Is It Good? Angry Birds Comics #1 Review

Just when you thought that the Angry Birds franchise had finally become escapable, IDW brings us Angry Birds Comics, the new ongoing anthology series written by Jeff Parker and Paul Tobin with art by Paco Rodriques, Marco Gervasio, and Cesar Ferioli.

Somehow, these creators had to complete the task of turning a mobile app — a game about birds flinging themselves at pigs — into something resembling coherent stories. Is it good?

Angry Birds Comics #1 (IDW Publishing)

Okay, look. Generally speaking, I like Angry Birds as much as the next guy. Granted, I don’t know how much this guy next to me in the library right now likes Angry Birds, but he’s a youngish looking dude with a smart phone, so the chances are pretty good that he has played Angry Birds at some point, and since Angry Birds was pretty much the biggest bird-related app in the world before Flappy Bird took the spotlight, chances are good that he enjoyed it too. But enough about that guy. The point I was trying to get to is that as much as you may or may not enjoy the simple addictiveness of Angry Birds, you have to admit that it’s a pretty weird premise for a comic.

Luckily, Jeff Parker and Paul Tobin seem to have a good handle on the material that they’re working with. The world of Angry Birds Comics is not much more complex than that of the video game. This is still a world where, for some reason, a bunch of green pigs are trying to steal eggs from a bunch of multicolored, oddly shaped, and irritable birds, and for some reason, the only solution to this problem is for the birds to put themselves into a giant slingshot and launch themselves at the pigs.

But making Angry Birds into a comic adds at least one crucial element: dialogue. Now the birds are able to talk amongst themselves discussing how best to defeat the pigs, and the pigs are able to discuss how best to shelter themselves from the constant threat of kamikaze.

Okay, there’s a bit more to it than that. The first story by Jeff Parker and Paco Rodriquez, “Bomb Hiccups,” is about the Bomb Bird exploding every time that he hiccups. It’s as silly as it sounds, and the joke wears out its welcome, but there are few laughs to be had from it nonetheless.

The next story, “Dumb Assembly Required” by Paul Tobin and Marco Gervasion, is indeed pretty dumb, but, like “Bomb Hiccups,” is respectable in its willing embrace of how utterly childish it is. I’m an adult with no children. I am not part of this book’s core audience, and I won’t hold it against this comic for not appealing to me directly.

The third and final story, “Propiganda,” with art by Cesar Firioli and written once again by Jeff Parker, is the best and cleverest of the bunch, as the pigs use deceptive literature to try to turn the birds against each other. It’s a cute and fun way to introduce children to a fairly sophisticated and often rather frightening concept.

Is It Good?

If the idea of reading comics about Angry Birds sounds too silly for you, Angry Birds Comics probably won’t change your mind. But if you have kids that are fans of the franchise, they may get a kick out of it.