Some comics I read in 2024: Earthworm Jim
I mentioned before that I had one sorry, solitary issue of an Earthworm Jim comic in the ’90s, and was surprised not just by the dire lack of information on it online, but that it wasn’t the only one — there was a Marvel Comics mini-series as well! I was on a short-lived Jim kick after my stint with the games, and you better believe I had to gobble up whatever media I hadn’t consumed yet.
The art in the Marvel Comics mini-series is handled by Barry Crain for the most part, minus a fill-in by Manny Galan and Carlos Garzón in the back half of issue #2, with a veritable army of inkers employed across its short run. It’s fun and eclectic and tries its best to evoke the vibe of Doug TenNapel’s art, with some rightfully manic depictions of the cast. Some characters make the leap better than others, and it is a tad inconsistent at times — Jim’s face was a constant bugbear, seemingly more detailed than a lot of others’ for no good reason. I understand a worm the size of a man would be gnarly and greebly, but dial it down a hair, will ya?
I imagine it’s always a tall order producing a tie-in comic with a pile of unorthodox character models to get acquainted with on short notice, and the EWJ cast are so distinct you really notice when they look a bit ‘off’. Professor Monkey-For-A-Head is arguably very “on-model”, but to the point where it looks like they just traced his cartoon character model most of the time — he lacks the hatching detail and range of expression of other characters, when Psycrow and Bob are typically more flexible. Queen Slug-for-a-Butt doesn’t do much and looks a bit odd, but she is a complex design; my heart goes out to the cartoon staff having to draw and animate her on the reg…!
The plot’s some gumbo about Jim and the Princess being kidnapped — Jim taken by the professor to plunder the secrets of his super suit, and the Princess to be married to Bob. The manual to Earthworm Jim 2 at least explains she’s to be married because she’s the last heir to the throne, but I don’t think the comic has any such excuse; Bob just wants to be a freedom-thieving fiend.
Psycrow, Queen Slug-for-a-Butt and Evil The Cat seemingly just tag along for the ride; Evil has a plot about unleashing his lawyers on Jim, but it doesn’t really go anywhere. They rescue Peter from a dungeon, take him back to his home planet, then decide he doesn’t want to stay; the third issue is very much an intentional waste of time.
I do like its depiction of the relationship between Jim and the Princess, at least at first — Jim is smitten with her and anxious about asking her out, and suggests they go cow-tipping. “Sure, sounds weird.” The Princess has an easy-going charm about her and enjoys Jim’s weird quirky qualities…
… but is also extremely capable at kicking butt and taking no guff. She’s an “insectikette”, possessing the strength of a hundred men, and Jim’s suit (the only surviving prototype) was originally made for the queen, so it magnifies her powers even moreso.
We see this in action when she dons it to kick Big Bruty’s butt in issue #3, leaving Jim feeling dejected until she and Peter Puppy talk some sense into him. “What other superhero would be secure enough to admit his girlfriend was better suited for the big jobs!?!” “Flaunt them PC muscles, sweetie!”
Having to stop the action to soothe his ego is a bit of a drag, especially when the three issues demonstrate multiple times just how quick-witted he is at problem-solving even without his suit, but I do enjoy their mutual revelation. You just hate seeing the dope down in the dumps like that!
It’s an alright read; fans will enjoy seeing it cram iconography from the games in there, like setpieces from Down The Tubes with the submarine and giant hamster, or turning to Chuck and Fifi from New Junk City for directions. The art is dynamic and does good action, but it’s just too muddy at times to convey its visual humour, so heavy on black shadows and highlighting that it overcomplicates its toony shapes. I would’ve loved to have seen it in the hands of DC’s Looney Tunes comics of the ’90s, but alas.
It does show that the cast shine best when they’re given voices; they just don’t read all that uniquely in text format… or at least, not when it’s so cramped for space between a dozen characters and multiple ping-ponging plotlines. Still, I always enjoy seeing different takes on a franchise, and this is as rich a depiction as you were going to get of the game’s world in the ’90s, before the cartoon went in its own direction. Speaking of…!
The UK comic, published through 1996 and 1997 by Devere, is a tie-in to the cartoon through and through, its art and overall vibe clearly aspiring to imitate it as closely as possible, only with garish primary colours and thick bold outlines. A lot of poses look like they’re traced directly from model sheets; Jim clearly uses the same stock expressions constantly, and characters with complex shapes like Evil the Cat or Queen Slug-for-a-Butt are often just the same face or pose modified in wonky off-model ways.
There’s a certain ‘wobbliness’ to the whole thing; it’s serviceable, but by no means remarkable, barely doing the bare minimum to communicate its jokes at times. The second issue supposedly features Jim rendered too fat to fit in his suit, but I’ll have to take their word for it; the difference is shockingly negligible for a gag the comic tries to milk to its fullest.
