You Must Be This Tall To Ride #1 Review: A Fun YA Portal Adventure Comic

 There are comic book concepts that walk up, politely knock on the door, and ask for your attention. Then there are concepts like You Must Be This Tall To Ride #1, which crash through the gate wearing a theme park wristband, carrying a backpack full of portals, family drama, Saturday morning adventure energy, and that “kids are absolutely about to break every rule possible” magic that makes young-adult adventure stories pop. WEPA! This one has that beautiful “what if the worst vacation ever became the greatest quest of your life?” flavor, and right from the jump, creator/writer John McGuire knows exactly what kind of ride he is inviting us onto.

The creative team behind this issue is John McGuire on story, Ivan R. Chandra on art and colors, Tanner Eddleman on letters, Ivan R. Chandra on standard cover artwork, and Amauri Morales on variant cover artwork, as credited in the issue itself. That matters because You Must Be This Tall To Ride #1 is one of those comics where the whole team has to sell the illusion together. The writing has to make the family feel like real people. The art has to make the rundown amusement park feel like a place you want to explore even though every sensible adult would immediately say, “Nope, we are turning this van around.” The colors have to balance ordinary family life with the glow of the impossible. The lettering has to keep the energy moving without turning the page into a traffic jam. When this book clicks, it clicks because everyone is leaning into the same spirit: adventure first, heart underneath, danger peeking from behind the cotton candy machine.

The setup is clean and instantly relatable. A family inherits a broken-down amusement park from a long-missing uncle, which already sounds like the kind of situation that would either become a tax nightmare or the beginning of a magical disaster. In this case, thankfully for us readers, it is the magical disaster. Bill and Courtney bring the kids to this strange old place, and what begins as a potentially boring family obligation turns into something much bigger once the children realize this park is not just old rides, busted attractions, and suspiciously unsafe structures. This place has secrets. Big ones. Multiverse-sized ones.

McGuire does a nice job establishing the family dynamic quickly. Connor, Kennedy, Abel, and Logan each bring a different energy to the page, and there is enough sibling friction here to make the story feel grounded before the weirdness hits. That is important. The comic does not begin with portals and cosmic madness just because portals and cosmic madness are cool, even though, let’s be honest, portals and cosmic madness are absolutely cool. It begins with kids being kids. There is boredom, arguing, teasing, attitude, curiosity, and that timeless youthful belief that every off-limits room is obviously where the best stuff is hidden. Any parent reading this will immediately feel their blood pressure spike. Any former kid reading this will think, “Yeah, I would have gone exploring too.” That is the sweet spot.

The book’s strongest hook is the amusement park itself. The idea that each themed land may actually connect to another world is fantastic. Cartoon World, Weird West, Space Pirates, and other reality-bending zones give this series a playground with almost unlimited potential. It has that old-school Dungeons & Dragons cartoon energy, mixed with the kid-powered danger of The Goonies, the storybook wonder of The NeverEnding Story, and the neighborhood-adventure spirit of “Kids on Bikes” storytelling. But it does not feel like a lazy remix. It feels like McGuire understands why those stories worked. The kids are not superheroes. They are not experts. They are scared, curious, stubborn, and emotionally messy. That makes the portal-hopping premise more exciting because they are not entering these worlds as chosen champions with polished speeches and perfect plans. They are walking into madness with sibling arguments still fresh in the air. That is gold.

Ivan R. Chandra’s artwork gives the issue a bright, animated quality that fits the YA tone beautifully. The characters have expressive faces, clean silhouettes, and a sense of movement that makes the book feel accessible for younger readers while still giving older readers enough genre candy to enjoy. The amusement park visuals are especially fun because they carry that slightly abandoned, slightly magical atmosphere. It is not full horror, but there is enough unease to let you know this place has teeth. The cover imagery sells the larger adventure promise too, especially with the kids framed against sci-fi and fantasy elements that hint at the larger chaos ahead.

