3 out of 5

…Because kids, I guess?  That’s the reason we have comics based around mobile games?  Recognizable properties with bright colors that the youngins will consume in whatever format?  Dynamite has made a mini market out of that scene, and it must be doing well enough since they keep happening.  It also seems like the inanity of the games’ ‘premises’ are actually appealing to creatives, since the books dead in recognizable talent and the content isn’t just phoned in.

With Fruit Ninja, for example – which I bought not as a game player but because Nate Cosby’s Cow Boy will have me follow his rare writing endeavors unto death – the three issues, which are each split into three tales, are legitimately pretty funny!  Cosby is of that class of all-ages writing that can manage being self-aware, intelligent, and not obnoxious while still having dumb yuks and a sense of pacing and plot..  In other words, it actually can work for all ages.  ‘Plot’ is thin here, of course, since our three shorts – Ancient Fruit Ninjas, Modern Fruit Ninjas, and Barry Steakfries – are all self-contained and thus amount to gag strips, but there’s still a great sense of timing and pacing that makes reading each page worthwhile, as opposed to just skimming until the punch line.

The art, though odd, works.  Scott Brown handles Ancient FNs and Barry in an incredibly loose, notebook sketch style, but his sense of visual humor is spot on.  Ruairí Coleman’s art (modern FNs), on the other hand, is equally a bit too stiff in spots and comic booky in others, but has good characterization that maintains the desired vibe.

The books are nothing to run out for, but it’s cool when cash-in properties are actually given due effort to produce, and Cosby and team deliver some humorous tales that work even if you don’t care about ancient ninjas who thrive on slashing fruit.