Comics Bulletin secured a preview of Kaeru-Boy from the creative team just before the book’s initial sale at the Baltimore Comic Convention. From the description alone I volunteered to give the title the once over and throw down some review action. Here’s the pitch that colored me sold.

“Can a kid struggling with dyslexia and the loss of his parents get past all the anger inside and start life over with a new family, new home and new frog powers? Join Gavin Ito as he hops, smashes and blasts his way through super-heroing and elementary school.”

Sure, the book doesn’t exactly come ripe with adult themes and content. This is a comic that’s designed to merely entertain with unadulterated fun. So, my suggestion, take the story at face value; it’s supposed to be about a good time. Stephens’ art sets that feel of fun up immediately with a dynamic, toony presentation. For the most part, I’ll label the art a distinct success. The mood of the story is rarely hindered by it, and at moments, the art itself pulls the overall quality higher. Vega’s lucky to have an artist on board with this project that won’t do anything to reduce the strength of the work. Which, of course, is big news for an independent comic.

But what is hurting the story is the lack of color. When I first looked at the preview file sent through the internets (it is plural, by the way) I was a little disappointed in the quality of the file. Static scenes looked fine, as the blur didn’t pull away much from the look. But as soon as Kaeru-Boy took to hopping and tonguing, the images suffered from a lack of digital quality. So I figured I’d hold off until this weekend’s convention to get a hold of the book. I got it and, unfortunately, the moments of intense action were still a little thick and over-drawn. The boy’s suit looked jumbled and indistinguishable amidst the panels on the page. But the look of the suit in the color cover is awesome. It looks great, and I mean great in a way that would draw new readers to the story.

As for the plotline itself, well, much like the thematic direction of the comic, it’s amusing. This isn’t going to raise the bar for the super-hero genre, it’s just going to pass some time as an entertaining read. Vega’s writing and humorous characters make the read feel almost like Ren & Stimpy meets The Animaniacs. Each character is an odd caricature and the mastermind/villain readers are presented with on the final page made me laugh out loud. By the end of the issue I was ready for more, which is exactly what a comic like this needs.

To wrap this up, I’ll just give you more of what I’ve been saying throughout. This book is downright fun. It’s not going to flip anything on its head and it isn’t something that you’ll likely be picking up over and over again. It’s an easy read that will leave most feeling fine and dandy. I definitely recommend it for any one out there that’s a fan of the more whimsical titles. For more info and news regarding the boy with the frog powers, head to http://www.kaeruboy.com.

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