The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club #7

Back to the pile of comics from SPACE today.

Title: The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club
Issue: #7
Date: 2010
Publisher: Torc Press
Writer: Joseph Morris
Artist: Joseph Morris

This is a very odd/surreal play on the superhero team concept and it started out so convoluted that I was worried that none of it was going to make any sense. Instead, the issue came together really nicely and included some great moments that I was able to appreciate even without the benefit of reading previous issues.

The team consists of one clown-faced part-demon (and part something else) killer, one mute penguin (not mute in this issue and completely steals the show), one metaphysical detective, two dancing fools, and one masked secret agent.

The group gets scattered to different alternate realities by way of a reality rupture, which becomes an excuse to do some major revelations about several of the characters. The action was a bit hard (but not impossible) to follow in places, but the character development was excellent once the story got rolling.

As mentioned above, the mute but temporarily speaking penguin proved to be a great character as the voice of reason for the group, and the scene where he reverts back to silent mode was tragic and powerful. The clown character and the agent also got some excellent dramatic moments.

The art includes some wonderfully odd background details, and does a good job capturing the offbeat flavor of the story. This was a very pleasant surprise and it left me eager to check out more of this story.

Rating: 8/10