Muppet Comics

“It’s time to play the music, it’s time to light the lights.

It’s time to meet the Muppets on the Muppet Show tonight.”

Sadly the curtain has fallen on Boom Studios’ great Muppet comics. You can really only blame one thing: Disney’s acquisition of Marvel Comics in 2009, which led to the termination of Boom’s license earlier this year. It’s a tragic thing indeed because the studio was making things that can really only be described as pitch-perfect Muppetry.

But let’s celebrate the life that the dead once lived. The first book to take a look at is the latest in the “Muppet Literature” series. They took a cue from the Muppet Treasure Island and Muppet Christmas Carol movies here, making a Peter Pan book, Robin Hood (which I remember actually laughing out loud while reading), and a Snow White one. Anyway, this one is a winner too, and it’s called Muppet Sherlock Holmes.

In the role of the eccentric Holmes is, of course, the one and only Gonzo the Great. Watson’s role is taken by Fozzie, and Inspector Lestrade is never far from the action and is played by Kermit. 

I think that before I delve into the story at all I want to say that Amy Mebberson appears to have been put on this earth to draw Muppet comics. It’s pretty amazing how her work shows the Muppets exactly the way they look in the shows and movies...does she have a closet full of puppets at home to model every pose? 

Patrick Storck wrote these comics, and the results are admirable. I have to admit that my Holmes knowledge is sorely lacking. Reading anything by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is by no means necessary to enjoying the Muppet Sherlock Holmes book, but I certainly felt like I would have appreciated it more if I knew what stories they were parodying in each comic. At least I can comment on the fact that Storck did a wonderful rendition of “A Scandal in Bohemia.” At times it felt like the writing was trying just a little bit too hard, like maybe there was just one pun too many in each chapter. But overall this is a very welcome addition to the Muppet comics library!

Moving on, we have the swan song of Roger Langridge’s amazing run in The Muppet Show Comic Book to take a look at. The man was seriously making what appeared to be “lost episodes” of the old show and transplanting them into comic book format. Without a doubt Papa Henson would have been very proud to see these on the stands.

There’s a Halloween theme running through the four comics reprinted here. In the first issue it is strongly suspected that Gonzo is participating in vampirism and everyone gets more than a little spooked out. And of course Langridge provides the short sketches just like on the show, and these have a frightening theme as well, such as “Link Hogthrob, Monster Smasher.” 

The second issue gives Statler and Waldorf more of a spotlight than I think they’ve ever gotten before, and who doesn’t love crotchety old men getting their time in the sun? There’s this woman with an Egyptian act who comes rolling into town for the show. Statler and Waldorf remember swooning over her “in their younger days” and start a competition. The old hecklers wrangle with each other over trying to impress her. Nothing really works out for the guys though and they go back to their stodgy ways soon enough.

In the third issue a musical guest star appears, and he may or may not be a werewolf. Nobody knows for sure about the story of Howlin’ Jack Talbot. He sures does confuse the heck out of Doctor Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, wreaking havoc on their sets during the show. 

The last issue’s main storyline concerns Bunsen going further than he ever has before in his utter abuse of his colleague Beaker: he wants to remove the poor squeaky guy’s brain and put it into a giant robot Beaker. Sounds like a bad idea, right? Well Beaker decides that he’d really like to keep his brain, so instead he unleashes the robot with a stupid little Poob (a catlike micro-Muppet) inside the brain compartment. Yes, there are some big problems arising from this development.

And with that, Roger Langridge’s Muppet comics have come to an end. Having five volumes of his take on the Henson characters is a pretty good run though...and it definitely can’t be said that the quality ever started to drop off. The Muppet comics are in the past now, and the next thing to do is look forward to reading his new series Snarked! when that starts rolling out in collected editions. 

This is just my favorite panel sequence in the book!

“It’s time to get things started

On the most sensational, inspirational, celebrational, Muppetational

This is what we call the Muppet Show!”