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Posted June 26, 2014 by Fatima Bergonia in Comics
 
 

COMIC BOOK REVIEW: The Amazing World of Gumball #1

Writer: Frank Gibson 
Art: Tyson Hesse 
Cover(s): Missy Pena, Zachary Sterling, Paulina Gaucheau, Troy Little, Sonye Lim 
Publisher: Kaboom! Studios  

Kaboom! Studios introduces yet another Cartoon Network hit into comics with The Amazing World of Gumball #1. The first issue kicks off with Gumball and Darwin, and their quest to be cool kids (as always) but this time–cool kids who have a ride of their own. Like most of the cartoon’s episodes, it all started off as a normal school day, that is until one of their friends (that is secretly assisted by his father) ride off home to show off their very own car. Burdened with great desire to be cool and popular, the duo seeks ways to get their own ride with anything they can think of with also a little help from their youngest sister. In the end, more damage was done but hey–at least everyone in the school was there to see it. (Which is—good?)

Frank Gibson writes the comic true to the themes of the cartoon: Random, in-your-face and a bit of the you-really-don’t-want-to-try-this-at-home lesson. The characters were loud and expressive although it feels like some of them were just inserted in for a little bit of exposure. The plot isn’t anything new for TAMW: Gumball and Darwin faced with a problem, they think of solutions, one of them kind of works, someone or everyone gets injured but in the end it’s all good. I guess you could say it’s a pretty alright formula and I don’t think story advancement will be an option for the cartoon or comic any time soon (but who knows?) I say it’s a pretty clean and fun start and will have fans of the show picking this up to see what their favorite characters are up to in Gumball’s amazing non-animated 2-D world.

Tyson Hesse‘s art was absolutely delightful and suited the fun, kid-friendly theme. The lines were clean and bold and the colors were really attention-grabbing. The characters were drawn really expressively and there was a certain flow to their movements. This comic will not bore you visually albeit the paneling on a few of the pages were quite cluttered. The covers for this issue look really fun and would look great as posters in my opinion and Yehudi Mercado’s Locker Guard Anti-Bully Device ad was a nice touch and went along nicely with the overall look.

Did I mention there was a Steven Universe preview that comes along with it? (Written by Jeremy Sorese and Illustrated by Coleman Engle.)  

Overall, I think The Amazing World of Gumball is a good read if you’re already a fan of the cartoon series.


Fatima Bergonia

 
Really likes comics, drawing and eating. That's it, that's Fatima.