News Update: July 18, 2014

JULY 18, 2014

Since we didn't do a News Update last week, we missed out on sharing the video of Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy on PBS's A Capitol Fourth, which aired live on 4th of July. The performance, which saw Kermit and Piggy singing "This Land is Your Land" and Kermit performing "Rainbow Connection," was positively delightful. Steve Whitmire's enthusiasm with Kermit during both songs is infectious and wonderful. Also Tom Bergeron, Fozzie, and Animal are there, and great as ever. (Special thanks to our friend Chris Stulz for making and sharing the video.)

Archaia Comics are heading back down to Fraggle Rock with a new series of Fraggle stories. The series will be written by Kate Leth and illustrated by Jake Myler. The book is titled Fraggle Rock: Journey to the Everspring and according to Nerdist it will feature the beloved Fraggles we know as well as some new characters. Journey to the Everspring is divided into four parts, with the first issue released on October 8th. Here's hoping Archaia can capture the excellence of their first Fraggle Rock series once again!

The San Diego Comic Con is coming up next weekend, and Sesame Street is heading out for a panel! The panel is on Sunday, July 27 at 10:15am in Room 6A. The impeccable, huge Muppet fan Chris Hardwick (Nerdist) will be moderating the panel, which includes Muppet performers Eric Jacobson, Joey Mazzarino (also head writer and director), and David Rudman, as well as executive producer Carol-Lynn Parente. During the panel, they'll debut a new Season 45 episode called "Numeric Con," a parody of Comic Con itself. They'll also be premiering a new segment of the fantastic "Cookie's Crumpy Pictures" series called "Star S'mores." Color me happy (and fuzzy, and blue).

The Jim Henson Company is also going to Comic Con with a panel of their own, titled "The Jim Henson Company: Upcoming Comics with Archaia," so there will clearly be a lot of discussion of Fraggle Rock, Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal, and The Musical Monsters of Turkey Hollow comic books. The panel will be held July 25th at 6:00pm in Room 32AB. Panelists for the Henson Company include Jeff Stokely (illustrator for The Storyteller: Witches), Jake Myler (illustrator for Fraggle Rock), Ian Herring (colorist for Tale of Sand), and Shane-Michael Vidaurri (writer and illustrator for The Storyteller: Witches). Special thanks to ToughPigs for this info!

Once again, the rumor that the Muppets are heading to Broadway with a brand new original musical has resurfaced. This time, The New York Post is reporting on it. Nothing new comes to light in this article, and really it adds nothing more to the table that we haven't known for awhile now, but it's nice to see it still being talked about.

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, muppetmindset@gmail.com

News Update: June 13, 2014

JUNE 13, 2014

Netflix is the new streaming home for both The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper. Both films are now available to watch on Netflix Instant service. So if you don't have both films on DVD, Blu-ray, VHS, or laser disc, there's finally a way for you to watch these Henson/Muppet classics! If you don't have access to any of these means... I'm so sorry. With these additions, this leaves only The Muppet Christmas Carol, Muppet Treasure Island, The Muppets, and Muppets Most Wanted as the only Muppet feature films not on Netflix. Hopefully these will be added soon as well.

As we reported in our last News Update, Archaia is publishing a new graphic novel based off an unproduced 1968 screenplay from Jim Henson and Jerry Juhl called The Musical Monsters of Turkey Hollow. The graphic novel will feature art from the extremely talented Roger Langridge (of The Muppet Show Comic Book fame). USA Today officially announced the project a few days ago, and our friends over at ToughPigs.com have done a bang-up job of collecting all of the info in one convenient place. Check it out! The graphic novel will release in stores this October!

The folks over at The 13th Dimension website recently posted a fantastic tribute to the late John Henson. The tribute goes in depth with John's career as both a puppeteer and an artist. The author, Aimee LoSecco, notes how John's work was always larger than life, yet completely relatable, which is one of the finest descriptions of the man I've heard. The whole tribute is very beautiful and I suggest giving it a read, plus you get to see some of John's rarely-seen Kermit golfing illustrations (see right).