The colors deserve a strong shoutout because they help separate the mundane from the magical. Early family scenes use familiar warmth and grounded tones, while the stranger moments bring in richer shadows, neon glows, and otherworldly energy. When the story reaches the control-room/portal mechanics portion, the visuals begin to shift into that “okay, we are not in normal life anymore” mode. That is where the comic starts flexing its bigger imagination. You can feel the issue opening up like the first hill of a roller coaster. Click-click-click-click… and then boom, here come the worlds.

Tanner Eddleman’s lettering keeps the reading flow mostly smooth, especially considering this issue has a lot of character introductions, family bickering, exposition, and fantasy explanation to juggle. The lettering supports the animated tone and gives the dialogue a lively rhythm. In a story aimed at young-adult readers, clarity is king, and the issue mostly stays on track. There are moments where the amount of explanation gets a little thick, particularly once the rules of the portals and the danger surrounding Logan’s disappearance start coming into focus. The book is building a mythology, and sometimes you can feel it hustling to get all the pieces onto the board before the issue ends. That is not a deal-breaker, but it does make certain pages feel more like setup machinery than pure character momentum.

Where You Must Be This Tall To Ride #1 shines brightest is in its promise. This is a first issue that understands the assignment: introduce the family, reveal the magical engine, create a personal problem, and leave readers wanting the next ticket. The emotional engine is simple and effective. Logan is missing. The kids have to get him back. Mom and Dad cannot find out. The park is more dangerous than anyone realized. That is clean adventure storytelling, baby. No overcomplicated philosophical gymnastics. No twelve-page lore dump about the ancient council of whatever-whatever. Just kids, family, portals, danger, and a clock ticking in the background. That is how you hook readers.

The one area I wanted a little more from was deeper emotional breathing room. The family dynamic works, but because the issue needs to move from arrival to discovery to danger quickly, some of the kids are still more archetype than fully carved-out personality by the end. Kennedy gets strong moments, Connor has that older-sibling pressure, Abel brings the smart/awkward energy, and Logan becomes the emotional target of the search, but future issues will really benefit from giving each kid a sharper emotional lane. Let us feel what they are afraid of. Let us see what they hide from each other. Let us understand why this family adventure matters beyond “we need to save our brother,” because the foundation is already there. The series just needs space to let those relationships bloom.

Still, for a debut issue, this is a strong launch with a lot of charm. It feels like the kind of comic that can pull in younger readers, nostalgic adults, families, tabletop fans, animation lovers, and anybody who misses adventure stories where kids make bad decisions for good reasons. The premise is wonderfully expandable. Every themed land can become its own genre playground. Every portal can test the kids differently. Every ride can reveal something about the family, the missing uncle, and the strange architecture of this impossible park. That is the exciting part. This issue is not just telling one story. It is opening the gates to a whole attraction map.

You Must Be This Tall To Ride #1 is a fun, family-driven portal adventure with heart, humor, and a great high-concept hook. It has the bones of a crowd-pleasing YA comic series and the kind of nostalgic adventure flavor that makes you want to grab a flashlight, sneak past the warning signs, and find out what is behind the next locked door. John McGuire and the team deliver a first issue that is accessible, energetic, and packed with possibility. The ride has begun, the safety bar is questionable, the park is definitely not up to code, and honestly? That is exactly why I want issue #2.

Final verdict: You Must Be This Tall To Ride #1 is a bright, imaginative, family-first adventure comic with multiverse-sized potential. It is fun, weird, sincere, and built for readers who love portal fantasies, sibling chaos, and big “summer adventure gone completely sideways” energy. The Crusade recommends you grab your ticket, keep your hands inside the ride, and maybe don’t play hide-and-seek in a haunted multiversal amusement park unless you packed snacks and courage.

CRUSADERS SCORE:

4/5   
Strong crusade energy. Highly recommended!

Writer / Creator: John McGuire
Artist / Colorist: Ivan R. Chandra
Letterer: Tanner Eddleman
Standard Cover Artist: Ivan R. Chandra
Variant Cover Artist: Amauri Morales
Publisher / Project: Creator-Owned / Kickstarter-Funded Indie Comic