For those of us who grew up during the Cold War, The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show was several years in the past but in heavy reruns. I loved the exploits of Moose and Squirrel as they battled the evil (?) of Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale. The one-liners and witty banter made for a great show. I loved the Fractured Fairy Tales in all their comical glory.
One part of the show I always enjoyed was the story of a dog and his boy, the adventures of Mr. Peabody & Sherman. They had a time machine, the Waybac Machine, that allowed them to visit any time and learn some valuable lesson, albeit quite tongue in cheek most of the time, about history. These were great cartoons.
When I saw the trailer a few weeks back for the new movie Mr. Peabody & Sherman, I was very excited, since this was one of my favorite cartoons as a kid, and even today, along with Tom & Jerry, Super Friends, and Scooby Doo. And then IDW Publishing announced they were putting out a comic! I had to get it.
Mr. Peabody & Sherman #1 tells the story from the beginning. Mr. Peabody is a dog of genius level intelligence who decides to adopt a young boy. As he soon finds, boys have a lot of energy and need some way to expend it. They can’t spend all their time in the house…
Mr. Peabody designs a time machine so that Sherman will have all of history to play in and hopefully learn about all the things he needs to know. I love the scenes in this issue as he designs multiple prototypes, one looking like a treadmill, one like the Tardis from Doctor Who, and one like the time machine from the Back to the Future franchise. Great way to pay homage to some classic time travel devices. Mr. Peabody finally perfects the Waybac Machine.
The rest of this issue is two adventures that Mr. Peabody & Sherman take in the Waybac. The first is back to the dawn of mankind as they watch cavemen painting in their caves and one caveman carving what looks like a wheel. This all ends with a mammoth chasing them, a prehistoric mouse, and groaner of a pun, as do most of their adventures.
The second story is a trip to the Mayan Empire where Mr. Peabody proceeds to explain that there is a typo in their calendar in regards to the world ending on 12/21/12. This ends with Mayans with swords and spears chasing them to the Waybac. A great story with some witty lines.
I love the writing in this book. It brings back the feel of the original and serves as an origin story for anyone who is unfamiliar with this duo from the old cartoon. This is a safe and family friendly book as well. I loved it and you should check it out.
While you are at it, check out this trailer for the upcoming film in March 2014.
