It seems like when IDW gets a good idea they really run with it. Their latest good idea is continuing to carry on some great cartoon shows as comic series. In the last 12 months we have seen My Little Pony, Powerpuff Girls, and Samurai Jack, and the latest addition to this list is the Cartoon Network show Ben-10. The story of a boy and his uncle who travel the world hunting aliens is definitely going to fit right in among some of the other great properties that IDW has up their comic publishing sleeves.
For those of you new to the world of Ben Tennyson, the series began about this 10 year old boy who found a weird alien wristwatch in the woods. This device, called the Omnimatrix, or Omnitrix, allows him to become different alien creatures. He uses this ability to stop evil aliens and humans throughout four different cartoon shows. He has various friends/enemies across all the shows and his uncle who is part of a league of galactic peacekeepers call The Plumbers. There was even a live action movie that really wasn’t too bad.
Now we get to the review. Ben-10 #1 finds Ben and his family and friends going on vacation from the life of fighting evil aliens. This series takes place during the Ben-10 Omniverse cartoon show. They take a family cruise to unwind. Along the way he has some run ins with aliens of all types as well as some fans of him and the Plumbers. On the ship he meets a girl who he helps in her endeavor to push an ice sculpture of a mermaid overboard. She states that no one should carve a mermaid without their permission. Kinda weird, but that seems to be Ben’s bag.
The cruise ship gets into the middle of some kind of battle between Ssserpent, a villain from his past, and a mysterious floating city disguised as an oil rig. After he stops the battle, the city disappears and follows the girl as she jumps off the ship only to find that she is a mermaid. I must say that I saw that coming, but still a really good story in the vein of classic Ben-10 tales.
The Ben-10 cartoon was created by a group of comic book creators, so it seems fitting that IDW should bring this book to their line. The creative team is a good mix. Jason Henderson is the author of the young adult series of novels, Alex Van Helsing, as well as having several comics under his belt. Gordon Purcell is no stranger to drawing the Ben-10 universe. He applied his art to the origin stories that were originally printed in DC’s Action Packs comics.
I liked the shows and I love comics. This seems to be a great way to get a deeper look into the world of the Ben-10 Omniverse TVshow and get some really enjoyable comics. A good read for all ages. I recommend this.
