Fraggle Rock comics - round 2!

[dwmckim]

Yes, it showed up here in Phoenix and right after i type this post, i'll write a review (short version: their best issue so far!)

And yeah - something's very odd about the timing of the releases. Issue 1's back-page ad for the second issue listed it as coming out "spring 2011" and the decision to release it this week seems to have taken place pretty quickly as last week FR2 was not on the list of next week's releases.

And the ad for issue 3 that appears on the back page of issue 2 also says it's coming "spring 2011"

Now that's just weird...that's a long wait between issues. Even if one gave "spring" the earliest possibile interpretation meaning around the third week or March that's still a two month gap. Why so long for a next issue (whether it be the space between #2 and #3 or the original gap between #1 and #2) and further if they were pushing Issue 2 up to make up for the long wait for #3, why release it now instead of the later part of Feb evening out the time between them all? Very. Weird.

 

[dwmckim]

Fraggle Rock 2.2 Review

The second issue of the second series of (the second version) of Fraggle Rock comics is...well, in a word, Two-riffic! One could say it was worth the wait, but given we hardly had to wait at all, that wouldn't really do this issue justice but i can easily say that it is the best one to date!

There's a few reasons for this. The first is that while it follows the usual format of a longer story and two shorter ones (plus an activity by Katie Cook), all the stories feel like they're the right length - the shorter ones are satisfying and don't feel like they're too short or space fillers. The second is we've got the big guns doing the writing: Joe LeFavi wrote the first story and Tim Beedle wrote the last - not only are both people editors of the Fraggle comic but both also has a fair amount of history with Henson property comics and the Henson Company in general - each person's love and knowledge of Fraggle Rock comes through in regards to the characters, tone, and theme. In fact the overall theme of both their stories end up being rather similar and regardless of whether that was actually planned or a "happy accident" make nice "bookends" for this issue. Finally all three stories contain references to Fraggle Rock episodes - the whole issue is chock full of fan Easter Eggs that will provide a great stroll down memory lane for the fan of the show while not alienating any new fans discovering the world of the Fraggles for the first time through these comics.

Joe LeFavi's "The Meaning of Life" with art by Heidi Arnhold more than any of the comic stories so far actually feels like an episode of the show. A conversation between Gobo and The Storyteller gives Gobo inspiration for his latest quest; one that his four best friends accompany him on for their own various reasons. It's a new adventure that takes them to some familiar places along the way. The savvy fan will probably predict the general way the story will end and well they should because the entire story and its message is one that's as Henson as they come. But the journey's better than the destination so fans won't be disappointed and by and large should really enjoy reading this tale. My only complaint would be with the story's last panel which shows the Fraggle Five in a somewhat wide shot of Fraggle Rock. I felt that this picture seemed too empty - that their surroundings should have been filled with various creatures and wonder and joy that their environment often carries which would have made this last little wrap-up feel more special. I'm guessing Arnhold illustrated it this way so that the focus was solely on the five friends but given the way they appear and the moment they're having, i believe a more lively surrounding framing them would have been the stronger choice.

As any good anthology should, this issue has a variety of artistic styles in each story and "The Fraggle Who Cried Monster" is the one with the most experimental art provided by Chandra Free which is the perfect complement to Jason M. Burns' story. This six-page tale features a lot of Boober being scared out of his wits over and over again and a lot of the fun comes from the ways Free depicts Boober in his state of fear (my favorite being the next-to-last panel of page three both for Boober's pose and Gobo's expression). Without giving it away, this story includes a surprise appearance by a character who appeared once in the television series but interacting with someone different this time around. The story's a great intermission between the other two that surround it.

The final story, Beedle's "The Perfect Words" has a very similar theme to LeFavi's story presented in its own unique method and also with some fun callbacks to previous Fraggle Rock episodes. Though Ross Campbell's art is more on-model than Free's, there's still some fun contortions that he puts Mokey though, one eerily resembling the ugly Mokey Manhattan Toy hand puppet! This five-pager is a very satisfying wrap-up to the overall issue - not counting of course, the epilogue that comes in the form of Katie Cook's latest activity page that also leaves the reader with a laugh as it reminds the younger readers who may actually try it to do so "on paper...not the wall!" which one just KNOWS would be a true-to-life situation in at least one household somewhere out there!

