Of Forks and Hope: "No Lemons!!"
My ambition in life is to meet some who makes me so mad I will have to shout, "I hope you see a Snark that is a Boojum!" Of course, most people would not understand that Lewis Carrol reference and think I am a raving crazy person (a step up from my usual annoying crazy person role), but we all have to have dreams in life however strange, right?
Snarked has really been a strange dream-like story. It's loosely based on this nonsensical poem by Lewis Carrol called "The Hunting of the Snark". The poem basically is -- in a Carrol nutshell -- the tale of the Bellman's Crew who are trying to find these enigmatic creatures called Snarks (which never appear in the poem, but one of the crew, the Baker, sees a snark, but it was a Boojum which meant whatever it looked at, including the baker, disappeared).
However, this series took that story and other Carrol characters and made something new. This series was and still is very whimsical, which fit with Lewis Carrol. It introduced new characters such as Queen Scarlet, Prince Rusty, Wilburforce J. Walrus and Clyde McDunk (the later of which were inspired by the Walrus and the Carpenter). These characters were all fun and actully were fairly amusing. This was a nice series for Roger Langridge to show his talent. He was not limited by already existing characters like he was when he wrote Muppet Show Comic Book, and I have to say he did a wonderful job. I was not a fan of a creator being both the writer and the artist because it normally ends in disaster (I shall not mention the example which came to mind), but Roger Langride is one of those creators I would trust with art and writing for an ongoing series.
This series was published through Boom! Studios' KaBoom! section. This means it is more directed toward younger audiences. In fact, this series won the 2012 Eisner award for Best Publication for Kids (ages 8-12) (the first comic to receive this newly created award). There is no bad humor (only good humor!) and is not really violent. It exists to entertain and it delivers. However, I'm glad to say, it is good for people over the age of 12 as well. Roger Langridge did not dumb the comic down like some comics directed toward young audiences tend to do. Instead, he wrote an adventure people of all ages could enjoy. There are some jokes which might go over kids heads, but over all reads young and old would laugh at the quirky characters and peculiar plot.
I am sad to see this series go. It was a fun story and its ending was pleasant and left me wanting more. Langridge presented a wonderful story which was well thought out and nicely paced. I hope to see more from Roger Langridge.
