Written and illustrated by Ryan Ottley and Jason Howard.
Do not go out at night: GRIZZLY SHARK lurks in these woods. There are many dangers of the deep, but none so deadly as SEA BEAR! Thrill to the adventures of these two exciting new characters. Told in two full-length stories written and illustrated by RYAN (INVINCIBLE) OTTLEY and JASON (THE ASTOUNDING WOLF-MAN) HOWARD. Also featuring a special prose origin story written by ROBERT KIRKMAN!
What did we at Multiversity think of two savage beasts getting mixed up?
Matt’s Thoughts: Half of getting a comic off the ground floor is a fun and exciting concept that jazzes up the reader base. I haven’t seen a comic do that in a while quite as much as Sea Bear and Grizzly Shark has. In fact, I’m glad I got to my store when I did because already, right around noon, they had only one copy left – and the store opens at eleven!
The comic itself is rather simple. As Robert Kirkman writes in the beginning, due to cosmic mishaps a shark and a bear get mixed up. What we get out of it is two full length comics in one book. The first follows the adventures of the Sea Bear by Jason Howard. It’s a warped little tale of revenge and cybernetics, all wrapped around the hunt for the elusive Sea Bear. The second story is by Ryan Ottley and features a set of hunters and goofs trying to destroy the mysterious and dangerous Grizzly Shark.
We haven’t ever seen these two take on both writing and arting positions before. As far as writing goes, both artists get their humor down pretty well. The books are absolutely ridiculous. Ottley’s story is a lot funnier than Howard’s, but both books feature a lot of snorts and head shakes as the book gets completely ridiculous. A lot of it is slap sticky, and a good deal of it is straight up Monty Python-esque absurdity (especially the Grizzly Shark being tipped off by blood).
It’s really the art that I’d offer contention to, though. We’ve seen both do some fantastic work in the pages of the Astounding Wolf-Man and Invincible. Sea Bear and Grizzly Shark feature very toned down artwork though, with characters that are less formed than normal. The lack of color certainly takes away from it a bit as well, as the Invincible coloring team always added a special flare to Ottley’s art. Howard though does a pretty bang up job for the large majority of his tale, even if it’s not as good as Astounding Wolf-Man.
In the end, Sea Bear and Grizzly Shark is a fun little comic that offers up some laughs and amused head shakes, but would be a lot better as the opening of a series by Ottley and Howard of absurdity instead of a one-shot. As much as you get a good bang for your buck here, knowing that there won’t be anymore does make the purchase feel a tad underwhelming.
David’s Thoughts: “They got mixed up!”
Ever since I read that tagline and saw the cover, I knew Jason Howard and Ryan Ottley’s Sea Bear & Grizzly Shark was a book for me. It looked like it was going to be a bloody and absurdist humor book that would fit right into my little niche of life, as well as something that would feature great art with the likes of Ottley and Howard performing all duties (save some assistance by Cliff Rathburn on Ottley’s part).
Sure enough, this book entertained the living heck out of me, especially the Grizzly Shark section by Ryan Ottley. Not to be too big of a homer, but Ottley is one of my favorite artists out there and he just had a huge head start. Plus, his story about a cattle farmer who is trying to rid the woods of the deadly Grizzly Shark (seriously) using a redneck animal assassin (of sorts) is ten kinds of genius. The humor in it is depraved (“Dad…I gotta pee.”) and there are some moments of just straight up perfection. Two parts in particular: when the Grizzly Shark first licks the animal hunter (covered in an ice cream called “Cinnamon Bear Jubilee”) and responds with a hysterically disgusted face and just the sound “bleh”, and when he gives a three page montage of people getting completely owned by the Grizzly Shark. Inspired stuff and I could read an entire book of the Grizzly Shark and its travels (if it weren’t for his brutal death at the end of this issue of course).
Continued belowJason Howard’s section is a bit more straightforward and a less funny, but it definitely works better as an actual story. It even gives us a revenge plot as it seems a small boy’s entire family was murdered in front of his eyes, and 20 years later when he became a weaponized mercenary of sorts, he realizes it’s time to get his revenge. In a lot of ways, the humor comes from the fact Howard treats this as almost a bad 80’s action movie that you would possibly see on SyFy at some point. Howard as an artist is not as alluring as Ottley, but he still manages to fit in some really good moments (like after Thomas Jefferson XII knocks out the grunt).
This is not a high brow comic. Nor is it something with a lot of depth (it is a one-shot after all). This is just a ridiculously fun book by two outstanding creators with the full love and support from the writer who helped them break out in the biz (Robert Kirkman). If the idea of absurdity and violence running rampant in a book filled with funny is your idea of a good time (like mine), then perhaps Sea Bear & Grizzly Shark is a book for you.
Walt’s Thoughts: Honestly, what can be said about this book that isn’t already conveyed by looking at the cover? If you like your humor ridiculous and a tad low-brow, this is probably going to be a hit with you. If you view your taste in comedy as “sophisticated,” then I would just close this tab and move on.
Alright, are all the no-fun-allowed people gone? Good. I could tell you that this book is bizarre, but come on, it’s about a bear and a shark who “got mixed up;” how could it be anything but ridiculous? I didn’t pay too much attention to the press regarding this book after its announcement (after all, what more do you need to know beyond the title?), so I was a bit dismayed at first to find out that it was two separate stories rather than one whole story that had the two monstrous creatures interacting. Nevertheless, I still got my bear by sea and my shark by land, so that’s just a very minor detail to pick at.
Jason Howard wrote and drew the Sea Bear story, which was my favorite of the two (apparently I’m the only one who thought that, though). It really felt like I was watching a hilariously bad B-Movie, except one where the intent was to be hilariously bad. Sure, it had a bit more of a “serious” air to it, but that’s what made it even funnier! Plus, Howard’s art was really solid, resulting in an overall excellent package.
Now, I hate to sound hypocritical, but some parts of Ryan Ottley’s Grizzly Shark story were even too low-brow for me (and this is coming from a guy who loves Kung Pow!). While most of it was really entertaining, there were quite a few points where I was left thinking “…really? That was supposed to be funny?” If you’re a fan of violent humor, though, you’ll find this story endlessly entertaining (the montage of the Grizzly Shark attacking random tourists was absolutely ridiculous, and I mean that in a good way).
I have one big complaint about this issue though: the price tag. I know it was a big one shot, but $4.99 for a single issue in black and white? I love some dumb humor, but I don’t want to pay out the ass for it. By my counting, this issue had about the same number of pages as Superman #700, also out this week, and cost the same, despite not being in color. Sure it was nice that the issue had no ads, but seriously, few people want to pay $4.99 for any comic, no matter how alluring the title is. Overall, Sea Bear/Grizzly Shark is a fun read cursed with a steep price tag.
