If you enjoy comics that are fun, visually unique, and supply plenty of love for their title character, Clobberin’ Time should be on your pull list. Steve Skroce has set everyone’s favorite blue-eyed Thing on two adventures featuring Wolverine and Hulk, and now it’s Doctor Strange’s turn to take a ride in Clobberin’ Time #3.
A mysterious man from the future continues to plague Thing with headaches, and it gets even more complicated this week when Doctor Strange is tracked after agreeing to help him. It’s made worse when Doctor Strange is tracked to a restaurant where Thing and Alicia give his aunt Petunia a fat check, ruining the dinner. This all devolves into portal hopping, a fight with Mekron and his psychotic children, and another appearance of the mysterious traveler.
Skroce proves once again he knows how to entertain the reader. The story moves along at a good clip, new settings are introduced, and the action is easy to follow. The location change adds the weirdness of Doctor Strange, but also a fun sequence requiring Thing to toss some health potion into a very stabbed Doctor Strange.
The train has entered the station!
Credit: Marvel
This book has an adult vibe, but it’s mostly all-ages fun. For instance, there’s blood splattering the restaurant wall, and we even get to see Thing’s butt. Even the Watcher who narrates the story has a grotesque scared face when you look closely at it. Skroce’s art has a thicker line creating a weight to everything. The detail is fabulous, too, making even a painting in the restaurant look realistic. The over-the-top wizard Mekron allows for some fun action, although the fight ends abruptly.
The mystery of the traveler is further explored in this issue. It seems he may be from the future or a dimension where things are pretty terrible. Skroce has him pop up at different times, with the character younger in this issue than he was in the last issue. This puts where Thing enters the story into perspective. One can imagine a future problem will reveal some truth about why Thing is the one thwarting him at every turn, seemingly by accident.
Thing continues to look great, with every inch of stony skin looking thick and cracked. There’s some nice texture added by color artist Bryan Valenza who always seems to give things a little more life. That goes for Thing’s suit, which would otherwise be flat but has a bit of volume given to it. Above all else, the humanity of Thing is never lost. He’s a monster, but the expressions and life Skroce and Valenza bring to the eyes, and face are evident in every panel he appears in.
Clobberin’ Time is so good I wish Marvel Comics gave Skroce carte blanche to do a solo book for every hero. Blending humor, adult themes, and a sweet, artistic style, every page delivers.
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