Munchkin, vol. 5

by Katie Cook, Will Hindmarch, Sam Sykes, Mike Luckas, Philip Murphy, and Len Peralta

Boom! Studios

111 pages

From the solicitation: “Based on the mega-hit card game about dungeon adventure, join Spyke and Flower as they compete in fairs, battle Cthulhu monsters, visit Oz, and go on dungeon crawls all in the name of racking up that loot. Collects issues #17-20 of the Munchkin comic with stories from the world of the fantasy roleplaying satire.”

With promises of hilarious satirical mirth and mayhem in a world of “Dungeon and Dragons”-like fantasy adventure, this collection features various standalone stories, most of which feature the characters Flower and Spyke. The two adventurers are a greedy lot, in search of adventure and “loot” no matter the cost.

In this volume they battle powerful, punny knights in jousting tournaments, come face-to-face with a cult that worships great elder gods, travel to the land of OZ in search of a powerful wizard, and find themselves in a forgotten abbey that boasts a suspiciously rich, yet tantalizing, menu of amenities to its guests.

Given the cult status of the Munchkin card game and the resume Steve Jackson has with comedy and satire, I dove into this book with a smile on my face. Towards the end, however, I found myself flipping forward to check how many pages were left in the book. Not that the stories were boring, it’s just that the humor fell flat pretty much everywhere. The best part of the whole thing was probably the names of some of the knights, but even that simply brought a smirk to my face, rather than any significant laughs.

Now, I am not familiar with the card game, [although I do know they have a Cthulhu expansion set] nor was I familiar with the comics before reading this collection. I am willing to assume that after 15 issues the writing team [because, like with many comedies, it is a team on this one] was simply running out of ideas; and it’s no secret, because within a few of the stories the characters actually make comments to the reader by breaking the fourth wall about having used the gag in a prior issue. Now, this may be funny satire to some, but I found it less than amusing. It was like laughing at the reader for having wasted time, money, or both for purchasing the same story a second time. The recycling of motifs and storylines could have been funny, but it just wasn’t done properly.

Although it doesn’t contain nudity or profanity, the content is not for children - and would appeal to those who play role-playing fantasy games more than to any casual comic book reader. But unless you’re a die-hard Peter Jackson or Munchkin fan, I would stay away from this trade paperback. 1.5 out of 5 stars.

Available at your local comic book shop, Amazon.com, eBay, and Comixology.