”Daggum stood along the shore, no answer to be found. Peril leered behind as Burnswick smoldered to the ground…”
Creative Staff
Story & Art: Roger Langridge
Writer: Ryan Ferrier
What They Say
From the Eisner and Harvey award-winning creator of SNARKED and writer of the acclaimed comic series D4VE comes this humorous, absurd adventure tale about a family on the run.
Daggum Criminy’s peaceful life is suddenly interrupted as pirates invade his island, casting Criminy’s family out as refugees into the wild unknown in search of a new home. Soon, the Criminys find themselves hopping from one strange locale to another, each with their own bizarre environment, people, and challenges; putting Daggum and fam in constant peril as they search for a new peaceful place to call home.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Usually, when modern media take on the retro aesthetic, it does so with the intention of leaning as heavily into it as possible, only to either subvert or go into the expectations whole hog. Whether it be works like Cuphead, Stranger Things, or even DC’s run of Hanna Barbera comics, the intention is almost always to harp on the audience’s nostalgia strings in one way or another, with that aesthetic almost serving as another character to the story’s cast.
In the case of Roger Langridge and Ryan Ferrier’s Criminy, the near opposite approach is taken. Yes, the characters are heavily based on Western comics and cartoons of the twenties and thirties (both in design and speech patterns), but the story itself is one that could take place in any time period, with any type of family. This isn’t to say that the retro style is shallow by any means, but rather the style holds back just enough to focus on telling a certain type of story– a story of an adventure among family.
The Criminy family and the story itself is told simply, yet elegantly. You don’t need to know deep lore or motivations, or arcs for each family member, because the primary focus to the story is the adventure aspect. From swashbuckling pirates up to no good, talking skeletons seeking immortality, or the inconceivable in dream machines and creatures, Criminy’s appeal are the trials the family is faced with from chapter to chapter. Story flow feels very Pinocchio-esque in that challenges are endearingly varied, and the main cast just bounces from one to the other very matter-of-factly. There is some drama when the Criminy’s eldest child wishes to stay at a certain island, as well as the overarching drama of needing to save the rest of their island friends who weren’t able to escape the pirates’ reign, but Langridge and Ferrier try to keep things as fluffy and kid-friendly as possible.
Priorities for Criminy are kid-friendly adventure, and that’s just what you get. Nothing more, nothing less, and it’s all the better for it.
In Summary:
Criminy is a short, but endearing adventure series with a retro vibe. Chapters are episodic enough to work as a standalone while slowly working towards the end goal of the family freeing their home from the grasp of pirates. And while the retro vibe doesn’t go about subverting expectations, it doesn’t have to. It knows what strengths to play by and does just enough to make the read worthwhile.
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: B
Packaging Grade: A
Age Rating: All
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: October 2, 2018
MSRP: $12.99
