Review: Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters #1

At one point Stretch Armstrong was a toy. Little boys would grab one arm while their buddies would grab the other and then they“d pull in opposite directions with all their strength. The arms would stretch and stretch, but no matter what you could never pull them off the body. When you let go, the arms would slowly pull back to their original shape. After a day or two, Stretch inevitably ended up in the bottom of the toy box.

At some point, a senior executive at Netflix, must have gotten to the bottom of that toy box and thought, “Here“s a hero that needs a story and buddies!”“ Thanks to that nameless development exec, Netflix has developed a Stretch Armstrong cartoon and IDW is putting out the comic book tie in.

Now Stretch is a overscheduled teen who was exposed to a magic chemical along with two buddies and now – when they are not in class, or doing homework, or training for track, or tutoring other kids – they are a team of Mr. Fantastic knockoff who protect the world from the threats caused by the corporation that changed them and who they work for – secretly.

It“s a concept. Not a great concept, but cartoons and comics have been made from worse. In the first issue, the guys have to take down a giant praying mantis that was exposed to the company“s chemicals and is threatening the city. They stretch and wrap and take down the creature in a clever and unexpected way. I“m not sure I buy it, but also this book is clearly not meant for me.

While Kevin Burke and Chris Wyatt“s story is serviceable enough to let us get to know Stretch and his pals as they take down the creature. Nikos Koutsis“ art is kind of all over the place. Stretch and his buddies are done in a style clearly designed to match the cartoon, but the other people are done in a boxy squared off style. If it is to emphasis that they can“t stretch, cool concept, but not great execution. Worse the monster is done in a third cruder style.

Any one of these art styles could work, but they fail to work together, which gives this book a more last-minute, thrown together feel that it should have. There are plenty of toys that had no backstory which were turned into great comics. Hell, Bill Mantlo practically made a career of creating comics that outlasted the toys they were based on.

That isn“t happening here. If your kids love the cartoon and you are trying to turn them onto comics, you could start with this. But don“t they deserve better?

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Writers: Kevin Burke and Chris “Doc”“ Wyatt
Artist: Nikos Koutsis
Colorist: Mike Toris
Publisher: IDW Publishing

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Andy Hall

Sent from the future by our Robot Ape overlords to preserve the timeline. Reading and writing about comics until the revolution comes. All hail the Orangutan Android Solar King!