By Chuck Suffel
From kaboom! studios:
“Everyone’s favorite sub-zero heroes are back you won’t want to miss this. ICE AGE: ICED IN reunites prehistoric friends Manny the wooly mammoth, Sid the sloth, Diego the smilodon, Scrat the “saber-toothed” squirrel, and the rest of your Paleolithic pals in one big unforgettable icecapade. Venture out into the wild and pick up the only comic that gives you a license to chill!”
If you read this site you’re familiar with my quest for interesting all ages comics. I’ve brought my daughter up on Tiny Titans, Scooby Doo, as well as Mark Mariano’s HappLoo (more on that in a later post) and she’s thoroughly enjoyed all of it. This month I may have found something new to add to her collection.
I loved the Ice Age movies, it’s hard to believe the first came out around ten years ago (2002), when I saw this title in my Boom! previews I knew I had to have a look. The book looks great, the transition from moving to non moving imagery was done perfectly. The panels flow well and they were even able to tell the usual Scrat parallel story seamlessly. The characters work well in this medium and their mannerisms and voices are true to the films.
The only complaint I had was that the story was a too short, too simple. We read comics every month that pack drama and fun into 32 pages, this was written down to kids. What made these characters great in three separate movies was more than just Manny and Diego busting Sid’s chops or Sid acting like a lovable idiot, it was the challenges they faced and how their friendships grew. That was what made them interesting and lovable.
I would even go as far as to say if this is going to be someones introduction to these characters, don’t do it. Watch the movies, any of them, first then come back to this. If this were an ongoing series I could forgive the simpleness of this issue and hope for character and story depth later on but this isn’t being presented that way. So my resulting opinion has to be good book, could’ve been much better, wish there were going to be more but if this is being put out to test the waters? They severely underestimated the intelligence and depth of their audience.
Will my daughter read this title? Let me put it this way, she’ll be at the comic shop on February 1st, I’ll point it out. She likes it we’ll buy it, there’s no good reason not to. I just wish it were better, I wish it was one of those books I couldn’t wait to hand her.
ICE AGE: ICED IN
Written by Caleb Monroe
Drawn by Shelli Paroline and Braden Lamb
SC, 32pgs, FC, SRP: $3.99
COVER: Liam Sharp
ISBN: 9781608862528
Diamond Code: OCT110938
Follow Chuck on Twitter @Chuck_Suffel