Review: Napoleon Dynamite TPB

June 11 marks the 13th anniversary of the release of Napoleon Dynamite, which became both a critical and a commercial success hit that summer, earning $44 million, despite a $400,000 budget, and later also developing quite the cult following. The Napoleon Dynamite, TPB is a follow-up to the beloved characters that I did not realize I wanted.

The TPB is broken down into two individual stories: Impeach Pedro, and Valentine“s Day Special.Â For the most part if you were a fan of the original movie it is an interesting take. The setting is still the same, Preston Indiana.Â All the characters comeback with a few add-ons. Â Â Initially, “Impeach Pedro”“ holds elements of the specialness, and showed an appreciation for the source material that brought camaraderie to so many people by virtue of being able to recite certain lines.

Impeach Pedro written by Carlos Guzman-Verdugo and Alejandro Verdugo, leaves behind some the character layering that allowed us to come to love Napoleon, and get right to it.Â He“s a weird kid, but not really that smart, he“s just socially awkward. He is on the brink of being the typical social outcast, except he has friends. Â He“s trying to be cool sometimes, but mostly he just goes for it and does it. I gotta say, I like the decision here by the Verdugos, simply give Napoleon something to do in the for of not one but two mysteries to show off his awesomeness.

That is a big change.Â Napoleon Dynamite in this story is not an inside joke anymore.Â Sure there are displays of intent to be comedic relief, but the mystery behind the election that made Pedro President or the Murder in Preston are so much more intriguing, and serve to Â move things along, vice the film“s pace which seemed content just to spin its wheels, cataloging all the little eccentricities

So, what is deeply missing?Â The art by Jorge Monlong while good is missing the Wes Anderson style ”“ the careful shot composition on the panels, the color palettes that made the character costumes pop, and the emphasis on the dialogue references.Â I will say that the art by Christine Larsen in Valentine“s Day Special seemed more suited for the narrative.

I feel that here a lot of the character changers were on intentional in the sense that somebody doesn“t evolve in the sense of changing; become more and more themselves”“. Gripe all you like about the Verdugo“s vision for Napoleon, but it clearly does go beyond affectation. Â That“s a good thing, I want to see more of Napoleon Dynamite but not at the expense of the extreme symmetry and intense detail that made the movie.

SCORE: 4 out of 5 Stars.Â Â

By: Carlos Guzman-Verdugo , Jorge Monlongo , Sara Richard , Alejandro Verdugo