Bill & Ted are back, dudes! What could their new comic possibly have in store?
Written by Brian JoinesCover by Derek Charm
Illustrated by Bachan
Colored by Alex Guimarães
Lettered by Jim CampbellThe Wyld Stallyns are back, and this time they’re travelling across the whole universe! Bill and Ted have been kidnapped by a bodacious alien and are handed over to…their long-lost family?! Brian Joines and Bachan (Bill & Ted Go To Hell) team up once more for an all-new Bill & Ted adventure.
Before we get into the review, a few words that may upset those of a certain age: I’ve never seen or read anything related to Bill & Ted. I have no idea who they are, other than the vague idea that they might be… funny? And I think one of them always has a pair of drumsticks and they’re always decked out in 90s fashion? Weren’t they based on an SNL sketch from before I was born? Turns out they weren’t, and I just never realized Bill & Ted and Wayne’s World were two separate things. So, with this perspective, I cracked open this first issue of “Bill & Ted Save the Universe” (well, not exactly “crack” since I was reading on a tablet and that would have been terrifying, but you get the drift).
Everything you need to know about a comic, tonally and from a craft standpoint, can usually be found on the first few pages. “Bill & Ted Save the Universe” is no different. In these first three pages, we are immediately bombarded with bright colors, wacky alien antics, rock music, puns, catchphrases, and a chase scene with Bram Stoker and Vlad the Impaler. If you’re going to love this comic, you’ll know it by now. As for me, it took a bit to warm up to what the team had to offer.
Even with my lack of prior knowledge, it’s clear that Joines understands what makes these characters and their world appealing. Bill and Ted are lighthearted and goofy, they quip, they get into ridiculous situations and have to bumble their way out. They travel through time and space in a phone booth that isn’t bigger on the inside. It’s wild, it’s wacky, and anything goes. As the story progresses, we get more characters, more historical figures, and everyone gets their time to shine. If you like fun adventure comics, surely this will be your jam.
Joines’s dialogue works well here, which works out great considering how much “Bill & Ted Save the Universe” relies on dialogue. I can’t say that I understand the difference between Bill and Ted’s personalities, but the pair clearly has their own dialect filled with odd sentence structures and non-sequiturs. All other characters have a clear, distinct voice, from Death’s avoidance of contractions to the backhanded compliments Ted’s dad throws around. These people speak like individuals, having realistic conversations even when their situations are anything but. They bounce off one another and never seem like they’re handing out exposition, even when the conversations contain valuable information for the story. In short, Joines understands dialogue.
My main gripe with the dialogue had to do with a potential overuse of catch phrases. It felt like almost every panel of “Bill & Ted Save the Universe” had some quotable (and, I’m assuming, quoted) interjection. It was fun in the beginning, but started to wear on me as it didn’t let up. I did eventually get used to it, at least to the point where I could ignore it, and it did give the characters their unique voice, so fans will probably enjoy this. It did start to grate on this first-timer, though.
Bachan’s art impressed me. His characters, in face and body, exude so much emotion, which helped place the story in reality instead of being completely unhinged. The expressive faces give the dialogue a certain truth where it would otherwise be anchorless, and the over-the-top body language pushed me through the story in the wilder scenes while still feeling the way humans feel. Stylistically, his human designs reminded me of Greg Capullo’s thin lines with minor curves and the occasional pointy connection between two lines. Whatever influences he may have had, the final product did the story justice.
Continued belowAs noted at the beginning, Guimarães employs a phenomenal mixture of bright colors throughout “Bill & Ted Save the Universe.” He often chooses a particular color for a panel’s background and then uses a mixture of many different shades of that color, mixing them in naturally depending on which light source he chose to make the focus. He also uses color to make the main focus of the scene stand out from the background, shading the background with a color-haze in some panels and using simple brightness and contrast techniques in others. With his attention to clarity and exceptional mixtures of colors, this comic wouldn’t be the bright, fun adventure that it is without Guimarães.
So how was my first foray into the world of Bill and Ted? Enjoyable. The team’s craft is certainly up to par, and they understand how to make this concept work. The few minor gripes I had likely came from my lack of familiarity with the source material, so fans will probably love this book. As it stands, this still isn’t exactly the type of story I like to read — it’s a little too wacky and not quite grounded enough. There are plenty of people out there who love this sort of thing, though, and to all of you, I say it’s definitely worth your time!
Final Verdict: 7.0 – A fun little read that didn’t completely connect to this Bill & Ted first-timer, though the creators are clearly doing great work.
