5 out of 5

After years of FCBD Bodies, we finally got a second, dedicated volume of this masterfully playful, silly, intelligent but kid-giggle-inducing comic from Mr. Jay Fosgitt…

…And then I waited and waited for issues two through four of this purported mini-series to happen and they didn’t.  I cried many tears.  Until Boom! released a handsome trade – very similar in sizing and presentation to Scholastic’s Bone trades, which closes a nice loop on a perfect reading companion to Bodie Troll stuff – and I think we got the rest of Fuzzy Memories therein.  All’s well that ends well.  But what of this single issue?

Well: it is, for the most part, self-contained – only “for the most part” because that Boom! book has some followup bits, but if those never happened and Fuzzy Memories #1 was pitched as a one-shot, it would work – and it also happens to feature some of Jay’s best mash-ups of layered humor yet, the kind of stuff that pays homage to his main inspirator: Jim Henson.  There is, essentially, a poop joke that made me laugh out loud, and before you roll your eyes at the potential baseness of that, I’ma telling you: this is the granddaddy of poop jokes, that even your granddaddy should appreciate.  We’re also at a pinnacle of visual precision, with energy and motion all perfectly directed, and a lot of little touches that similarly had me chortling aloud (there’s a great background gag with an over-sized root that I particularly loved); Jay P.’s and flatter Jay Jacot’s color combos are so rich as to blast past publisher Red 5’s generally dimmer color production; and Fosgitt’s lettering still maintains its hand-applied look but has been (again, over the years, and to my untrained I’m-probably-making-this-up eyes) touched up here and there via placement and bubble size and font tweaks for a clean, unobtrusive, but personalized presentation.

Plotwise, Bodie falls for a new character – a huntress – simply because she considers trolls fearsome characters, twinging Bodie’s continual search for respect for his frightnin’ abilities.  Classic cartoon escapades ensue, swirled up through a funnel of creativity and hilarity by Jay.

Any reason to have this issue alone and not in the trade?  Well, firstly, because you should’ve bought it when it came out because Bodie Troll is amazing, but otherwise – there are two pinups and one process page from Jay that aren’t in the collection, so… maybe?  Overall, whatever way you’re getting your doses of Bodie, but I recommend taking in more than your current amount, just to be safe.