The Powerpuff Girls Volume 1

Writing and art by Troy Little

            The Powerpuff Girls is one of my favorite Cartoon Network shows, and probably one of my favorite cartoons in general.  Full of action, humor, and memorable characters, it hit all the right marks.  It makes an obvious choice for IDW’s sudden plan to revive several Cartoon Network shows in comic book form.  And the comic is a perfect adaptation from page one.

            The comic starts naturally enough, with the girls once again foiling one of Mojo Jojo’s plots.  But from there, Mojo Jojo gets so tired of being constantly defeated that he decides to make a major change.  No spoilers here, but it’s a moment that’s surprising and…well, you know it’s going to snap back, but the road there is what’s interesting.  There’s several more twists here along the way, especially as Him begins his own schemes.  Sadly, my review copy only came with the first 3 issues of the arc, so I can’t judge how everything ends, but I want to find out how things end up, which I consider to be good enough.  Overall, it’s just like a story you’d expect from the show in a longer format than normal.

            And tonally as well, this is right on point.  From the classic “The City of Townsville” opening to the narrator jokes to the art style, this reads and looks just like the show.  It can be so common, even with animated shows, for the comic to get off-model for the characters, but there’s none of those problems here.  The comic even includes some of the more adult jokes that you’d expect (like references to Ed Wood and Saw), which is especially great for the older fans who actually get these jokes now, while not distracting from the basic family-friendly style.  It’s what you want out of an all-ages comic, and even kids that have never seen Powerpuff Girls before would likely be interested in it from this book.

            If this is the high quality I can expect for IDW’s Cartoon Network comics, then you can sign me up for all of them.  An adaptation that tells new stories in a style that’s almost indistinguishable from the show itself.  You can’t get much better than this.