By Dustin Cabeal
I can see what Space Copz is attempting. It's reminiscent of a 90s afternoon cartoon, the second golden age of animation in which material was being made for children, but enjoyed by all. The story is wholesome and full of inoffensive jokes that are mostly about children.
Gamma is the bad guy of the story, and he’s created a new cereal that turns kids into zombies… Hence the title of the issue. We’re introduced to three children eating the cereal and then turning on their parents when yelled at by them. Enter Sgt. Alpha Omega and Beta Boy; they’re going to have to stop all these rampaging children by hitting them with motorcycles and stuff.
Many elements are humorous but never reach their full potential. The main reason is that there’s an abundance of dialogue to read and often a joke is made, but then the characters continue talking and deflate the gag instantly. Some of this is the script, some of this is the art and the panel choices. For instance, Alpha and Beta round up all the kids which is just Alpha putting them in a giant net (would have been funnier if it was just a brown sack) and throwing them in the back of their van. This is all done in three small panels, and then two giant-sized panels are dedicated to them establishing that it’s A) as many kids as they can find and B) they need to head back to the lab that is already assumed to be their destination based on the information provided on the previous page. The question becomes, “What’s the gag?” is it the dialogue or the kids in a net? Visually the answer is the dialogue, while in reality, it should have been Alpha bagging a bunch of kids and chucking them into a van without any care or concern for their wellbeing.
The issue is plagued with scenes like this which is a shame. It’s not all the art; it’s not all the writing, it’s both of them. They’re not in sync in a way that betters the book. The writing is decent, but again, there’s too much to read; especially for how straight to the point the story ends up being. The jokes were all predictable based on the material. There was only one gag that made me nod in acceptance.
The art is manga inspired with its designs. The linework is thick and bold giving it a loose feel. The eyes were the only thing that didn’t work with the character designs. It works for the main characters, but not the supporting characters. They look goofy and out of place. There isn’t much in the way of backgrounds leaving the colorist to rely on gradient fills and flat fills for most of the comic.
Again, I can see what Space Copz was going for, but in the end, the creative team's choices end up deflating a lot of their material. Space Copz has some potential, but it needs more polish all around.
Score: 2/5
Space Copz – Cereal Zombies
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