A few weeks ago, Disney announced the release of Disney Infinity 2.0, a sequel to their ultra-popular Disney Infinity video game/toy system. With this announcement, it was revealed that Marvel characters would be playable in the game and a whole slew of new Power Discs (in-game items) were revealed as well. One of these Power Discs is Miss Piggy's U.S.S. Swinetrek (see right), which allows players to bring the Swinetrek into the game and ride it. Always great to see the Muppets getting more representation in the Disney family!

This week, Variety published an article interviewing the writers of Sesame Street, Joey Mazzarino and Belinda Ward, about the upcoming, groundbreaking 45th season of the show. The article is really interesting, discussing everything from their spot-on "Homelamb" parody to the challenges of writing for both kids and adults. It's incredibly interesting.

Last but not least, last week Ricky Gervais tweeted the picture below, revealing that he had filmed a guest spot on Sesame Street, presumably for the upcoming season. I'm so glad to see Ricky is still working with the Muppets and coming back to Sesame Street!

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, muppetmindset@gmail.com 

News Update: May 20, 2014

MAY 20, 2014

On Friday, Sesame Street and Mashable teamed up to release a really fun new video starring Bert and Zachary Levi (Chuck, Tangled) going on a fun journey through Central Park on "A Lovely Sunny DAy." They sing a great song, dance, and even run into Grover. Watch it below!



Two weeks ago, Nicholas Stoller, co-writer of The Muppets and Muppets Most Wanted and friend of the blog, was on the promotional circuit for his new comedy Neighbors. One of his stops was at Collider.com, where they asked him a few questions about the Muppets. His answers ranged from why he thought Muppets Most Wanted underperformed, and this interesting tidbit: "I know they’re working on something to get them back on TV. I have no idea where it’s at, but I definitely think so. I mean, they’re such rich characters, and it’s very easy to pitch on stories for them, and think of ideas for them. They don’t feel used up... I think there’s a big opportunity for that kind of variety show. You could do it partially live. There are all these things you could do with Muppets that you can’t do with a lot of other things." So that's potentially hugely exciting! We'll keep you posted on everything we were regarding Muppets on TV!

Cookie Monster is the star of yet another amazing installment of Sesame Street's "Crumby Pictures Presents." This time, Cookie Monster and the Muppets of Sesame Street are spoofing The Wizard of Oz. Cookie Monster plays "Dough-rothy," and it's all absolutely brilliant. Don't miss this!



The Jim Henson Company, Archaia Comics, and Roger Langridge are all teaming up to bring another exclusive adaptation of a screenplay from Jim Henson and Jerry Juhl. The Musical Monsters of Turkey Hollow was a script for an unproduced special by Henson and Juhl, which will now be turned into a comic/graphic novel illustrated and adapted by Roger Langridge (author/illustrator of The Muppet Show Comic Book series). Turkey Hollow will be released by Archaia Comics in November, 2014. Our friends at ToughPigs.com have all of the info in one convenient place. The official description of the project is below:

Turkey Hollow is a picturesque town where hundreds of years ago, unbeknownst to the citizens, a meteorite landed nearby a small brook on the outskirts of town. One Thanksgiving, while young Timmy Henderson practices his guitar, he’s accompanied by strange, unearthly, musical sounds. That meteorite wasn’t a rock at all but an egg holding seven furry, goofy monsters, each with a unique musical sound. After the initial shock, Timmy befriends the lovable creatures following him all around Turkey Hollow. Not everyone takes a liking to the visitors though and it’s up to Timmy to protect his new friends and save Thanksgiving!

Ahead of the season finale of Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge, Brian Henson and some of the Henson puppets and creatures took over NBC's Today last Monday. Watch the videos below to see the Today anchors awkwardly pal around with the Henson puppets and have a very nice chat with Brian Henson. My goodness I love seeing Brian Henson on TV.







