REVIEW: ‘Incredibles 2’ comes to Dark Horse
The success of Incredibles 2 at the box office has led to a deluge of tie-in merchandise and other media offerings. One of the strongest companions to the hit Pixar flick is Dark Horse’s new comic book.
The recently published first issue compiles three original stories featuring the Parr family of superheroes. The tales focus mostly on Bob Parr, or Mr. Incredible, the father figure, much like the original Incredibles film. In fact, Helen Parr, or Elastigirl, receives hardly no ink in the first issue, even though Mr. Incredible’s wife is actually the main focus of the sequel in movie theaters.
One hopes future issues of this strong comic book will shift the focus and spread the editorial wealth.
Still, the three adventures are fun and family friendly, featuring heartfelt lessons and not too many villains. The first two are called Crisis in Mid-Life and Bedtime Story, and their thrilling conclusions will appear in a future issue of the limited series. The standalone A Relaxing Day at the Park rounds out the collection.
Slight spoilers ahead.
Crisis in Mid-Life is the best of the trio. It receives the highest number of pages and delves into important themes, including aging and mid-life crises. Mr. Incredible is the focus of the story after he relives one of his earliest triumphs: when he saved a group of people from being squashed by a nuclear submarine. When he tries to replicate the stunt on the anniversary of the first rescue, things don’t go as planned, and Bob needs to look at himself in the mirror and appreciate those newfound wrinkles. He’s not the young man he thought he was.
Christos Gage wrote the script, with art by Gurihiru, and lettering by Richard Starkings and Comicraft’s Jimmy Betancourt. It’s a tasty morsel of a story that should have an interesting, lesson-learning finale.
The second story, Bedtime Story, is the best one for children. It deals with tall tales told by Bob to his three superhero tykes. There’s much to appreciate in the simple story, especially J Bone’s art, which stands out amongst the three offerings. Gage, Starkings and Betancourt pull double duty.
The final story, running only a few pages, is A Relaxing Day at the Park, which features the giggling malfeasance of scene-stealer Jack-Jack Parr, the superhero family’s youngest member. Any child who has had a fun day at the park, where imagination takes over, will enjoy these spirited antics. The team for this story, which is almost dialogue-less, is writer Landry Q. Walker, Emilio Urbano (layouts), Andrea Greppi (pencils), Roberta Zanotta (ink), Angela Capolupo (colors) and Chris Dickey (lettering).
Incredibles 2 is a decent film, and this new Dark Horse comic book adds to the superhero adventures of the awesomely talented Parr family.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Incredibles 2, issue #1, is now available from Dark Horse. Click here for more information.
