The B-Squad reminded me a lot of A-1’s Carpe Diem; both involve groups of strange characters and at least one character death each issue. Where they differ is that with the B-Squad any member could die in that issue. Essentially it means that at any point in the series your favorite character could bite the big one and be replaced in the very next issue. That is where the story begins, at a funeral for the latest member to bite the bullet. We meet the B-Squad (yes they are actually called that and respond to the name) as they’re mourning the latest lost. Their mourning period is cut short when Wheels appears with their newest member Sgt. Hadley Hamlin, former United States Navy Seal. With this comes some quick introductions for the rest of the team starting with Babs, a one legged woman in a two piece bikini with scars all over her body. Next is Jean Paul a chain smoking French stereotype; Sully the best private eye in all of Canada and an Expo’s fan, followed by MacGoogle who is a balding Apple geek that googles everything. The last member of the team is Bro-Dee a surfer type dude and supposed leader of the squad.

I’m going to go on a quick tangent about MacGoogle because he was my favorite character, he googles everything and it’s hilarious. It’s funny because he’s a great representation of what we all do with the internet on our phones and so you have to wonder why he’s there when anyone else on the team could do what he does. Even when something doesn’t need to be googled he googles it; even when the answer makes no sense, he states it. MacGoogle is the funniest character in my book.

The team is given their first mission which is to stop hipsters from stealing inbred Mogwui (yes the ones from Gremlins!) and preventing the hunt for the cure for cancer. It’s a silly story and our B-Squad may be on the wrong side of the argument and not even know it… or care. Someone dies of course and I have to say that I was happy with the choice.

The story is fun and not to be taken seriously at all. There is one inherent problem with the story though… the characters. With the gimmick of a character dying each issue I understand that character development isn’t going to be a focus, but it still has to play a role no matter what. The characters that last the longest will develop over time, but in the meantime since they’re all crazy stereotypes or gimmick characters, they need to be over the top. Some of them are, MacGoogle and Jean Paul for instance, but a few of them really just seemed to be there for sake of calling it a team. Don’t get me wrong it’s not bad, but with the potential of each issue being a character’s last it makes sense to have each of them cranked to eleven so that you care about their death and enjoy their presence until they die. And really as much as I’ve said about it, it’s a minor gripe with the story. The rest of the issue is very entertaining and full of humor that any child of the 80’s raised in the 90’s can appreciate.

The art is pretty damn awesome. The inbred Mogwui were adorably stupid. Most of them have safety helmets with their names on it and they eat pretty much anything. The character designs definitely bring out the over-the-top stereotypes of the characters which was needed. When the hipsters are introduced… well let’s just say that artist Lauren Monardo has definitely met a few in her lifetime and has captured the look and essence perfectly.

There is plenty of action in the issue and all of it is humorous and easy to follow. The coloring was fairly good. It was flat in some places, but still fit the story. Overall the art has an animated quality to it, but that could be amplified with richer coloring for sure.

I really liked the B-Squad. Around here we call a story like this a romp and there’s nothing wrong with that. The easiest way to think of this story is if the A-Team sucked at what they do, but it was awesome to watch them fail in the process. I’ll be back for more for sure, but if MacGoogle is the next to die I’m going to be pissed. Seriously that guy made me laugh a lot. Don’t delay, check it out today!

Score: 4/5

Writer: Eben E.B. Burgoon Artist: Lauren Monardo Letterist: Michael Sekigahama Self-Published Price: $7.00 – Print, $1.99 - Digital Website Also available on Amazon