The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, muppetmindset@gmail.com

News Update: July 5, 2012

NEWS UPDATE: July 5, 2012
Back in March, 2009, the Jim Henson Company announced that they would be producing a brand new children's television series starring the Doozers of Fraggle Rock. And, like many Henson projects unfortunately, the series never came to fruition, with only a 30 second computer-generated clip being produced. Now, however, the Chronicle Herald is reporting that the series is finally going into actual production. This could be great news, or it could end up falling through again, but I like to hold out hope that one day we might actually get to see this thing. Putting the Doozers in their own show relieves a lot of the unavoidable high expectations Fraggle Rock fans have of a Fraggle-themed project. Fingers crossed!

The Muppet Show Comic Book by Roget Langridge is back! The final four Langridge-written issues, The Four Seasons are being released sporadically throughout the year. The first issue, "Spring," just happened to be released yesterday and is available in stores now! For awhile the first issue being released was presumed to be "Summer" (since, you know, it is summer), but our friends at Muppet Stuff have found the issue in stores and it is indeed "Spring." (See picture at right.) Whatever the case, get out there and buy it for yourself!

Archaia Comics, the company that distributes Jim Henson Company projects in comic book form, has scored six major nominations in the 2012 Harvey Awards, which honor excellence in comic books. Five of these nominations are Henson-related, with honors for Fraggle Rock, Jim Henson's The Storyteller, and Jim Henson's The Tale of Sand. Fraggle Rock is nominated for Best Original Graphic Publication for Young Readers, The Storyteller for Best Anthology, and The Tale of Sand for Best Graphic Album Original and Best Single Issue or Story. Congratulations to Archaia and all the talented people who contributed to these wonderful books! The Harvey awards will be presented on September 28th.

Finally, click on over to the Hostess with the Mostess blog for a look at the most incredible birthday party I have ever seen. This Muppet themed bash looks like an amazing good time, with so many gorgeous decorations and everything you might want sans actual Muppets showing up (but looking at these pictures, I wouldn't be surprised if they had). Enjoy!

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, muppetmindset@gmail.com

News Update: December 16, 2011

NEWS UPDATE: December 16, 2011

For the past few months, the Muppets have been the major darlings of Entertainment Weekly magazine. The Muppet Show cast reunited, the first image from The Muppets (and Walter) were revealed, and Kermit graced the cover of the magazine all in this past year alone. Well, the love for the Muppets continues in this week's issue, Entertainment Weekly's "Best and Worst of 2011" issue. As you can see at right, Kermit and Miss Piggy are very prominent on the cover of the issue out this week--right alongside George Clooney, Harry Potter, and all of the other prominent features in pop culture this year.You can read all about the issue on Entertainment Weekly's website, and you can find it on newsstands everywhere now!

One of the favorite props in The Muppet Movie is Fozzie Bear's Studebaker (well, technically his uncle's Studebaker)--a bear's natural habitat, obviously. Well, unfortunately, the Studebaker used in the film is in need of some serious repairs, as outlined by local ABC affiliate where the Studebaker Museum is located. The repair costs are in the upwards of $40,000... and it would be a crying shame to see Fozzie's Studebaker fall into complete disrepair. The Museum's website features an "Adopt-A-Car Program" with a wide range of donation options for adopting one of the Studebakers. Perhaps a generous and well-off Muppet fan might have the means to the end of fixing this true legend of a car.

A brand new, must-have book has been released recently for Muppet fans written by longtime Muppet writer and veteran of Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, Joseph A. Bailey. The book is called Memoirs of a Muppet Writer and is available on Amazon now for only $15. Below is an excerpt from the official description of the book!

"In his 20 year affiliation with Jim Henson's Muppets Joseph A. Bailey was a staff writer on both Sesame Street and The Muppet Show. He also co-wrote the television specials Big Bird in China, Christmas Eve on Sesame Street and Rocky Mountain Holiday, starring John Denver and the Muppets on location in Aspen, Colorado. Additionally, Mr. Bailey wrote Sesame Street song lyrics, albums, five 90-minute Sesame Street Live! musicals, Muppet Business Meeting Films and special material for Big Bird's appearances in the White House and Carnegie Hall. The Muppet Show guest stars he wrote for include George Burns, Bob Hope, Steve Martin, Rudolf Nureyev, John Cleese, Milton Berle and Peter Sellers. For his writing, Mr. Bailey has garnered 5 Emmys, 3 Emmy nominations, a Writers Guild of America Award and a George Foster Peabody Award. Mr. Bailey lives in Manhattan with his wife, Gail. He indulges in occasional long-distance motorcycle trips and claims to speak French and play piano to the equal amusement of others."

