BOOM!‘s recent collaboration with our favorite animation studio has intelligently furthered the stories of our favorite Pixar characters, including those in Andy’s room, using the medium of comics.
I recently read through the latest Toy Story issue #0, "The Return of Buzz Lightyear", and completely loved it! The comic is definitely a separate and distinct experience from the film itself, but each character is written to match his or her respective on screen personality and the situations feel like they belong in the same universe. Better yet, the writing doesn’t talk down to anyone, so it’s not a kiddie comic by any means although kids will enjoy it.
In part one of this four part story, Andy gets a new Buzz from his grandma, to the other toy’s dismay. Luckily, he has the receipt and quickly decides to return the toy for another Star Command character. But when new Buzz escapes from his box, Andy’s Buzz starts questioning if he’s worthy of his owner when he could have a "better" version of himself. Tensions rise and hilarity ensues! As usual, Woody is in the middle of the mess.
Written by rock star Jesse Blaze Snider, this expansion of the TS saga is sure to turn in all sorts of crazy directions. Snider does a great job of keeping Buzz, Woody and company as "in character" as possible, even adding some obscure typically mute characters in the mix like Rocky Gibraltar. You should also look out for cameos of Luxo Jr. and Booster from Buzz Lightyear of Star Command as rendered by artist Nathan Watson. For more behind the scenes info, check out this interview with writer Jesse Blaze Snider over at Newsarama.
Issue one of Toy Story #0 is now available at your local comic shop or at BOOM!‘s website. I highly recommend you check it out and pretty much everything else from BOOM! and Disney/Pixar! It’s some good stuff to keep you occupied in between theatrical and home releases.
Last modified: December 19, 2009
Boom does a few OK comics. Sadly, their best efforts are NOT for the Pixar characters. They are poorly written, drawn and rendered. I wish Pixar would do something about this.
I’d have to disagree on one part, although the art isn’t top notch (sometimes it’s horrendous) the writing is pretty good for a comic with that kind of a deadline. The stories are also lots of fun in between your usual Pixar films. It’s not like we’re expecting a masterpiece (that’s what Pixar is for) but it’s not as bad as you’ve made it seem. I enjoy them. 🙂