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Is It Good? Bob's Burgers Vol. 1 Review

Comic Books

Is It Good? Bob’s Burgers Vol. 1 Review

Who doesn’t love Bob’s Burgers? It’s funny, crazy and packs more puns into every 22 minutes than previously thought humanly possible. But how does the hilarious show translate into a comic book? Is it good?

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Bob’s Burgers Vol. 1 (Dynamite Entertainment)


Is It Good? Bob's Burgers Vol. 1 Review

I have to say, I’ve never really enjoyed a Simpsons or Futurama comic, or any other animated show-turned comic. But, I thought that since the show was so good Bob’s Burgers might be the exception. Unfortunately, it’s plagued by the same disease that makes the Simpsons and Futurama comics in the end not so funny. This disease is a lack of voice actors. Voice actors really make these shows what they are and without them, it’s just kind of like reading the script to a show. I guess that you could make the case that any literature is like reading a script to something, but it seems like Bob’s Burgers was written to be a TV Show, and that just doesn’t translate into a very enjoyable comic book. A lot of the jokes sort of feel flat because of a lack of actors/sound effects, which is a pity, because the writers had some pretty good material.

Each issue is formatted as so: each kid in the Belcher family is alloted some amount of pages to tell their own story. Gene’s is always a musical, Tina’s is always an “Erotic Friend Fiction” and Louise’s is always a mystery. Between those stories are little documents that each of the parent’s wrote. Bob’s is typically a Burger of the Day brainstorm sheet, and Linda’s is always some kind of wine-fueled letter. Of all the different features, Tina’s were by far the funniest, but all were amusing to some extent.

Is It Good? Bob's Burgers Vol. 1 Review

This format did one thing well, it gave the kids a lot of spotlight, which is good because they are really the funniest characters. Having Bob and Linda take a backseat was also kind of nice because the show is usually all about them. Also, because the kids are all so unique, it was refreshing to have a totally different type of story for each section of the issue. The format’s downfall was the fact that it was repeated throughout all five issues is pretty much the same way every time. By the fifth “Erotic Friend Fiction” I was kind of sick of that story structure, and a lack of great variety made reading the comic issue after issue kind of grating. I would have much preferred to have gotten a little of each story once a month, rather than reading through countless very similar stories, which by the end felt like kind of a slog.

There’s nothing really to comment on about the art of Bob’s Burgers. Other than many really fun and creative pin-ups from various sources and creators, the interior art of Bob’s Burgers was nothing special. It looked almost identical to the animation in the show, which I guess means the artists are able to replicate the source material nicely, but it’s not that special issue after issue. I understand that it’s kind of the norm for comics like Bob’s Burgers to look like their shows, but it would have been nice to see someone breaking convention and implementing some different looking art.

Is It Good? Bob's Burgers Vol. 1 Review

Is It Good?

It would have been better had I read it monthly. There’s some decent writing within Bob’s Burgers, but the trade is so monotonous and the art is so blah that it’s hard to really recommend it. I was excited for the comic initially but now I think I’m going to just stick to the show.

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