Remember when Walter rocked Late Night with Jimmy Fallon alongside Jason Segel a few weeks ago? Well, Walter is back in an exclusive video from backstage on NBC as everyone's favorite new Muppet checks out the legendary Muppet Pipes in a closet in a guest room painted by Jim Henson, Frank Oz, and Jerry Juhl. It's truly amazing to see old Muppet history meeting new Muppet greatness. Check out the video below!



This past Wednesday, Archaia Comics released a brand new comic book from a screenplay by Jim Henson and Jerry Juhl, Jim Henson's The Tale of Sand with illustrations by Ramon Perez. I have yet to pick up the comic, but it's on my "Must-Do-Immediately" list. BleedingCool.com has a great look at a really cool edition of the comic where they talk a lot about how great the comic is and what a wonderful tribute it is to both Jim and Jerry. Be sure to pick up your copy of The Tale of Sand as soon as you can!

Our good friends at WeLoveFine T-Shirts have released a whole horde of fantastic shirts featuring The Muppets and Sesame Street characters, including the winners of their recent Muppet t-shirt design contest. But the highlights recently are various 8-Bit designs that pit the characters in pixelated forms, a la the classic video games of the 1980s. There's a great one with the Muppets (see at right), Sesame Street, and featuring Bert and Ernie in Super Mario Bros.-esque poses. I've got to get at least one of these... now the only problem is figuring out which one!

Finally, Amazon.com has released images and slight details on the Blu-ray and DVD release of The Muppets. No official release date has been given yet, but rumors of a March 20, 2012 release are abounding around the internet. There are four different versions of the movie that will be made available on Blu-ray and DVD next Spring. First up is the Three-Disc Blu-ray "Wocka Wocka Value Pack" featuring the Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital Copy, as well as the Soundtrack. Next is the Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack featuring the Blu-ray and DVD. Then, the Single-Disc DVD with the Soundtrack. And, lastly, only the DVD, whose cover art is not confirmed yet. I don't know about you, but I'm not thrilled with the cover art on any version... but I'll just be excited to own the movie on Blu-ray and DVD the day it's available (if not before) (I don't know how that would work, but whatever).






The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, ryguy102390@gmail.com

Archaia to Republish Classic Fraggle Rock Comics

James Gannon - Word broke out last week that Archaia Comics, the studio behind various adaptions of Jim Henson properties, is going to reprint the old 1980’s Marvel comics Fraggle Rock series into graphic novels.

Among the stories being reprinted are “The Magic Time Machine,” “The Trouble With Being #1,” “The Monster That Could Be Anything” and “The Doozer Who Wanted to Be a Fraggle.” All those and more will be bound in a softcover book retailing for $9.95. Fraggle Rock Classics vol. 1 will be available on August 31, 2011. (via ToughPigs)

 

While I admit the 80’s Marvel Fraggle comics weren’t the greatest thing, I still find this a great boon to fankind! Here’s why:

1)      These have been long out of print, and finding them at comic stores is a roll of the dice. I was lucky enough to find one issue (reprint of #5, "The Mean Genie" episode adaptation) for a buck a few years back, but it’s safe to assume you’re probably NOT going to walk into your local comic shop and find them. And if you do, they’re probably not going to be in good condition or have the complete collection. 

2)      Speaking of bad condition, these comics will be digitally remastered, recolored, and nice and polished.  Anyone who has early 80’s comics can vouch for me, they tend to deteriorate. They had to use newsprint stock paper and very greasy ink that would bleed through the paper and make the artwork look muddy and murky. And that’s even before the paper yellowed and the ink rubbed off onto other pages. Marie Severin’s Fraggle Rock comic art is spectacular, and needs to shine. The cleanup will do it worlds of good. Face it, the digitally printed, glossy stock of today’s comics spoiled us. And for good reason.

