Futurama Comics 69

Cover Caption: N/A
Cover Credits: Jason Ho, Mike Rote, Nathan Kane
Script: Eric Rogers
Pencils: Nina Matsumoto
Inks: Andrew Pepoy
Colors: Nathan Hamill
Letters: Karen Bates
Editor: Nathan Kane

Bongo Bonus Stamp: 141 Sal

DON'T GO TAKING MY HEART
During her normal check-up to see what parts and pieces are still working and which need replacing the dr. informs Mom that her heart is about to give out and will need to be replaced soon. Mom goes to her organ bank (the cryogenics lab) to get the necessary part from her 'donor'. Turns out her hear donor is none other than Philip J. Fry. Upon learning this Mom devises a scheme to get Fry to work for her at Mom Corp so that she can look after Fry and make sure he does nothing to ruin that young heart of his. Bender tags along and Mom replaces them both with a couple of space hobos.

While working for Mom, Fry goes to no end to make Mom happy and do a good job. Mom eventually asks Fry if he can adopt him and leave all her fortunes to her when she dies but it is more of a ruse to keep him close and safe. When she returns back to the doctor it is a miracle - her heart has grown healthy and two sizes bigger which means it should last her at least another fifty years. Mom decides to send Fry back to the cryogenics lab for re-freezing for later. Walt, Larry, and Ignar overhear and instead of taking Fry back to the cryogenics lab they dump him back at Planet Express and decide to tell Mom he has escaped. Fry spills his secret for getting Mom to love him to which Walt, Larry, and Ignar begin doing the same.

Another fun issue of Futurama Comics and at first was a little taken aback by the art. The issue was originally advertised as a James Lloyd issue and was expecting to see his great work upon opening the pages and was surprised at what I saw. The drawings were off for being a Lloyd penciled issue and I had to keep flipping through the pages and asking myself what the heck happened? Could it be true that for the first time ever a pencil job was phoned in by James? Turns out it wasn't and instead was penciled by Nina Matsumoto. Nina has been providing art for the Simpsons line of comics including the Treehouse of Horror anthology so she is understanding of the Groening universe but also brings her own spin and talent to the title. After getting over my initial shock I was able to settle in and enjoy this issue a bit more. She has a style that is very similar to Tone Rodriguez whom I also enjoy seeing so Nina should fit right in with Futurama Comics and am looking forward to more work from her.

The story was a fun one and the idea also seems very much like a Futurama episode and after the setup we get right in to the meat of the story. If I had to pick something that was not up to par it would be that there was no real secondary story of note as the main focus was Fry and her experience with Mom and how it affected Walt, Larry, and Ignar. There was some call backs to Leela and how she was getting along without Fry and Bender but there was really nothing there to substantiate much interest.

Also of note is the reprinting of Nathan Kane's article from this years Comic Con program book. Every year the program book selects a theme and invites writers and artists to submit art or articles that pertain to the theme. One of this years themes was the celebration of Bongo's twentieth year in business. It has been a long haul and Nathan has been there from almost the beginning and retells his experiences and admiration for working for Bongo. It is a good read and one that I hope to counter with a fans perspective here shortly.