Monsters Inc. Laughing Factory
Written by Paul Benjamin
Art by Amy Mebberson
BOOM! Studios
Trade Paperback; Price: $9.99
Release date: March 3, 2010

The interesting thing about creating comic books based on Pixar‘s string of successful animated films is that you can further explore the universes those characters live in. One of Pixar’s early successes was Monsters Inc., owing largely to its breakthrough animation and great voice acting work from Billy Crystal and John Goodman.

BOOM! KIDS, now having the contract on all Pixar materials, has produced a volume of comics from the Monsters Inc. universe, following Sullivan and Mike Wazowski (I always thought it was hilarious that monsters would have such boring names) on their continuing adventures in Monstropolis.

At first I didn’t expect much out of Monsters Inc. in comic book form. A fan of the original film, I couldn’t see how much further they possibly could have carried the story. In the end, it turns out I was right not to expect much. While the dialogue still carries much of the humour and charm that made the original script so endearing, it is apparent that Paul Benjamin was hard pressed to come up with new ways to use the characters.

Muppet King Arthur #1
Issue 1 of 4
Written by Paul Benjamin and Patrick Storck
Art by Patrick Storck
Cover Art by David Peterson (Cover A); Dave Alvarez (Cover B)
BOOM! Studios
Price: $2.99; Release date: February 10, 2010

Do you like Arthurian legend? How about The Muppets?

BAM! Here’s a comic for you: Muppet King Arthur #1, the first of four issues in the new BOOM! Studios comic book series from Paul Benjamin and Patrick Storck.

This series sees the famous Muppets gang in Great Britain during the Dark Ages where our favorite green guy Kermit is thrust in the role as King Arthur after he pulls the sword Excalibur from the stone, ushering in the legendary Arthurian times.

Being released on the publisher’s BOOM! Kids line implies this comic book is for children, but that’s only partially true, as I found that some of the humor was clearly adult, namely the references to modern-day politics. But yes, the kids will love it too, because the Muppets are in action, and Fozzie Bear never fails to … WOCKA WOCKA … slip in a corny joke.