3)      Above all, HEY! It’s Fraggle Rock! What Muppet collector wouldn’t want more Fraggle stuff to collect? And at a reasonable 10 bucks too!

This is what I’ve been calling for since the Great Muppet Comic explosion. Graphic novel reprints of long lost, hard to find material, all remastered to look all sparkling clean and beautiful. I wish that Marvel/Disney takes the hint and clean up and rerelease the Muppet Babies comics in due time. If nothing else, I could see Archaia reprinting the Dark Crystal and Labyrinth comic adaptions published by Marvel as well. I also hope this means that the Fraggles will be a staple of the Jim Henson Company/Archaia Publishing license that they’ll revisit in time with new stories and issues. Having the old comics is great, but having new comics is even better.

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, ryguy102390@gmail.com

Muppet Comic Mondays: Fraggle Rock Volume 2 - Issue 3

 
James Gannon - What comic can come out a month early the second issue, and a month late the third and let it not detract at all from its super-coolness? Why, Archaia’s Fraggle Rock Volume 2 - Issue 3 of course! Okay... you find a way to address that without sounding like it matters.

The issue leads off with “My Gift is My Song” by Katie Cook. She usually handles the cute little craft activities at the end, and this is her first story since Volume 1 - Issue 1, and her first lead over all. Much like Langridge made the Muppet designs completely his own, so does Katie, giving them a fresh, bubbly, cute but not sickeningly so look that completely fits the characters. I especially like how she handled the Trash Heap, bringing out the character’s inner sweetness. She does look quite a bit different, but there’s something so unique about the design, yet keeping with the character (though, she does tend to move around a bit more, almost slug-like). Story-wise, we get Boober, worrying as always. This time, he wants to give a gift that comes from deep within him to Mokey... and someone else decided to give her socks. The title... well, aside from being an Elton John reference, kinda acts as a spoiler, but we finally get the first comic appearance of Cantus and his wandering band of Minstrels. Everyone from Storyteller Fraggle to Convincin’ John appeared before, but this is the first (and hopefully not only) time we got to see Cantus grace the pages of this fine publication.

Another great Traveling Matt postcard gets read by Gobo in “Shopping with Silly Creatures” (Katie Strickland/Lindsay Cibos ). Matt, curious about the Silly Creatures’ shopping habits infiltrates a Laundromat, and misunderstands things only the way he can. There’s a great aside by Boober to make sure the Fraggles misunderstand the point, as it should be. These are so close to the show, I can’t help but hear the familiar background music that accompanies the show segments as I read.

Finally, my favorite of the already amazing bunch, “Red’s Chomp-a-Thon” (Paul Morrissey/Nichol Ashworth). Being jealous of a Doozer winning a Doozer construction competition, and therefore not being the center of attention, Red Fraggle comes up with another cockamamie contest for to win for herself. A Doozer stick eating contest, mutually benefiting Red and the Doozers (who have to construct things for them to eat).  Red, being Red, makes sure to pick the weakest competition (her friends, who each have a different problem with the game) so she’s bound to win. Only there’s one Fraggle who she purposely ignored as a contestant, Large Marvin. I swear, Large Marvin has been in more comics than episodes of the show at this point. Hilarity ensues when the World’s Oldest Fraggle is the judge. Above all, a madcap, Fraggley end to an amazing volume.

What more can I say that I haven’t said five other times already? The comic is great, the art is great, the stories are great... so much time and care went to making this, they did a good thing making this an anthology series, differencing it from The Muppet Show Comic Book and Muppet Classics line. The only thing I can add is that I really hope this isn’t the end completely. Archaia’s got big plans for The Dark Crystal and A Tale of Sand (resurrecting a long-lost Henson screenplay), but I hope they consider at least one more volume of Fraggle Amazingness. If nothing else, these wonderfully done, original stories and beautiful art should outnumber the slapdash, contractual obligation “Oh, it’s just merchandise” Marvel comics of the 1980’s (I don't have anything against Marvel, but the Muppet Babies series was far superior as you'll see sometime).  What an injustice that would be if they didn’t.