I've always enjoyed Archaia's Fraggle comics but this installment in particular really feels like this series has hit its stride and as a reader, i came away from it truly feeling like i took a trip to Fraggle Rock. The love and care for the Fraggles that each writer and artist that contributed to this issue really shines through and feels like a special gift that the creative team gave to its recipients and that in itself is what the best of Henson projects do whether they be on printed page or moving screen: come across as a gift between friends rather than a product from company to buyer. This book really does the name Henson proud and i hope future issues are able to live up to this one!

 

[Drtooth]

Well, despite Archaia's statement and the Diamond shipping list, my local comic shop didn't have issue #2 this morning (they did have #1 last week). I was there about 2 minutes after they opened, so I know they didn't sell out.

So—? Has the issue shown up elsewhere?

Ho yeah... got mine. I can't say I'm all that happy that I had to find money last minute, and as dw said, we're clearly going to have an odd gap in between issue 2 and 3 if 3 indeed comes out in March. Don't see why they release 2 within a week of each other, and we have to wait 2 months for the third.

Yeah, I felt that the first story was rather special and had the same depth as one of the very deep episodes of FR. And I like how they were able to put a Postcard with similar themes in the story. They really do their homework with this one, and I don't mean multiple references to other episodes.

I've also noticed thus so far this second volume has stories that focus exclusively on the Fraggle Five. Whereas the first volume had the occasional Matt, Doozer, Gorg... even a Convincin' John storyline. Not that I mind one bit, though. Though I find it odd Junior Gorg was on 2 similar covers (the Peterson issue 1, the Arnold issue 2- I chose the other cover for the second for variety sake) and the inside front cover, and I haven't really seen a Gorg in this volume of the comics yet.

 

[ArchaiaMel]

Hi everyone, my name is Mel Caylo, marketing manager for Archaia, publisher of the Fraggle Rock comics. I read some of your concerns about the back-to-back release of Vol. 2 issues #1 and #2 in consecutive weeks, and I wanted to address that.

We print our books in South Korea, and for these two books, we experienced some shipping problems getting them sent from South Korea to our printer's warehouse in Long Beach, CA, and then from there to our distributor Diamond's warehouse in Olive Branch, MS. At the end of the day, we could not prevent the books from coming out in consecutive weeks. And yes, it won't be until mid-March until issue #3 hits stores. Sorry about that.

Also, we are not in any danger of losing our relationship with The Jim Henson Company. In fact, we have several projects we are developing right now with them: The Dark Crystal/Mouse Guard Free Comic Book Day book; The Dark Crystal original graphic novel; and the Tale of Sand original graphic novel, based on an unproduced original screenplay written by Jim Henson and Jerry Juhl.

Thanks for reading the Fraggle Rock books, and sorry for the wonky shipping schedule!

Mel Caylo
Marketing Manager
Archaia

 

[wordsthatstay]

Hey guys, I wanted to thank you for the really awesome review you gave the latest issue of Fraggle Rock. Seriously, we're all pretty humbled over here. Thanks for the kind words and I hope those of you who haven't yet read it enjoy the issue (and all of Volume 2) equally as much.

I did want to comment a bit on the release date. I can't really go into all the details of why issue #2 shipped so soon after issue #1, but I can say that it wasn't something we planned and it certainly isn't due to a licensing issue. Ideally, we would've released issue #2 in February and issue #3 in March, but there was a miscommunication with the distributor and issue #2 shipped early. So now we have a short gap between the first two issues and a long gap between issues #2 and #3. We'll do our best to make sure issue #3 is worth the wait!

