Comic Review: Toy Story: The Mysterious Stranger #2 (Boom! Kids) Review by Adam P.

Some Good Clean Fun With The Toy Story Gang

Comics and movies have long had an intertwined relationship, with some printed tales becoming Hollywood blockbusters and other movies seeing themselves adapted into comic book format. Among these, Boom! Studios has embarked on an ambitious publishing scheme for many Disney/Pixar properties, launching them first as limited series to gauge demand under their Boom! Kids imprint. No fewer than four Pixar movies are currently in the middle of four issue limited series, among them The Incredibles, Cars, Finding Nemo and Toy Story. Monsters Inc. and Wall-E will likely follow in the months to come.

Different publishers have followed different methods of bringing movies to the comic book medium. Some publish adaptations of the films. Others publish issues that are exact copies of television episodes. Here, thankfully, Boom! Kids is creating brand-new stories that reflect the spirit and feel of their originals, and Toy Story: The Mysterious Stranger #2 is no exception.




Expectations must be kept in mind, however. This is pretty much what Toy Story would look and feel like if it had been made into a comic book rather than a movie. By nature, comic books are more slowly paced than motion pictures, so someone who appreciates movies for their frenetic pacing could be disappointed by the transition. Along the same lines, the book would have special appeal to younger readers who loved the film and would like to see more stories with their favourite characters.

This issue is a self-contained tale where the toy residents of young Andy's room accidentally break his science fair project and decide to send a tactical team to the school in the middle of the night to fix it before the fair begins the next morning. Dan Jolley's writing is excellent. There are laugh-out-loud bits and clever lessons to be learnt. He gives the five major characters fairly equal space which enables a nice sense of camaraderie to develop. Never does the reader feel that the material is condescending or preachy, but that the writer really believes in these characters and cares for them. Chris Moreno's art is cute and effective but sometimes gets sketchy and weak on the backgrounds, although this is much more forgivable in a kid's title such as this.

Recommended for young readers, Toy Story fans, and anyone looking for a slice of some lighthearted toy-related suburban relief from our crazy world.

7.5/10

In stores July 1

Adam P.
Review Co-Editor