Review - Bronze Age Boogie (@AhoyComicMags)

"Go-Go...be a dead and check on the tequila supply? Bianaca's in town..."

What's really fun about taking things from different eras and merging them is the new stories that can be told. In Bronze Age Boogie from Ahoy Comics, that concept is cranked to 11. "Bronze Age Boogie" is written by Stuart Moore, illustrated by Alberto Ponticelli, colored by Giulia Brusco and lettered by Rob Steen, "Major Ursa" is written by Tyrone Finch, illustrated by Mauricet, colored by Lee Loughridge and lettered by Steen, "Animal Control Incident Reports: 437 Red Cedar Lane" is written by Bryce Ingman and illustrated by Shawn Crystal and "How to Beat Writer's Block" is written by Kek-W and illustrated by Darick Robertson.

What do you get when you combine all the best-loved comics genres of the 1970s: apes, monsters, Kung Fu, sword-and-sorcery, and cosmic adventure? You get Bronze Age Boogie, an intense, character-based action-fest with plenty of style! In this collector's item first issue, young barbarian princess Brita Constantina finds herself battling a Martian invasion in both 1975 AD and BC! Back-feature: Meet Major Ursa, the first bear in space. But will he be a hero or a villain? Plus the usual assortment of AHOY extra text stories!

In the titular tale, Moore allows the story to wear its influences very openly and flagrantly on its sleeve. Moore is mashing up quite a few genres and well-known representatives of said genres into a rather glorious send-up to the 70s that somehow all comes together in a testament of paying homage while also being completely irreverent. Moore does a marvelous job of making the characters seemingly self-aware that Moore is aware of exactly what's going on and that sort of meta-approach reads fast and furious. "Major Ursa" is a slightly different approach, although in it Finch still manages to poke fun at a lot of pop culture cliches in an effort to make a bear astronaut seem plausible. "Animal Control Incident Reports: 437 Red Cedar Lane" and "How to Beat Writer's Block" are a bit more sanguine in their presentation; the former is still pretty wild in showing animals running the show while the latter is a bit tamer in its offerings as to how to get things moving creatively.

Ponticelli does a great job in "Bronze Age Boogie" incorporating all the visual elements of the genres the story itself is pulling from, yet he does so in a way that comes together beautifully. Brusco's colors match that intensity in that pages sport hues that deftly capture the mood at the time depending on what's happening (for instance, pages by the fire have an orange hue to them). In "Major Ursa," Mauricet uses simple linework for the characters that--in particular--humanizes the lead bear character. Loughridge's colors are pale in the issue and evoke associations with NASA and space through the use of blues and whites. Crystal's artwork in "Animal Control Incident Reports: 437 Red Cedar Lane" is an amusing nod to animals being intelligent while Robertson's illustration in "How to Beat Writer's Block" is a glimpse into the abyss that is writer's block.

Bronze Age Boogie is a very appropriate title for the book that as it encapsulates the zany anachronisms that serve as the linchpin for the narratives. Each of the stories are fascinating in their own ways and offer quite an entertaining read. The writing is extremely intelligent and amusing, subverting a lot of known quantities in the name of comedy. And despite there being multiple stories in the issue, the artwork remains remarkably consistent across all of them. Bronze Age Boogie is a thoroughly enjoyable read that has a little bit of everything and isn't shy about mashing it all together.

Bronze Age Boogie is available now.