Bravest Warriors #1 (2016) Review

Space Sharks

Written by: Joey Comeau and Ryan Pequin
Art by: Mike Holmes, Ryan Pequin, Zack Sterling, Steve Wands and Mirka Andolfo
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: October 24, 2016
Publisher: Kaboom!

This is what I love about our Saturday Morning Weirdness, I get to pick comics to review, and as long as I can shoehorn them into somewhat fitting the concept of Saturday Morning cartoon funness, it's all good.  It's kind of like a just for the fun of it Saturday thingee and I have a lot of fun doing it.  That all leads into reviewing Bravest Warriors, the outer space adventure by Pendleton Ward, creator of Adventure Time.  This one came out a while back and the funny thing is, I bought it for my son Ethan at the time since he was such a huge Adventure Time fan, but I'm not even sure he read it.  I'd ask him, but then I'd have to talk to him and if you knew Ethan, then you'd know why that isn't happening right now.  Teenagers!  Well, it's time to dust it off and make that $3.99 count for something...a glorious Weird Science Saturday Morning Weirdness review...


The issue begins with a cold opening that throws us into the mix without warning.  If you don't know much about the Bravest Warriors, you will probably be as lost as I was, but you'll certainly love the character designs and fun of a mission accomplished.  That is, if you like having fun.

We then get a proper introduction to the characters and while there is nothing here to blow the reader's minds, that's not what this is all about. It's about having fun and if you are a fan of Adventure Time or even Teen Titans Go!, you will feel right at home.  My favorite from the get go has to be Beth, but Wallow is a close second.

Joey Comeau then gives us a battle to the death between cupcakes (my money was on green) and the introduction of another character, Plum, who may be vying for my top spot.  She is an all powerful alien with an ancient wise other alien personality inside her and she is pretty awesome.

Jumping into this book, I was ready to write such age-old phrases as, "If you are looking for an all-ages laugh-fest, then look no further" and other classics from my Reviewing Comics for Dummies book, but halfway through, I'm not sure that's the case.  I'm not saying that as a bad thing, just that the Adventure Time connection and the art style can't disguise the smart, adult humor in this book.  There isn't anything raunchy, mind you, but some of the subject matter and references may fly right over the little ones heads like a pancake on Tuesday.

Back to the comic, the Warriors sit down for a movie trailer night.  Yep, they sit down to watch trailers to pick the scariest movie and the trailers are good fun as is the character development (actually, more introduction) through interaction.  Everything is full of satire and references and made Wallow jump to the top of my list.

The story ends with a distress signal and the beginnings of a mission that I'm not sure will actually continue into next issue, but I hope it does because it involves Clowns.  Everyone loves clowns, right?  I guess not, because we find out what Coulrophobia is.

There is also a cute little backup story by Ryan Pequin all about laser tag, riding shotgun, and kicking butt at the crane game.  It continues the fun of the regular issue and looks great.

This is an odd issue to put a score on.  I had fun reading it, but not much happens at all except getting to know the Bravest Warriors themselves.  However, this is a first issue and that is pretty important stuff.  Joey Comeau does a really good job giving us such a likable team and hey, any comic that references Amelia Simmons is a-okay in my book!

I love the art by Mike Holmes.  Of course, the look is Adventure Time in Space and that is fine with me.  It is the spitting image of the Internet cartoon which means it looks adorable and fun.

Bits and Pieces:

While the look of Bravest Warriors and it;s obvious connection to Adventure Time may lead you to think of this as a kiddie book, it's a bit more than that.  While this issue is complete character setup, it has the wit and references that are more adult-friendly than I would have imagined.  I liked it enough to continue on with the series and I'll recommend it to anyone that is looking for a comic that only exists to have some goofy fun in a goofy universe with goofy characters.

8.0/10