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Reviewed by David Rasmussen Spnogebob Squarepants will most likely never be the basis of a KAPLAN SAT/ACT vocabulary skills building book (unless they start helping you study for Elementary School entrance exams… whatever those are), but it is the basis of part of TOKYOPOP's CineManga series. In this thin, thin volume, we study cases of crime and punishment in the dark recesses of the world of Bikini Bottom. Cases of GTB : Bikini Bottom, psychological torment, and -- a Justice League parody. Yes, you can't have stories of either crime or punishment in this city without a Justice League parody, which means dragging out the town's premiere geriatric Aquaman clone, Mermaid Man (and his elderly kid sidekick Barnacle Boy). In "Life of Crime", after being brainwashed by a dishonest Mr. Krabs, Spongebob and Patrick proceed to GTBaloon a balloon… on Free Balloon day… how can you have balloons at the bottom of the sea? That's not as odd as the next part, keep reading. They got this from the park, with its bright green grass (GRASS?!?) and flowing bubbly little river… under the sea… must be heavy water. Obviously the balloon breaks, and the two (who only intended to "borrow" the balloon) become fugitives on the run… from nobody but their own fevered imaginations… until at last after much insanity, they turn themselves into the police and await trial. In "No Free Rides", Spongebob finally drives his boat-driving-teacher insane to the point that she is willing to sell her very soul (or at least the next best thing, which is give Spongebob, yes, a boat-driving license) to be free of the yellow menace. Turns out that was a bad idea as first she hallucinates the chaos he will cause, then slips into madness when her worst fears are realized and Spongebob is given a new boatmobile. After two cases of GTB (Balloon and Boatmobile respectively) what else can we do? Oh, I don't know, how about -- murder!! Yes, it's "Nasty Patty", the episode where Spongebob and Mr. Krabs think they've gone and murdered the health inspector. Why? Well the Health Inspector drops in and they're serving him the best they can (i.e. shoving food down his throat) while listening to the TV while catering to this guy to get the Krusty Krab safety checked. Newsreport comes on and reports on a "fake" Health Inspector doing an eat and run scam, so they spike his food and he keels over. Now while the two are laughing their butts off at the poor guy another newscast comes on and they find out he wasn't that fraud guy but a real Health Inspector, and they suddenly think they killed him -- so they decide to hide the body out in the dark rainy night… why it's raining beneath the ocean I don't know, don't ask… when they are picked up by the cops and forced to hide the "dead body" (turns out the guy is still alive, odd considering how badly they mistreat his "corpse") in the Krusty Krab freezer. Fun times, fun times. And finally, because we don 't get enough Justice League parodies thrown across out collective reviewing desks, here's one more. "Superfriends." Finally tired ot being geriatric Aquaman clone Mermaid Man's sidekick, Barnacle Boy crosses over to the dark side. That should be a good enough reason to form a Justice League style team (which actually includes the words "Justice League" in its name) with clones of the Flash, Plastic Man, the Invisible Woman from the Fantastic Four and… and… Mr. Volcano Head… eh? It's Spongebob Squarepants. If you have not been watching the Animated Series, have not seen the movie, or do not happen to be reading the originally scripted/drawn comic series from Nickelodeon, then you are not going to suddenly go Spongehead on me overnight. Series like this have a niche audience, they appeal to one group and one group alone (in this case: Spongebob Squarepants fans). There is no reason to sell you on this because if you are not already converted by the animated series (a free product supplied by the Nickelodeon channel at certain hours of the day, sometimes in long "marathon" format schedules), no amount of reasoning on my part will convince you to invest $8 for a book about a series you wouldn't invest 30 minutes to eight hours watching (during marathon days). You are either into this, or you are not. And unlike Totally Spies, at least this "competition" between TOKYOPOP and Nickelodeon is more complimentary than rivalry as each product is an individual item (either manga style prints of animated series episodes or fresh originally written/drawn content), meaning you (as a fan) shouldn't mind buying both since they are each unique and not repackaging of the same material twice over (like Totally Spies). Still, since it is such a specific niche audience item, I'm going to be a bit low on it, and give it a B- for being what it is. A Spongebob Squarepants fan-only affair. Think you could have written a better review of Spongebob Squarepants: Bikini Bottom's Most Wanted? Write us and we'll probably let you give it a shot! --EiC PC |
17 March 2010
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