Do you watch the TV show Chuck? I do, and it is hilarious.

I didn't think the first issue of the Chuck comic book lived up to its live version, but issue #2 is much better. The story is finally lifting off.

What makes the show so great is its tongue and cheek humour and the sarcasm on fanboy-hood, which to me is always fun. You know the type: movie buffs who can't come up with their own lines resort to using Star Wars phrases in every other sentence. Everybody knows someone like that, and when I get a few beers under the belt, I'm glad to join in.

Again, this issue is better than the debut because the jokes are funnier and better executed.

Chuck, Casey and Sarah are saving the world and chasing after a bad guy. Nothing new, right? Well, this issue provides a nice car chase by Lolita-looking Japanese schoolgirls, a wet dream for a lot of fanboys. But it is all about the wit. There is no crime element or drama that could make this story a bit better.

The art is okay but still a bit stale. The characters don't display real movement, and the panels aren't really exciting to look at. No, an enjoyment of this book is solely dependent on the dialogue:

Chuck: What did you tell big Mike to get me the time off?
Casey: Told him you'd come town with schistosomiasis.
Chuck: Excuse me?
Casey: Rare tropical disease contracted when tiny freshwater bugs crawl up your…well let's just say they get inside you…

Lovely. Or how about the scene where Chuck has to sleep in the middle of a Japanese floor bed right between Casey and Sarah.

Chuck: Sarah, are you sleeping?
Sarah: That's the idea, Chuck.
Chuck: Thing is, I like to sleep on my right side, but Casey is… have you ever seen Planes, Trains and Automobiles?
Casey: Touch me and you die, Chuck.

Of course, they are referencing that great movie with Steve Martin and John Candy, where at one point the two had to sleep in the same bed and then they wake up the next morning and...

The scene in Chuck made me want to watch that movie again.

Chuck won't earn an important place in the history of comic books, but it's still good for several funny jokes.

For more info about reviewer Martijn Form, go to www.martijnform.com or read his weekly Vertigo Spotlight column here on ComicsBulletin.

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