So there’s this digital comic from Action Lab’s Danger Zone label with a teddy bear that looks like Cube (O'Shea Jackson from N.W.A and Are We There Yet fame), from back in the 90’s. He has the fro, the pick and gold fronts, gold fucking fronts people! That’s all I needed to see; Bo: Plushy Gangsta, you have my attention. As an ice cream truck driven by a pair of street hoods fly down the desert highway they go back and forth about an urban legend, Bo. One of the men proclaims that Bo is a killing machine and he’s not to be taken lightly. As the truck pulls up to a compound in the middle of nowhere, the two men exit the vehicle and to the approval of the other gangsters, show the contents of their ice cream truck.
A small group of ladies emerge from the back. Afraid one of the girls comforts the other by insure that things will be fine because they’re Bo’s property and he’ll be coming for them. Now the women stand in front the gangs leader, a man named The Cut, to await their fate. From outside of the compound the sound of machine gun fire can be heard. As the gang goes to inspect the commotion, the women talk about Bo, giving more insight on his origin. Meanwhile, the gang is dealing with their guest out front who has made an explosive entrance.
If you would have told me this was pitched as a Scarface meets Ted I might not have given it a second thought. But if you would have told me it’s Ice Cube’s Death Certificate meets Child’s Play (kind of) I would have pooped my pants. While it’s not that brutal and yes the references I used are pretty dated, that doesn’t stop Bo: Plushy Gangsta from being a fun read.
Digging deeper, it would have been great to have the narrative rearranged a bit and the origin of Bo delivered in a different part of the story as it feels there’s a little too much going when it’s explained. Visually the book looks great, from the character designs, clean lines and the vibrant colors; the book has a crisp and clean look.
Action Lab’s digital release, Bo: Plushy Gangsta is a pretty entreating for its first issue. While the narrative had a few bumps the art and coloring is fantastic and it’s more than worth checking out.
Score: 3/5
Writer: Pavel Balabanov, Vasiliy Terentiev, Jason Martin Artist: Pavel Balabanov Publisher: Danger Zone Price: $.99 – Comixology Release Date: 10/9/13