- Writer: Evan Dorkin
- Artist and Letterer: Roger Langridge
- Consultation: Ed Solomon (Co-Writer of all 3 Bill & Ted movies)
- Standard Cover Artist: Evan Dorkin with Sarah Dyer
- Variant Cover Artist: Roger Langridge
- Editor: Daniel Chabon
- Assistant Editor: Chuck Howitt
- Designer: Brennan Thome
- Digital Art Technician: Allyson Haller
Thanks to Dark Horse for the review copy!
With BILL & TED FACE THE MUSIC hitting theaters, now seems a good a time as any to release a comic series starring everyone’s favorite phone booth time travelers. BILL AND TED ARE DOOMED fits in between BILL & TED’S BOGUS JOURNEY and the new movie in the time-stream, I mean timeline.
In Face the Music, we see Bill and Ted after years of failing to write the song that brings the whole world together. This book fills in the gaps by looking in on our heroes during that time of struggle. Aided both by chronology and the fact that you can draw people played by actors who have passed away, Rufus is in this series. This book also hews closer of Bogus Journey, with Death still being part of the Wyld Stallyns and retaining some of the more bizarre elements of the sequel with the Bill and Ted Robots and the fuzzy Station things hanging around. Not having liked Bogus Journey that much, I probably could have done without them, but kudos to the writers for seeking continuity. The book also introduces Bill and Ted’s daughters, providing a good introduction to two characters who appear the new movie.
Bill and Ted retain their trademark stilted, yet ridiculous, speech pattern. If you’ve seen the movies you can almost picture Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter delivering the lines. At times, it is laid on a little thick, but fans of the series will enjoy it.
Some of the characters commendably look like their real life counterparts, with Bill and Death being standouts. For some reason, Ted’s hair threw me off, but that’s a minor quibble. The coloring is vibrant and the lines are thick and dark, making the characters and text pop off the page.
BILL AND TED ARE DOOMED is family friendly, with minimal violence and an upbeat attitude. I recommend seeing the first two movies to establish the characters. I normally wouldn’t recommend seeing Bogus Journey, but this book is packed with characters from the movie that seem destined to play a role going forward. This series fills in the gaps between the original movies and the new Face the Music movie, so it is up to you whether you want to see that movie before reading this series.
BILL AND TED ARE DOOMED #1 is now available.
Check back soon for my thoughts on the second issue of this series.
Are you going to pick up this title? Have you already? Want to talk to me about it? Feel free to chat with me on Twitter or leave a comment below!
