By Damien Becton
Regular Show is known for its crazy and extremely far-fetched comedy plots that contradict its title. A show (now a comic) that stars a talking raccoon (not Rocket), a talking blue jay, with a talking gumball machine, and living lollipop should be expected to have ridiculous stories to accompany it. This comic adds another element to the ridiculousness by setting the current story 25 years into the future where Mordecai and Rigby have started families and are parents and husbands. I’ll say this - if you’re unfamiliar with the cartoon and what I just described sounds entirely too stupid to enjoy, don’t even think about getting this book. If you’re a fan of the original, you’ll know what to expect and probably get a kick out of it.
Writer, Christopher Hastings, does a great job of capturing the voices and personalities of Mordecai and Rigby well. Whenever a character speaks, I can truly hear those voices in my head saying the lines perfectly. When I picked this book up and read Rigby’s dialogue, I thought to myself, “This is exactly what Rigby would say in this situation.” I think it is fair to say that it is a tough job to get the voices of characters that are this ridiculous correct, but Hastings does extremely well.
However, one issue that I had with the book is that, even though Hastings get the voices and personalities of these characters correct, the voices and personalities are of Mordecai and Rigby NOW. This issue tells us that they are “perfect” fathers and husbands now without showing us much of it. They’re the same old Mordecai and Rigby, just with beards (which are pretty cool, by the way). This is a minor gripe and I know that I am nitpicking - so, maybe I’m just asking a little too much from a comic book based on a show from Cartoon Network.
Regardless, the art is done extremely well. The main characters and the new characters, species, and cups look like they’re straight from the cartoon itself. I would imagine that it is rather difficult trying to emulate a specific art style but here, Anna Johnstone, executes the orders magnificently.
It should be noted that I am reviewing this comic as both a fan of Regular Show, the cartoon. This book has a specific audience and if you are not in that demographic then I can almost guarantee this book won’t do anything for you. If you are a fan of the show then you will like the things in this book. Mordecai and Rigby will give you some good laughs, along with how a simple task snowballs into a ridiculous problem that the duo has gotten themselves into. Other than a minor, paperthin nitpick that I had with the book regarding lack of development for the characters, this book is entertaining as heck. The characters act like their television counterparts and the plot is as ridiculous as ever. If you like the show and have room on your pull for this book, pick it up.
SCORE: 4/5
Regular Show... 25 Years Later! #1
BOOM! Studios