Bug! The Aventures of Forager

Bug! The Adventures of Forager by Lee Allred
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After dying at the end of Cosmic Odyssey, Forager emerges from a cocoon in a basement on Earth with a mute girl and her talking teddy bear for company. From there, things get weird...

I read the first three issues of Bug! as they came out but got sidetracked somewhere along the way. I pre-ordered the trade paperback as soon as it was available and wolfed it down in on sitting.

Michael Allred has been one of my favorite comic book artists for aeons. When I saw he was teaming with his brother to do Bug! The Adventures of Forager, my curiosity was piqued. According to an interview I read before picking up the first issue, Lee and Michael Allred became obsessed with Forager because of a battered copy of New Gods #9 at their guitar teacher's place when they were kids. Since Forager only made three appearances, including his death in Cosmic Odyssey, they pretty much had a clean slate. Bug grew on me pretty quickly. Bug reminds me of Madman, Mike Allred's most famous creation, with some Spider-Man thrown in. I love that he carries a shield that is too unwieldy to throw.

The book reads like a love letter to Jack Kirby's DC creations from the first panel. Bug tears out of a cocoon and gets plunged neck deep in strangeness. The love the Allred boys feel for Bug, and the rest of Kirby's creations, comes through on every page. Bug looks and feels like a particularly good comic from yesteryear with some modern sensibilities.

Most of Kirby's creations from the 1970s (and some from the 1950s) are here: The New Gods, the Forever People, The Losers, Deadman, OMAC, Atlas, the Manhunters, the Silver Age Sandman, the Golden Age Blue Beetle, the Golden Age Sandman and Sandy, the list goes on and on. The only 70s characters I noticed missing were The Demon and Kamandi.

The story is pretty crazy, which is in keeping with Kirby's later period. Eventually, I quite trying to figure out what was coming next and just enjoyed the ride. Bug bounces all over the multiverse, chasing Chagra and the pieces of orichalcum. The ending wasn't what I expected but was very satisfying.

The stars were perfectly aligned for Bug! I don't think another creative team could have pulled it off. I'd love to see the Allred clan take on the Challengers of the Unknown next! Four out of five stars.

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