Publisher: Dynamite
Writer: Fernando Ruiz & Eric M. Esquivel
Artist: Fernando Ruiz
Colourist: Pete Pantazis
Release Date: OUT NOW!
Price: $3.99

This is a new one on me and I spent some time wondering just what flavour an Animal Jam might be. Hedgehog and strawberry perhaps? Blueberry and warthog maybe? Passion fruit and rhinoceros mayhap?

Animal Jam #1, obviously, is a horror comic in which cute little furry critters get their innards squished by some balding, cackling madman and not for the squeamish. So, imagine my surprise and delight when I discovered it’s no such thing.

Instead, Animal Jam #1 is a cartoon animal story about the inhabitants of the town of Jamaa, which is a sort of Australian outback community where six special animals with unique abilities help save the town from black, ink blot nasties called Phantoms.

Animal Jam #1 comprises two stories; one a variation on the old Wooden Horse of Troy story this time using an elephant and another in which the wisdom of talking to plants comes into its own.

Simple tales, simply told by Fernando Ruiz and Eric M. Esquivel, with clear and exquisitely rendered artwork by Pete Pantazis. Rugrats and grown-ups alike can take pleasure in its humour and the emphasis on friendship and be helpful to others, a lesson the whole world could do with learning right about now.

 

Reviewer: Gary Orchard
Reviews Editor: Steve Hooker