Tim Beedle
Editor, Fraggle Rock

 

[Drtooth]

I did want to comment a bit on the release date. I can't really go into all the details of why issue #2 shipped so soon after issue #1, but I can say that it wasn't something we planned and it certainly isn't due to a licensing issue. Ideally, we would've released issue #2 in February and issue #3 in March, but there was a miscommunication with the distributor and issue #2 shipped early. So now we have a short gap between the first two issues and a long gap between issues #2 and #3. We'll do our best to make sure issue #3 is worth the wait!

AH! That's a relief. You know what the big yellow one said "Everyone makes mistakes." They tend to happen.

Yes, we're loving these infinitely, and each new issue really brings a boost of Fraggle Fun from writers and artists that GET the series. I don't know how many slipshod TV based comics I've read. And I've even read an odd Fat Albert comic with Bill Cosby illustrated before each story. Then there's that old Dudley Do-Right that just recycled plots and dialogue from the show and had a long, unreadable comic about beavers. I'm so glad that things have changed, and you people see this as new media instead of just merchandising.

 

[GonzoLeaper]

That's how I've always generally seen comic books based on TV shows and movies, etc. (or book series or even video games and so forth.) Yes, they are all merchandising for the show and I don't typically bother with books that are only novelizations of episodes and such (unless perhaps that's the only prose merchandise associated with a show that I like)- but when it's new stories, whether in prose novel or comic book form or whatever - for me, it's a way to continue the fun of the show. Which is one reason why I enjoy the animated version of Fraggle Rock alongside the live action show- for me, it's just a little bit more Fraggley fun that comes straight from the creators rather than reading fanfiction online or something. (Not to knock fanfiction though- because some of it is quite good.) But I'd still give greater weight to something from the actual creator and/or copyright owner.

 

[Drtooth]

I've got loads of all those kinds of comics... remember, I'm the backward sort that reads comics based off cartoons and cartoons off comics. And the occasional comic based off a cartoon based off a comic (Archie did magic with TMNT).

I've read some very close ones that needed something, some that were very good, some with creative licenses (both good and bad) some even written and or drawn by the creator or creative staff (A lot of Cartoon network based comics had people from the show work on them... Mo Willems did a couple Sheep in the Big City comics). And I've read some really BAAAAD ones. I read a Madballs one (I mentioned it in a review for the Muppet Mindset) that was SOOOO bad, it was just wall to wall bad puns arranged in an unfunny manner. Now, I like monstery puns, I'm a fan of Groovie Goolies after all, but too much is too much. And the characters had generic personalities.

But above all, I cannot tolerate episode retellings, unless the retellings give an extra angle or something. Not a fan of movie ones, either... unless they work from the original script.

Thankfully, the comic based cartoon tie in, especially in the hands of indie publishers is seen as new media and not cheapo make a buck merchandising. We have people who actually know the characters and get their personalities right without making them flat or generic or making uncharacteristic puns.

 

[QuixoticFanboy]

Hello everyone! I just wanted to sincerely thank you for the amazing review of Archaia's FRAGGLE ROCK comic book! I not only consulted as an editor on the book, but I also wrote the lead story entitled "The Meaning of Life", which was my first lead story in comics ever. Becoming a part of FRAGGLE ROCK was one of the greatest honors of my life, and reading those kind words in your review... well, it'll be a moment that I cherish for quite some time. So I just wanted to thank you for reading our comics, as they truly have become a labor of love for everyone involved. I hope that they continue to find their way into your homes and your hearts.

My best,

Joe LeFavi

 

[beaker]

While people are understandably bummed about the situation with Boom!'s muppet line, I was blown the heck away by vol 2 of the Fraggle Rock series. In fact I have to say I'm liking this even more than the first volume(as much as I loved that)

Also for those who haven't yet, GET the collected vol 1 book. The way its collected into book form with tons of extra material and bonus comics; it's as close as we'll get to a Fraggle Rock book since that big one planned got canceled.

And I for one love #2 came out so soon. Even if #3 is the last FR comic, I am extremely pleased.

I think some people just like to complain a bit much