from the Looney Tunes but overall while kids will find it funny, interesting and entertaining the adults are going to be the ones laughing out loud. This throws caution to the wind and let’s it freak flag fly high exactly how good storytelling should be done.
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