Rattle Trap #1

Posted: Tuesday, October 31, 2000
By: Darren Schroeder

Cover of Rattle Trap #1 Creator(s): Jerry Smith
Publishers: Self Published
From: USA
Price: $2 (US)

Presenting the wacky adventures of Miracale force, the weirdest superhero team not written by an English comic genus. Just how weird? Well the leader of the team, Gilroid, is a super intelligent fish that resides in a bowl that sits a top various robot battle suits. This fish is so smart he finished Tomb Raider III in less than one hour. Then there is Lugmutt, the brawn of the team. He is a 280 pound boxer bulldog with a drinking problem and a physical disorder which means that eating solid food causes him intense pain. Oh, and he is also a brilliant mechanic. The last, and the least member of the team is Diminutive Lass, a tinkerbell sized woman who can't do much really apart from wish a cure could be found for her sudden reduction in stature. It is only due to wings designed by Gilroid that she can avoid being stepped on.

These strange characters are brought to life by Jeff's attractive artwork, which uses thick outlines and lots of texture work to good effect, setting a humorous tone.

The storyline of this issue involves some heavy drinking by Lugmutt, some fights with various less than super villains and Diminutive Lass's growing fear that Lugmutt will forget to buy the Talking Heads CD that te set out to get for her. It is all rather silly, but that's it charm. The scenes of the 5 headed villain talking so much that he forgets to kill the hero is just one example of the low key approach to the usual slug fest. Reading it made me wish I could go out for a few drinks with Jerry, I get the feeling he might be quite a laugh after a few drinks.

In a Word: Quirky.



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