REVIEW: Angry Birds: Game Play #1

When the whole Angry Birds storm took adults and kids by the seat of their pantaloons, I stood by and watched with curiosity. I tried to play the game once for five minutes while working as a hairstylist, and it was only after I had put my phone down when I realized I had given a ninety year old woman a sweet emo haircut by accident. She absolutely loved it, but I did not share the same feelings as her for this game of birds and piggies.

But hey, life’s short, why not give the comic book a chance? It seems to be the same as the games, targeted towards kids, or “all ages”“, but nobody should have to be subjected to something that I can only rightfully call a mess. Not even a hot one at that. Angry Birds: Game Play is separated into three different stories, but there doesn“t seem to be any real distinction between them, mainly because they“re all pretty awful. The “stories”“ are jumbled, the art is basic with very subpar composition, and there are definitely some questionable themes throughout the whole thing.

I never thought Angry Birds was racist, but seeing a bunch of bird heads dressed up in stereotypical Asian-inspired garb was pretty shocking. Hell, it wasn“t even inspired, it was straight up racism. One bird even wears geisha makeup, complete with white face, and Giorgio Â Cavazanno, the artist behind this disgusting display, even slapped a ridiculous cross-eyed look on its face. You know, because it wasn“t bad enough before. All the birds bounce learning new “Asian”“ fighting techniques they from an illustrated book that washed up onshore. One bird even comments, “It all looks so foreign!”“ Yikes”¦Why, just why? What the hell was Tito Faraci thinking when writing this?

The other two stories did not have this same shocking content, but they were both very snooze-worthy. This whole book seemed so half-assed and unnecessary, and definitely not a good way to start out a series, being that this is issue #1. I understand that this is a marketing ploy for the Angry Birds movie that“s coming out, but seriously, kids aren“t idiots so don“t feed them this crap. If you“re going to do something, do it right.

It“s no secret that this franchise has made a lot of money and you can see those oddly-shaped bird heads in every toy store and placed in claw machines everywhere, much to my dismay. I am a claw machine master, and even I don“t go for those things. Why not invest some actual heart into your comic book if money is no matter?

The numbering at the bottom of every page was also very distracting, as it was presented in a large colored strip with small characters from the book sitting next to the number. This weird design choice is a total page waster, and just made it seem even more like there was not enough content to fill up an average-sized comic book. Everything was very forced, and this strange page numbering bar only further illustrated that.

It seems that my attempt at trying to get into this world failed, and if your children like this kind of thing, please direct them towards something that is less racist. Comic books can do a number of things – inspire, enthrall, motivate, etc, but none of those things should contain racism in a positive light.

Story: No stars
Artwork: 3 Stars
Colors: 3 Stars

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Paul Tobin & Various (w) ”¢ Paco Rodriques & Various (a) ”¢ Ciro Cangiolosi (c)