Things?  I LOVE things!!  Give me the things!!

BOOM! has really found a fan in me with the Munchkin series.  I’ll admit I was skeptical at first, after all I love the storyless, dungeon-crawling aspect of the game (as it means I don’t have to write for whiny PCs and such . . . no, I love those folks), and I didn’t know what slapping a narrative into this world would do to it.  Well, me likey.

Tom Siddell continues his two-part tale starring Spyke and Flower and has quite a good time with it.  I want to say that I love the simple story-telling style, but also highlight how difficult I find it to pull that off effectively.  It takes a lot of trust in material to hang what seems like See Spot Run-types of humor out there, but Siddell is a master of the chutzpah, and we get to reap the rewards.  He distills the gags to their basics and has faith that they work. Much like the gag from the Big Hero Six trailers with the air leak and the tape, it’s seriously funny nonsense elevated to the sublime (a la John Cleese and Monty Python. If you’ve never seen this quote, YouTube search it to listen to one of the best descriptions of comedy style I’ve ever heard).

Ian MGinty continues to serve up the style that matches Siddell’s tone and wit perfectly and matches the wonderfully silly style of the source game.  Visual gags are understated only when you need a break from the wonderful slap-schtick that permeates the world, and he has the deft touch to land both with signature skill.

In the backup slot, Jim Zub and Rian Sygh deliver a Munhckinian take on Eldritch Horrors, and if Lovecraft isn’t spinning in the ground while peeing himself laughing . . . well, that’d probably be good, ’cause zombies and all, but he’d still dig the fun here.  Zub-step simultaneously skewers and elevates both sources, and the result is some Reese’s peanut butter cup magic.  Making fun of the tropes of H.P.’s style (not the boy who lived, ya fools) while still managing to convey the tone, depravity, and overall hopelessness of the Cthulu situation is remarkable and enjoyable to the extreme.

Check this issue out, if you’re a fan of laughing at the nerd you are, in a fun and silly way.

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