With issue #4 of Captain Ginger, AHOY Comics signals the end of ‘season one’ of Captain Ginger’s tale. In a surprisingly trippy story, the captain and his crew encounter more than a couple shocks before leaving readers for a while. Also included in this issue as part of the extras is another installment of “Hashtag Danger” and the short story “Moments to Remember.” The #Danger story comes from AHOY Captain Tom Peyer with art by Randy Elliot, and the short story is by Audrey Ryer featuring art by Ryan Kelly. It’s only fitting that Captain Ginger closes out its first season as it opened: packed to the brim with value.
Captain Ginger
For those following the main Captain Ginger story, this is a fantastic conclusion that serves every possible purpose. It has what it needs to be satisfactory as an ‘ending’ while retaining all the intrigue necessary to keep those readers on the hook for season two. Doing this without any cheap tricks also earns series creators Stuart Moore and June Brigman bonus points.
The story itself is so wonderfully trippy and science fiction-y it reminds readers what it is about sci-fi that they love. At times where the plot becomes so engaging that readers forget they’re reading about cats in space, there’ll be a subtle joke that nods to the reader as if to say “remember, these are still cats in space.” Somehow Stuart Moore manages to take this concept and have fun with the readers. At times in this issue it’s silly and others it’s serious, but at no point is it not entertaining. Especially at four issues, this is the comic to introduce your friend that hasn’t read comics for a while. If they like cats, even better.
The Good
How do you follow something so absurdly silly-yet-serious as Captain Ginger? With something amusingly silly-yet-silly. The “Hashtag Danger” extra is one of the funniest installments of the series yet, with Tom Peyer getting a few giggles out of readers. The artwork from Randy Elliot is great and it’s interesting to see the slightly different take on the “#Danger” series than that of Chris Giarrusso.
The final extra, “Moments to Remember” by Audrey Ryer, is so surprisingly moving that it is actually in contention for best part of the issue. Being able to move readers with such a limited word count is a skill so many writers wish they had. For a comic book about cats in space, it was a story about a normal marriage going through problems that stood out the most. While the story doesn’t exactly ‘fit’ with the general tone of the book, its story is shockingly real. This only makes it stand out more as one of the best short stories AHOY has put out.
The Bad
As is often the case with an AHOY book, there’s not much to critique. As just stated, the short story doesn’t really fit with the tone of the book without some English Graduate reaching. It’s a tad jarring to go from silly-yet-serious to downright silly to downright serious, but that’s half the fun of the issue. Without this one minor complaint, there is nothing that stands out as a negative.
The Verdict
With the final issue in the short first season, all creators involved have made Captain Ginger a fantastic choice for those looking for something fresh in the comics industry. It could even bring a few lapsed readers back to comics with its uniqueness. There is nothing out there quite like Captain Ginger.
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