“Mystery Science Theater 3000†was one of the biggest pieces of nerd culture that many people still hold dear to this day. In fact, “Netflix†rebooted the series. Joel Hodgson, the creator of the show, teamed up with Harold Buchholz and a team of comic writers and artists to bring us “Mystery Science Theater 3000 The Comic†and while it has some of the usual “MST3K†bits in it, it lacks the humor.
Kinga Forrester creates a machine called the “Bubbalat-r†which sucks a person into a comic and makes them the star. She uses it on the crew of “The Satellite of Love†and hijinks ensures with the first comic starring Tom Servo as a teen reporter.
On the surface, the idea of these characters starring in their own comic sounds hilarious. The problem is, Servo’s story falls flat. Yes, the comic does make fun of comics from the 60s and comic fans will get all the references, but the jokes are nothing but fourth wall breaking. They get old really quick and it will make longtime fans hate the jokes even more. What’s worse, they feel forced.
The problem with making an “MST3K†comic is all the humor is about the host and his robots making fun of a cheesy movie. Having them in something with a plot is a terrible idea because that’s not the type of humor this show has going for it.
The artwork is the only saving grace of the comic. The art before the cast enters the comic is mediocre. The characters look weird and they have this odd cartoony stretch look going for it. The art in the comic is an excellent portrayal of 60s comics. This is the kind of art your grandpa would recognize right down to the clothes, almost all the females having blond hair and all the young guys being buff. The faded brown pages are a nice touch, too.
The first issue of “Mystery Science Theater 3000 The comic†tries to make fun of comics but tries way too hard to be funny that it’s annoying. The artwork may be on the money, but if there are no laughs there’s no point in reading this comic.
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