ComicWorm Speaks!- Tooth Fairies #001
ComicWorm Speaks!
Tooth Fairies #001
By Ryan Fuller, Sanjana Baijnath, and Kuen Tang
****
Acquired: Free of charge in exchange for an honest review
Series: Tooth Fairies
Publisher: N/A
Digital Copy: Eighteen Pages
Language: English
****
The creators of The Evil of Oz return for a new graphic novel adventure!
The Story: The first issue of Tooth Fairies follows a mission of two tooth fairies, Artemus and Dumble, who have been dispatched to retrieved a child’s loose tooth. To quote, “According to legend, the tooth of a child contains and fragment of their soul. If a lost tooth is misplaced or destroyed, the child is cursed to search for the missing soul fragment after death. Consequently, the importance of keeping track of all lost teeth cannot be overstated. Who wants to spend their afterlife hunting down that last elusive molar.”
The Review: If the last line of that preceding quote is any indication, this is going to be am irreverent story that tries to wrap itself in seriousness. The fact that the fairies ignore the legend in such a clumsy fashion only furthers this notion.
Already the creators deserve a little credit for making both of the tooth fairies male. Its not that big a deal but it is always refreshing to see to see males in a traditionally female roles and vice versa. Of course it goes right back into trope territory by making this whole escapade look like a standard ‘straight and loose’ buddy comedy. Again, not that big a deal, from any indication this probably won’t be anything particularly deep, just a silly little adventure. The slapstick antics and cartoonish character design is further proof of this.
The artwork is very well done with a distinctive style. It is bright and colorful but not excessively so to the point that is distracting. This issue takes place at night and the artist(s) do a good job of conveying to subdued atmosphere of that time with relaxed, darker colors. In many panels, Artemus and Dumble are the sole spots of brightness. Even in the room of the small boy whose tooth they are recovering is subdued. It really does feel like this takes place late at night. This is a rather artsy technique that many may find surprising considering the age group that this story is likely intended for.
The character designs remind ComicWorm a lot of the film ‘Inside Out’ by Pixar, where the characters seem to be composed of energy particles rather than flesh. It works though as it pushes the ‘magical’ element of this story, which feels needed when the characters use modern vernacular and utilize modern technology.
Final Verdict: It is hard to judge an entire comic series on the first issue but one cannot underestimate the power of first impressions and so far they are good ones. ComicWorm does genuinely wonder what will happen next with Artemus and Dumble and exploring more of this enchanted world of dental magic
Three Bicuspids out of Five
Comments
Post a Comment