My Bad is here with its grand finale. Everything so far has been leading up to this. Mark Russell and Bryce Ingman bring the series to a close and throw in a couple surprises for good measure. This month sees the main chapter dedicated to all the recurring characters of the last issues, properly together for the first time. Additionally, there’s another fantastic installment of ‘Toy Ad’ by Russell, as well as a prose story from Ingman. Not to mention the book has a post-credits scene, too.
The Good
How many comics make sure even the contents page is funny? The credits/ contents page that opens the issue starts the humor that the book keeps going. It’s hard to believe, but literally the opening words of the book will get a laugh out of you. That’s impressive.
This issue is the most ‘comic book’ of the series and features the most coherent, plot-focused story. Despite this, it’s not as if the satire has taken a back seat — the book is as funny as ever, only now there’s a clear picture of what the story is. If there’s been a criticism of the series it’s that, while funny, it has been a bit aimless. Each installment featured a number of good jokes with the characters available but it never went anywhere fast. This issue rectifies that, and with only five issues it’s not as if it was a long wait.
Considering how the series started, it’s a real testament to Russell and Ingman’s skills that they’ve not only crafted likable and unlikable characters, but that they’ve managed to incorporate twists that genuinely leave the reader caring about characters they thought were nothing more than puns and jokes months ago.
It’s hard to tell if the series should have been more like this issue from the start. Overall the main chapter is the most engaging of the series, so perhaps it should have been, but who’s to say the previous entries weren’t necessary to make some of the series’ jokes land?
Both extras are great too. Russell’s ‘Toy Ad’ should be in every comic it’s so funny. The prose from Ingman is a nice touch, too, given the relative lack of prose compared to other AHOY series.
The ‘Bad’
What is there to say? My Bad has been one of the funniest books AHOY have put out and this issue is no different. Not to cop out, but it’s a great issue — the only drawback is that it makes the previous issues look slightly worse in hindsight.
The Verdict
My Bad #5 nails the landing. What read like almost nothing more than pure comic book universe satire in issue #1 is now a clear story with engaging characters. It does this while retaining the humorous tone set in that opening issue. My Bad is one of the funniest comics in a long time.
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