"Rust in Peace"

You don't usually think about continuity in funny cartoons, but upon consideration, even the classic cartoons often had a loose structure. For instance, Bugs Bunny knew Daffy Duck in the cartoons. He wasn't continually introduced to the mallard. In fact, we don't even know when these legends first met. The premise was that they simply knew each other, and Daffy saw Bugs as a rival. The Simpsons took continuity for cartoons farther. Futurama, perhaps due to its inherent complexity, drew upon an even greater attention to continuity. In this issue of Futurama Comics, Ian Boothby uses relatively recent continuity and previous series continuity to his story's advantage.

The story begins with a fakeout where Fry states, "So, Bart Simpson, we meet again." The crew of the Planetary Express met the Simpsons in a Bongo mini-series, but that's not to what Fry's referring. Turn the page, and you learn that the Bart Simpson receiving Fry's threat is in fact a doll at a futuristic carnival. This is a double joke. At first you think Boothby is alluding to continuity, but instead, he is undermining the idea that the story will be a continuity-based tale.

As the events unfold, Bender's time travel trip in the first Futurama direct-to-DVD feature Bender's Big Score becomes pivotal to the story and the many jokes that surround the tale like a comedy maelstrom. Just when you think Boothby's settling down into an expected path, he energizes the already peppy gagfest with a jolt from the past seasons.

Bender takes an, in hindsight, obvious trip to a particular planet trespassed by Planetary Express. Even this isn't enough for Boothby. A lot of his writing and the root of his jokes rely upon simply asking the question what happens if. The answers because they are based upon continuity and characterization ring true and funnier.

Once on the planet, Bender turns victimization into profit, and he does so in a way suitable to his larcenous bent. Boothby seems to write himself into a corner with this conclusion. There doesn't seem to be a way out to return to the status quo, but the author returns to the beginning of the story and reveals that the opening wasn't just held together with throwaway gags. The opening was actually foreshadowing, yet Boothby doesn't employ that foreshadowing in the typical way. It serves only as a trigger. In a lesser sitcom, the false solution would be the answer, but Boothby takes it one step farther, and that's what you want in a Futurama episode.

Futurama wasn't just one of the funniest television shows in the universe. It was also one of the most attractive, and the comic book follows suit. I'm continually amazed how the artists, in this case Lloyd, Pepoy and Hamill, mimic the constant action and vividness of the show.

The carnival sequence is a cornucopia of color, combining old characters with new and all engaging in distinctive movement and behavior. When returning to familiar territory, these artists excel. Bender is a challenge. He has a clunky sci-fi serial robot face, yet the art team create expressions for the character rivaling those seen on the television show. These expressions enhance the dialogue so that you actually hear John DiMaggio while reading Bender's hilarious speech.

Futurama depends upon a small army of artists, and that's mainly because it's not just a show about the characters. It's also a series about the futuristic backdrop and technology. Often a comic book will fail to impress because it simply cannot replicate the look of the source material. In this case, the robotics really do reflect the quirky future of the series. One sequence, dramatically lit by Lloyd and Pepoy, given a fascinating color scheme by Hamill, shames the futurescapes offered by the majority of scifi based comic books.

In general, you can bank on a Boothby story making you laugh until milk shoots out your nose, and this one is no different. However, the adherence to Futurama continuity, old and new, as well as the stunning artwork makes this issue representative of the best.

---

What did you think of this book?
Have your say at the Line of Fire Forum!

---