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

Muppet Comic Mondays: News Update

The great folks over at Archaia Comics made the announcement official on Thursday that the Fraggle Rock Comic Book series will be continuing with a second series. The second installment will be sticking with the same format as the first three issues--one long story and two shorter stories in one book, along with activity pages such as "Draw Your Own Fraggle." Click the link above to read a great interview Comic Book Resources conducted with Archaia's Editor-in-Chief Stephen Christy about the Fraggles.

Comic Book Resources also has coverage of the Muppets and Roger Langridge spotlight panel at Comic Con. Langridge talks about his beginnings with The Muppet Show Comic Book and Disney Adventure Magazine and sheds some light onto his creative process and what is to come from The Muppet Show Comic Book in the future. (And the article writer misspells Fozzie... but that's another story.)

In other comic news, friend of the blog Amy Mebberson, "Muppet Peter Pan" and "The Muppet Show: Family Reunion" artist, has some awesome pictures on her blog, My Blue Sky, from her time at Comic-Con--including she and Roger Langridge with homemade Kermit and Gonzo puppets!











The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

News Update: July 9, 2010

NEWS UPDATE: July 9, 2010

It was announced this morning that the Sesame Workshop special, "When Families Grieve" was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award. The special that starred Katie Couric and Elmo, which showed families some coping mechanisms for dealing with the loss of a loved one, was nominated for Outstanding Nonfiction Children's Program. Its only competition is Nick News with Linda Ellerbee, so there is a good chance that Sesame Workshop will be bringing home yet another shiny statue to put on the mantle.

If you're planning to attend the San Diego Comic Con this year, be sure to stop by Archaia Comics' booth. According to Comic Book Resources, Archaia will be hosting five panels at this year's convention, one of which, on Sunday, July 25th, is dedicated to their work with The Jim Henson Company. The panel is scheduled to discuss the Fraggle Rock comic series, what's next for Archaia's partnership with Henson, and upcoming work with the worlds of The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth. Guests on the panel include some of the Fraggle Rock Comic Book team (including editor Tim Beedle) and Brian Froud, who worked with Jim Henson to develop The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth. So if you're in the San Diego area and plan to attend Comic Con 2010, be sure to stop by Archaia's presentation!

Renowned Disney sculptor and artist Jim Shore is taking on The Muppets! The artist has sculpted stone resin figures of Animal, Statler and Waldorf, Fozzie, Miss Piggy, and Kermit, on sale now. The figures cost $40  each ($50 for Statler and Waldorf), plus shipping, and seem to be great quality and look pretty darn good too.

A new set of Vinylmation Disney pins is now available at the Disney Parks. The set includes Vinylmation pins of Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Statler, Waldorf, Bunsen, and Beaker, and a mystery pin that can be either Bean Bunny, Sweetums, Rowlf, Rizzo, or The Swedish Chef. These pins are not only a lot cheaper than buying the Vinylmation figures, but they're also a lot easier to find.

Muppet Comic Mondays: Fraggle Rock #1

Before we get started with the regularly scheduled comic book review, I have to point out something. Yesterday, our good friends at ToughPigs posted five page previews for both The Muppet Show Comic Book #5 and Muppet King Arthur #4.

\I would like to direct your attention to page 5 of the Muppet King Arthur preview. First frame. Lower right corner. See it? YES! It's Angus McGonagle the Argyle Gargoyle who Gargles Gershwin! As fans of the blog are well aware, Angus has become a sort of mascot for our interviews with Muppet comic artists and writers. Our good friend, the extremely talented James Silvani answered the call (which was a muffled gargle) and brought Angus to life in glorious 2D!

So anyway... James Silvani is awesome! He asked me to tell my readers to "pick up the issue on Wednesday and all of your gargling gargoyle dreams will be answered." Also, be sure to check out James' upcoming Darkwing Duck comic series, which is released in June from BOOM! Studios, as well!


We now return you to your regularly scheduled Muppet Comic Mondays article.

James Gannon - What a time to live in. Not only do we get a regular Muppet Show based comic (as well as 4 issue literary miniseries sides), but now we even have a Fraggle Rock comic as well.

