Title: "Baby Bowl"
Writer: Joe Edkin
Artist & Letterer: Vince DePorter
Colorist: Bob LeRose
Cover: Leonardo Batic & Mike DeCarlo
Release Date: July 21st, 1999
Cover Price:
$1.99 U.S./ $2.85 Canada
Summary:
Buttons must save Mindy as she trots through a
football game.
Description:
At a football game, the parents leave Buttons
to take care of Mindy as they go to complain about the violence, instructing
Buttons not to let their drink spill. Of course, Mindy rushes into the middle
of the game chasing the ball, and Buttons follows, ultimately resulting in the
team winning the game, Mindy being returned safely to her seat, and the drink
being spilled.
Pages (out of 32): 8 pp.
Quote of the Story:
LADY: Sweetheart, I think this game is too violent. It sets
a bad example for our daughter.
MAN: You're right, dear. Let's go talk to the coach and see
if he can tone things down.
Review:
Even less funny than the usual M&B outing. This
story has some of the most horribly stinted, unfunny dialogue I've seen lately.
Even the Lady, usually the most amusing character, isn't very good here.
DePorter's artwork is pretty nice, and tends to have a sort of
"classic" feel to it (á la an old Disney comic book, especially in
some of Buttons' poses and expressions).
Rating: 
Title: "Fear and Loathing on Mars!"
Writer: Frank Strom
Penciller: Leo Batic
Inker: Jim Amash
Letterer: Phil Felix
Colorist: Bob LeRose
Summary:
The Warners arrive in Vegas, and think they're on
Mars.
Description:
A rubber band-propelled rocket ship takes the
Warners to Las Vegas, but due to the bizarre local customs, they believe
they've reached their planned destination—Mars. While Dot and Wakko check out a
"Whinefeld & Roy" show, Yakko hits the tables. But when Dot &
Wakko accidentally release a tiger during the show, the three quickly return to
the ship, and end up in an even stranger place—Manhattan.
Pages (out of 32): 6 pp.
Quote of the Story:
YAKKO: Hey, check you cats later--I'm heading where the
action is! [He arrives at the tables, where people are saying, "Oh, boy!
This is where the action is!" and "Action! Action Action!"]
Which is here, unless I miss my guess.
Review:
A passable story. The TV short "Magic
Time" already did the "Warners-bug-Siegfried-and-Roy" bit, so
its repeat use here rather comes off as "been-there-done-that."
Still, a few amusing gags make this story readable, if nothing else… As a
born-and-raised New York State dweller, I feel inclined to note that that shot
of the city is totally inaccurate (especially in portraying the skies as
crystal-clear blue…).
Rating: ½
Title: "I Never Promised You a Kindergarten"
Writer: Jesse Leon McCann
Penciller: Walter Carzon
Inker: Horacio Ottolini
Letterer: John Costanza
Colorist: Bob LeRose
Summary:
Brain & Pinky become kids again.
Description:
Brain has created a youth formula, and thanks
to Pinky's clumsiness, both the mice are submersed in it, resulting in them
becoming wee li'l tykes again. They go to a kindergarten class, where Brain's
intelligence and talent are scorned, while Pinky is praised for his idiocy and
paste-eating. But the paste has a side effect—Pinky returns to full-size. So,
the mice return home—and Brain will have to learn to eat paste if he wants to
return to normal…
Pages (out of 32): 8 pp.
AYPWIP:
BRAIN: Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?
PINKY: I think so, Bwain, but I don't think newspaper will
fit in my underoos.
Quote of the Story:
[Pinky begins returning to normal.]
PINKY: Feel strange…my body, growing… Argh! I'm becoming the
Incredible Hu--oh, wait, no, I'm just becoming normal Pinky again. Zort!
Review:
McCann's long-overdue return to the mice is as good
as one would hope. The 8-page format does seem to restrain him a bit, but he
still manages to provide a funny, original tale, packed with great dialogue,
and a nice little message about schools "encouraging mediocrity and
conformity" rather than "teaching the individual to grow."
The way Brain says the same "Brain-ish" things he always says, but
speaks in a baby-ish dialect, is a nice touch. Very few complaints, except that
he overdoes it a bit on the "potty" jokes in the beginning. Carzon
graces the story with what is quite possibly his nicest art since the Golden
Age of the P&tB comic. The baby versions of P&tB are absolutely
adorable.
Rating: ½