To its credit, it’s somewhat easier to parse the action than the Marvel run… though that’s on account of its extremely unambitious compositions. It’s doing the bare minimum, and is still prone to having art so woeful I legitimately can’t tell what happened, like the ending of issue 4 — something to do with a couple under Jim’s protective custody being seemingly flattened by a cow, but actually swallowed by it instead, or…? If you can make heads or tails of it, write in on a postcard.
Its lackadaisical idiot plots are extremely breezy, if tremendously low-stakes; the villains concocting some contrived scheme in need of foiling, or Jim seeking to impress the Princess or uphold his heroic duties. Whether you enjoy the stories really depends on how much you can stomach Beano-quality writing — lots of dreadful puns, contrived plots, and frequent fourth-wall breaking to address the reader either in dialogue or sign gags.
A constant runner is “the planet of X”, be it bad jokes or boring people, and people getting flattened by gags is trotted out frequently. Issue 2 has a running gag of characters unintentionally quoting song lyrics, someone remarking “that could be a song!”, then getting crushed by a cow. It’s all hallmarks established by the cartoon, just with far less talent or quality control.
It’s very British, with a lot of telltale vernacular and references — while on the brink of doom Jim pines he’ll never be able to watch Eastenders; Peter offering to buy Jim a poster of the Spice Girls to mend his broken heart; among other dodgy references to local cuisine or geography.
The fifth issue is arguably the best in embracing its silliness: Jim wants to spend Valentine’s Day with the Princess, and the villains bargain increasingly outrageous ways for him to accomplish that, so long as he trades them his super suit. It’s perhaps the one issue worth reading, a good example of its writing getting a decent handle on the show’s “voice”…
… but on the flip-side, dear god, does the art get worse with each instalment, to the point where this final issue is just plain wince-inducing. The Princess is practically unrecognisable when they’re forced to draw her from any angle but her stock art pose, and you really begin to miss backdrops that aren’t squiggles or flat colours.
It also demonstrates how there’s no coherent style to anything not lifted from the show — incidental characters run the gamut from Beano-ass gremlins to jarringly realistic, and none of them look remotely at home standing next to familiar faces.
What’s notable is that every issue is just one long story, an uncommon sight in UK comics — of the comics I addressed in my last “Tales From Storage” entry, I don’t think any of them had just one story in an issue…! The sole exception is issue 3, seemingly the result of Jon Rushby having to do a fill-in…
… and honestly, not only is his work more attractive than Tim Perkins’ main fare (sorry Tim!), but I think this format better suits the material. Even as a youngster the one issue I had was simply too long in the tooth to garner any laughs; the 16~18 page stories are just too drawn-out and incoherent without dynamic voice acting or music to hold them together.
I mention the artists, but the comics have absolutely no credits inside! I owe that knowledge to the Boys Adventure Comics blog, seemingly the best source of information on Devere as a publisher, and what they show suggests it was a kind of low-rent production. As far as I can tell, none of the issues had advertisements (certainly not the one in my collection), which you’d think would be a good thing…
… if it weren’t for how extremely cheap and dodgy its filler material is. The mock interviews with the villains are almost charming, along with send-ups of spot-the-difference puzzles, but then there’s a strange “true or false” historical quiz, or even just stock promo art slapped on a page seemingly to spotlight the arsenals of various characters.
Perhaps the worst instance is an extremely unconvincing “slime” texture you’re meant to cut out and wrap around your schoolbooks, to make it look like it’s dripping in ooze. In lieu of a letters page, the first issue has to source opinions and fanart from a local primary school. It’s charming in its own way — I have to respect the hustle in rustling up locally-sourced enthusiasm for your comic, but it’s also hard not to use the term “pathetic” in my descriptions. Between that and the occasional typo found in the text, one wonders should I trust such a slapdash operation in entertaining my children?
An advertisement in the first issue promises at least a dozen other comics, activity magazines and “sticker stories” based on currently popular media, including Balto, Street Sharks, and Teeny Weeny Families, though I wouldn’t be surprised if some or all of them just didn’t come out. All of Devere’s publications seem to be pretty rare — whether they had low print runs, limited distribution, or just plain weren’t respected by the people who bought them, you decide! I was shocked when I couldn’t find scans as readily as I could for the Marvel run; ta to teddyroo12 on Reddit for supplying a copy.
I’m grateful it was preserved and I could finally see what I was missing out on… though, uh, it probably deserves to be lost media. It elicited maybe two chuckles across its hundred pages of content, and it does not contribute much of worth to the franchise. To its credit, it was my exposure to Earthworm Jim action figures back in the day, which led to many disappointing toy store visits in hopes of finding them, so cheers for that, Devere.
As of this writing I have not yet read Douggy-boy’s recent Kickstarter-funded comics, though I can’t say I’m in a rush. It certainly looks more accurate to his vision than any other adaptation, for good or for worse, I’ll give it that. I might just be burnt out on the worm! If it turns out the cartoon doesn’t hold up under rewatch, then Earthworm Jim might simply be a series where I dig the vibes more than the material, and I don’t think I’m ready for that kind of revelation. I like to enjoy things! Being snippy about bad writing isn’t all it’s cracked up to be!
