Written by Evan Dorkin and Sarah Dyer
Art by Evan Dorkin
24 pages, black and white
Published by SLG Publishing
There are some creators whom I think it’s easy to take for granted. When they release a comic, you just assume that it’s going to be great, buy a copy, and don’t think twice about it. The problem with taking it for granted, though, is that if you don’t get excited about the book’s release then people might not talk it up to others and let them know just how good it is. I can’t help but think that’s a problem with Evan Dorkin and Sarah Dyer’s Biff Bam Pow!, which was thoroughly entertaining, but seemed to generate no real buzz at all. And that’s a real shame.
Old Punch Goldberg was once a boxer, knocking her opponents in the ring with a skill and strength that was legendary. These days, she’s a superhero, but that has a lot to do with her final match of her time as a boxer. The world of boxing is full of organized crime and payouts for those who throw a match when asked to. But when One Punch Goldberg wasn’t willing to take the fall for anyone, well, that’s when she encounters the toughest fight of her career.
Dorkin and Dyer are telling an origin story in Biff Bam Pow! #1, laying out One Punch Goldberg’s time as a boxer and giving us both the most colossal fight she was in as well as an end to that time in her life. The basic plot itself is pretty straightforward, but it’s in the actual telling of the story that it really shines. One Punch Goldberg is entertaining in no small part because of her dry, down-to-earth demeanor. She’s the kind of person that would want to hang out with; you know where you stand with her, and if she’s got your back then you’re absolutely set. Having her as a main character in a comic almost certainly means it’s going to be entertaining, especially with her eagerness to jump into fighting the good fight. It’s almost hard to quantify what exactly about her makes her such an appealing character, save that her attitude and outlook on life in general just make you want her to succeed.
Dorkin’s art for Biff Bam Pow! is up to his usual standards. It’s a clean, crisp look, with slightly angular faces for his characters. He’s especially good when it comes to character designs, and that’s no exception here. Biff Bam Pow! is set in the same futuristic world of the Dorkin/Dyer creation Kid Blastoff, and that means that we get all sorts of different alien creatures for Dorkin to go wild over. I especially like how he draws Goldberg’s old manager Blinky, with his head comprised primarily of a handful of floating eyeballs that hover over his mouth. The way Dorkin draws Blinky looks both different and neat at the same time, and it’s another example of how Dorkin just has fun with his characters.
Biff Bam Pow! #1 also features two back-up stories. Kid Blastoff’s story is silly and fun, as the world’s most incompetent superhero once more needs to be bailed out by his technician. It’s short and to the point, but still entertaining. On the other hand, a Nutsy Monkey two-pager felt like it outstayed its welcome, which is never a good sign; then again, as someone who always disliked Curious George, and this story somehow reminded me of that accursed simian in all the wrong ways.
Biff Bam Pow! #1 gives me great hope in that the #1 on the cover means we’ll get more stories about One Punch Goldberg in the future. It could certainly stand on its own and be an entertaining one-shot story. I like the idea of this being a beginning for her stories, though; she’s the latest in a line of creations by Dorkin and Dyer that just begs for more. Please?