Review: THE THRILLING ADVENTURE HOUR #1

THE THRILLING ADVENTURE HOUR #1
Written by Ben Acker and Ben Blacker
Art by M.J. Erickson, Brittany Peer, and Mike Fiorentino
Edited by Matthew Levine, Cameron Chittock
Published by BOOM! Studios
Release Date: July 18, 2018

“It’s time to send the little ones to dream land and set your radio’s dial to ‘spooky’. Steel yourself for mysterious suspense in…Beyond Belief!” The Thrilling Adventure Hour begins its first fantastic comic installment with one of its staple segments!

I’ve been a fan of The Thrilling Adventure Hour for quite a while, I even saw one of their last live performances during a study abroad in New Zealand, so I jumped to review this comic. I love Ben Acker and Blacker’s works and I knew the podcast would transition superbly to this medium. As I read the lines of Frank and Sadie Doyle, I could just hear the voices of Paget Brewster and Paul F. Tompkins coming from the two.

I just also love how in love Frank and Sadie are. It was the same in the podcast iteration of their tales, but I always find it both charming and adorable that these two drunkards are perfect for one another. The shout out to Pterodactyl Jones and the Liqueur Delivery Boy made me super happy as well.

I love the character design for both Sadie and Frank. They’re exactly what I pictured in my head (which makes sense since they do resemble Brewster and Tompkins) and I can’t wait to see how the other segments of The Thrilling Adventure Hour are brought to life in the ongoing comic issues.

I really like how Erickson layers the comic. The placement of panels atop a giant splash, the usage of spacing which allows the white spaces to bring more emphasis to the carefully curated panels or characters really shows great effort in what should draw the eye and I appreciate that kind of work.

The noir shadows throughout the comic really show the adept coloring by Peer. Peer brings the feeling of a 1930s mystery film to life with her work, creating contrast and a level of ominousness through the placement of lighting within her coloring. It’s all amazing work that creates the perfect vibe for a spooky haunting.

The lettering by Fiorentino is fantastic. I like choices like having a more handwritten font for location and information and a more gothic font for the movers’ speech bubbles in the prologue, for instance. Small choices like that really add to the atmosphere of a comic and I appreciate that.

Read The Thrilling Adventure Hour. Even if you didn’t listen to the original podcast, this comic is a fantastic parody of 1930s-1940s radio dramas and an extremely entertaining read. I can’t wait for part two of Frank and Sadie’s tale in the next issue.

The Verdict: 10/10

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