“Rocko’s Modern Afterlife” unites an old favorite with modern themes for a 4-issue miniseries that’s fun, timely, and authentic to the original TV series.
Written by Anthony Burch
Illustrated by Mattia Di Meo
Colored by Francesco Segala
Lettered by Jim CampbellSomething is turning the good people of O-Town into mindless zombies and Rocko wants nothing to do with it. He barricades himself and Spunky in their home and is determined to outlast the hoards outside. But desperate times calls for desperate measures when Rocko’s best friend Heffer becomes infected, Rocko will have to risk it all to save his friends and his city.
For many elder Millennials, Rocko’s Modern Life was a staple of regular programming growing up. Its unique style and niche, offbeat humor are indelibly written into their memories. Over 20 years later, the O-Town gang is back with their own modern-ish miniseries, separate from KaBOOM!’s main offering. The creative team’s challenge? Do the original show justice while staying true to the title’s promise of modernity.
“Rocko’s Modern Afterlife” falls somewhere in between when the show originally aired and the concept of “modern.” For one, zombies take over O-Town. It’s a played-out trope, sure, but it’s an effective way to do something different with the world and its characters. Plus, bringing a horror element to an otherwise bright and comical world isn’t uninteresting.
Illustrator Mattia Di Meo and colorist Francesco Segala set the stage perfectly with a scene of O-Town that looks like it’s pulled straight from the TV show. Look there! It’s Rocko’s house! And there! It’s Spunky, Rocko’s dog! The colors are a little more high-definition than the old show, sure. The linework is better defined now. But the waves of memory and nostalgia come washing over you. It nails the Rocko’s Modern Life aesthetic. Even Jim Campbell’s lettering captures the original spirit of the show, its comically aggressive font and bolded words matching the tone and lilt of the dialogue flawlessly.
Then, you turn the page (and wash your hands), and everything changes. Segala paints the town in an eerie, green, haunted house glow. O-Town belongs to the zombies, now, and Rocko, Spunky, and Heffer are some of the only ones left un-zombified. This is where the creative team truly gets to stretch their legs, modernizing the world and making it their own. Writer Anthony Burch makes Rocko a crunchy, yoga-practicing, quinoa-growing wallaby. Heffer, Rocko’s cow friend, now streams video games online, a career well-suited for his personality type.
Burch and Di Meo work together well, using the idea of streaming a zombie game to narrate or foreshadow the book’s events. At one point, Di Meo even goes so far as to anchor Heffer in the bottom right of his panels through an action scene, much like how Heffer would appear if he were streaming the comic’s action rather than the video game he’s playing. It’s a clever way of using characterization to influence the narrative, and it serves to elevate both the tension and the humor in “Rocko’s Modern Afterlife” #1.
Campbell’s lettering work is an absolute delight throughout. He foreshadows future events with a “DOOM DOOM DOOM” sound effect for a knock at the door. He uses balloons with tiny letters and tons of air to show distance. Textured sound effects ground “Rocko’s Modern Afterlife” in cartoonishness, rather than the more serious horror theme. It’s like a firework display of fonts and flourishes, mirroring the show’s animated auditory tone.
With one foot in the spooky color palette and the other in the traditional O-Town colors, Segala takes more of an auteur approach through the rest of “Rocko’s Modern Afterlife” #1, using color holds to show motion and emotion. It brings an over-the-top flair that levels the playing field between the comics medium and TV. It also keeps the artwork bright and detailed without feeling overwrought or bogged down by black ink.
Di Meo’s exaggerated body language produces both humor and horror, with zombies creeping along the ground or their hands up, ready to snatch at Rocko and Spunky. Because all of “Rocko’s Modern Afterlife” takes place in a cartoon world, Di Meo can lean hard on facial expressions or brains exploding out of characters’ heads to convey worry or fear.
Continued belowSo much of “Rocko’s Modern Afterlife” is a balancing act between humor and tension and between a 20-year-old TV series and the idea of modernity. The comic rides the line between these well, successfully bridging these opposing forces without feeling forced. As for the rest of the issue, it plays out as you might expect: timid Rocko must find his courage and somehow save his friend, Heffer, from turning into a zombie. Burch’s meta-commentary through Heffer’s streaming also serves to reassure the reader, like he’s saying, “I know we’ve been saturated with zombie stories. I know you can probably figure out how the rest of the story will go. But hey, let’s just have some fun with it and see how this all might work out for ol’ Rocko.”
For fans of Rocko and his modern life, that’s great advice. While this may not be the perfect place to introduce new readers to O-Town, “Rocko’s Modern Afterlife” #1 plays out like a movie or a special episode of the show, a funny and well-crafted gift to longtime fans.
Final Verdict: 7.2 – A talented team takes a tired trope and turns it into a terribly entertaining tale.
