1 out of 5

I don’t… I don’t even…

Released at the same time as the mini-series Shattered Mirror, Zen Pop Funny-Animal Version was the – as per the title – ‘Funny’ version of the Badger origin, with Mirror representing the more sober side of things.  After a several year break in publishing for Badge, revisiting beginnings wasn’t a bad idea, and for those with vague awareness of the book’s premise – essentially a costumed hero suffering from Multiple Personality Disorder – divvying the story up into two opposing points of view seemed rather fitting, especially given creator / writer Mike Baron’s tendencies to flop between tones every few issues from the previous Badger run.

Shattered Mirror was very un-comic booky and strange, but a roundabout accomplishment nonetheless.  Zen Pop… I’m not sure what to say about it.  It almost seems like we’re getting a cheeky recollection of things from Druid wizard Ham, but then Baron jumps into fourth-wall breaking references, and then furthermore forgets to bother with any sort of ‘origin’ element to things and just sort of strings together random violence and fight sequences to bring Ham and Badger head-to-head with a rival sorcerer / cattle mutilator.  While this does seem like it would’ve fit as a dashed-off tale during the First Comics’ run of Badger in its later days, pitched as a standalone “mini-series” it is utterly bizarre and nigh unreadable due to an inability to find a focus and, it must be said, rather gross looking art, despite the return (from Badger days of yore) of penciller Steven Butler and, on book two, Val Mayerik.  Part of this grossness is the cheap-looking coloring (Cary Porter – though I’m not sure I blame him so much as the 1994 date of the book, which saw publishers doing the digital thing in excess), but there’s also just a generally sloppy vibe to the book, firstly influenced by the script leaping about panel to panel, rudderless in intentions and Baron not even bothering to script proper conclusions to either issue, and then secondly Butler / Mayerik (and Matt Haley doing half of issue #1…) following the Image-y trend of big, muscley dudes and tiny-waisted ladies.  …Which, knowing Baron, prompts a question as to whether or not the mini-series is a big meta-joke on publishing habits of the time – Baron’s sense of humor is such that I can see him sacrificing readability for his own chuckles – but even supposing that, it doesn’t make reading the issues much more enjoyable…

While almost every Badger issue up to this point has offered something that I feel adds to the character’s odd lineage, Zen Pop Funny-Animal Version is completely disposable; you can never read these issues and not have missed out on a single thing.  And even if that’s that point, well… I dunno.  Determine on yer own whether or not such meta-awareness is worth your dollars.  For me: these go in the Badger longbox, likely never to be read again.