Tuesday, August 7, 2018

Miraculous TPB Vol. 1 - The Trash Krakken

As an adult, there are not a lot of cartoons that I like.  I have watched the various Justice League cartoons (of course), and some of the DC animated movies (although they are a bit too dark for my taste), but otherwise, there haven't been any others that have caught my attention.  At least, not until I stumbled across Miraculous while flipping channels.

Miraculous tells the story of Ladybug and Cat Noir, two young super heroes in France.  Marinette and Adrien, two students who, unbeknownst to each other (as well as their friends), assume the identities of the super-powered Ladybug and Cat Noir.  They two heroes gain their powers courtesy of their kwamis, Tikki and Plagg.  What is endearing about this story, though, is the unrequited feelings they have for each other - Marinette is over the moon about Adrien, but too shy to tell him; meanwhile, Cat Noir is totally in love with Ladybug, but she keeps him at a distance.  Together, they do constant battle against a variety of villains created by the evil Hawk Moth, who is determined to steal Ladybug's miraculous earrings and Cat Noir's miraculous ring.  Of course, he's never actually succeeded, as Paris' finest pair of heroes always manage to outwit the villain and free the lacky from the devious akuma. The first season of episodes have aired here in America, and I've been anxiously awaiting for season two to air.

Meanwhile, Action Lab Comics has been taking each episode and publishing it in comic book form, collecting every couple of stories into trades.  Only recently, though, Action Lab has begun publishing new, never-before-told stories, and "The Trash Krakken" collects the first four issues of this new series!  While the prologue and Chapter 1 are cute, but not overly exciting, Chapters 2 through 4 provide an all-new tale that takes Ladybug and Cat Noir out of their elements and throws them into a completely different kind of story (unlike anything seen from the cartoon series).

The prologue and first chapter find our two heroes fighting a young boy at a lacrosse game who isn't thrilled at losing to Adrien and his classmates - enter: Replay!  With the power to throw people into repeating instant replays of their last action, it seems he might be an impossible foe to stop!  But leave it to Ladybug to come up with a solution that "reflects" her quick-thinking abilities!  The art on this first tale tries to mimic the appearance of the cartoon (I give the artist credit - the scenes where Marinette and Adrien change into Ladybug and Cat Noir and pretty spot on!), but I think it is the art in the last three chapters that creates more of a feel of the cartoon.  Even if the story is a bit out of the ordinary...

And speaking of that story - "The Trash Krakken" introduces Ladybug and Cat Noir to a team of superheroes in the good ol' USA.  That's right, our dynamic duo get brought to the United States of America to help the President of the United States (who happens to be a superhero) and her team of super heroes defeat a giant trash monster from destroying the country!  The President plans to have her heroes defeat the monster and use Ladybug's miraculous ladybug power to restore everything back to normal.  But Ladybug isn't sure she can handle something this big, and when she notices a stuffed squid in the midst of all the trash being absorbed into the monster, she has an idea that could save everyone.  The only problem is, the President does not want to hear it.

So what's a French superhero to do?  Well, when you've got a faithful sidekick who would follow you anywhere, there's only one thing to do - jump out of the frying pan and directly into the oven!

It is an interesting story that, for once, does not involve Hawk Moth or one of his akumas.  A part of me hopes that the writers (and Action Lab, if they continue to publish any new, never-before published stories like this) will follow up on this, as I'd like to see what created the Trash Krakken and whether more villains will come out of it.

If you love the Miraculous cartoon, then you'll enjoy these new stories from Action Lab.

RATING:  9 balls of genuine American chewing gum out of 10 for expanding the universe of Ladybug and Cat Noir!

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