For those of you who are familiar with the Nintendo Comic System, I need no formal introduction, but for those of you who have not had a chance to read any (or many) of these comics, I'd like to voice my opinion on them and compare them to the cartoons that were on around the same time.
Now the cartoons don't stand up well on today's standards. Don't get me wrong, I love them, but they lack certain qualities. It seems like when they were made everyone was just obsessed with Mario so they made the objective Mario saves Princess routine. Of course there were branchoffs, and lots of movie parodies, but the stories often contained poor humour and dialogue. For an animated series at the time, it did its part...especially since Mario was apparently "the thing" back then.
However, I'd like to point out that I find that the comics stand up way better than the animated series in terms of humour, dialogue, and general story. I was lucky enough to get my hands on 7 Mario-related comics and 1 Zelda-related. My first thumbs up goes to the drawings. The characters in the Mario series were depicted very nicely on these pages. I also like to point out The King....yeah we don't see too much of him nowadays...or ever in games. He was a good character though, and explains why Princess is called Princess and not just taking the title because it sounds good. The dialogue and humour also stand tall, and the stories in these comics are huge branchoffs from the games, rather than the cartoons doing just what they would be doing in a game.
My favourite would have to be "The Kingdom Enquirer" where Toad becomes a reporter. Mario is sent out on a secret mission by the King, and Toad decides to follow him to get the scoop. Since Toad can't keep his mouth shut, Mario ditches him and Toad is ambushed by some Hammer Bros. When he says he's a reporter, he is joined by more who are falling over themselves to tell their secrets. The dialogue was witty, it had some scary moments, a variety of emotions, and (thank god) no pasta puns.
I also really enjoy the one about Mario's favourite magazine called Dirk Drain Head. Mario and Luigi are asked to go get Princess's favourite magazine, but that involves a walk through World 5-1 (Super Mario Bros. 2 oriented) and Mario drives Luigi crazy by continuously talking about his magazine.
Another good thing about these comics is the mini-stories in between the larger stories. For example, they have "Fry Guy High" which is a page from a yearbook with Fry Guys, who get in trouble for "Smokin' in the Boys Room" the field trip to the fireworks factory, and striking out the shyguys with their flameballs. Then there's Bowser's high school yearbook which you get to see some clever pictures of his friends and victims and their signatures. Another mini-story shows Mario driving a truck full of goods to Toad's House (a la Super Mario Bros. 3) while Toad is exhausted from having already stored Mario's junk. My favourite would have to be where Mario is gambling with Luigi and Toad and trying to cheat, but at the end you see Toad wearing Mario's clothes. (Ha ha ha) There was even one about Mario's early years where it shows him with a moustache at age 4 and an interest for plumbing.
Whether it be the general story, a mini-story, or even some of the ads (like the one with Mario opening the chests at Toad's House and it shows future issues) these comics are front to back awesome. They are way more humorous and story-oriented than the cartoons. Wart even appears in one of the stories! Yeah! Wart! It's been a while hasn't it. He actually appeared in something. How many of these issues they made is beyond me, but I saw a bunch of them on the TMK website. Not sure if that's all of them, but they did have the subscription forms in the comics, asking if you'd like to send away for 12 issues. So, who knows if they made an even 12 or not. They also had fan mail in a lot of the comics, which was nice.
Anyway, I'd like to end this review by talking about an interesting series. Game Boy. I had the first 3 issues, and it is such an interesting story. The storyline involves a man named Herman Smirch who gets possessed by Tatanga, and they emerge from the Game Boy to try and conquer places on Earth. The storyline is dark and interesting. There is definately character within them, and as the series goes on you see Herman turn from a scared man who wants to be left alone to a loyal follower of Tatanga. I'd personally love to get more of this series. And the only way to save the day is to get Mario out of that Game Boy.
In conclusion, if you ever see any comics, grab em. They're rare (I'm assuming) and just awesome.