There is a difference, though. While the Muppets have had comics, a comic strip, 2 hard bound storybook type comics, and a recurring series of parody comics in Muppet Magazine, they never had a real regular comic book series until now (I, of course, don’t count The Muppets Take Manhattan movie adaption, and Muppet Babies is something different entirely). The Fraggles have. An 8 issue Marvel comic series was printed in 1985. However, the writing was so lacking that they apparently decided to stick to the worst thing about outside media based comics… the dreaded adaptations of TV episodes. Not terrible for people without HBO who didn’t see the series, but a bother to people who have. For the record, I say Marie Severin’s artwork was leaps and bounds better than the writing. I’d actually compare the two, but there’s no contest.

Archaia Comics, the company behind the 2010 series of Fraggle comics, have brought their A game and made an ACTUAL comic featuring ACTUAL original stories. While Boom’s Muppet lineup features different artists and writers for its back up literary series (and the occasional “guest artists” for the main series), Fraggle Rock has several different writers and artists in a single issue. This is something I actually prefer in a comic based on outside media because you get to see different artistic interpretations of the characters. And what a variation we get. Jeff Stokely’s semi-realism that really gets the puppet look down (though, it seems a bit stiff in some places, especially when he is capable of some great movement and expression. I especially like his interpretation of the Trash Heap), Katie Cook’s cartoonification of the characters, giving them a nice flow of cartoony movement, and the woodcut like style of Jeffrey Brown. They all fit very nicely and none seem to be out of place for the writing as each compliment their stories nicely. Indeed, Katie and Jeffery wrote and illustrated their own stories here.

As for those stories, this is presented in an anthology style format. One longer story, two shorter ones. First up, Gobo gets dared by Red to spend one night out in the Gorg’s garden, after she loses it when Gobo brings up his uncle’s exploration. In the first short story, Red invents a new game when silly creature technology falls into the Rock (dropped by Junior Gorg, of course). The second short features Red quite literally struck by inspiration, and (with Cotterpin’s help) invents a device that will change the way Fraggles live (at least, to her). This really seems to be an issue that focuses on Red, so I’d say that subsequent issues might also focus on one character. Either that or the writers get that Red is the most outspoken and proactive of the group. The writing here is very true to character (very important in these sort of comics), even managing to sneak in Gobo’s Canadian “eh” in the first story. And you’ll see quite a few favorites in these stories.  Marjory (complete with Philo and Gunge) and Cotterpin, you can also expect Sprocket.  But even Large Marvin gets a small speaking role. 

Unlike The Muppet Show Comic Book, this doesn’t so much give the feel that you’re watching an episode of Fraggle Rock so much as you get the feel that you’re seeing smaller, more candid moments of the characters.  It doesn’t need all the same segments and structure that the show did to make it great, and there’s no attempt at trying to get musical number in. But the stories themselves FEEL like they’re right out of the show (sans the Doc framing devices and Uncle Matt’s Postcards), I can’t really remember Red being an inventor, but it works so well here I didn’t even notice.

Even the odd 8 x 8 shape (think those larger paperback Golden Books) gives the comics a nice feel. Though, as a comic book collector, it’s a pain in the neck to find something to protect it. The paper stock is very high quality too. It’s much sturdier than the average comic, and when you have something as kid friendly as this, that’s important. There’s even a better use of the inside covers than the Muppet comics; instead of just reusing art from the inside of the book, the inside back has a nice little activity. Now, I’m not really big on activities in comic books if they’re inside in place of a story, but the inside back cover seems like a great place for it. This time, we’re treated to Mokey (with Katie Cook as the Ghost-artist) giving a Doozer drawing lesson.

Archaia Comics are committed to only three issues at this point (plus the half comic that was given out for Free Comic Book Day on May 1^st), but I would definitely buy this every month if it becomes successful enough to go beyond the miniseries point (much like The Muppet Show Comic Book did).

These Muppet and Fraggle comics are exactly what comic book versions of outside media are SUPPOSED to be like.  Now who’s arm at Sesame Workshop do we have to twist to get a Sesame Street comic around here?

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier