Buckaroo Banzai #1

Story: Mac Rauch
Pencils: Stephen Thompson
Inks: Keith Williams
Colors: Dennis Calero
Covers: Matt Haley, Michael Stribling
32pgs, COLOR, $3.50

I don’t know how many of you have ever seen the cult film, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, maybe by accident on late night t.v. but I’m talking late late night t.v. where the only thing awake is you and the weird old lady across the street with all the cats that likes to moon bathe in the buff…or is that just in my neighborhood? Anyways, Buckaroo Banzai has returned in the form of a new comic book from Moonstone Productions.
The comic picks up after the events of the film with Buck in a new adventure written by the original creator Mac Rauch and the original director W.D. Richter. Buckaroo Banzai is a neurosurgeon/rock star/experimental race car driver. He is an adventurer along with his crew of Hong Kong Cavaliers. Buck is a mixture of coolness and grittiness and if the comic is anything like the movie then you can expect lots of weirdness! From strange Red Lectroids from planet 10 that look like a cross between skinless aliens and Rastafarians, gunfights in the middle of the Mojave desert, brain surgery, and forces of evil from other dimensions hell-bent on taking over the world, these are just a few of the scenarios to be found in the world of Buckaroo Banzai.
The art is being supplied by Stephen Thompson whose pencils are very detailed and clean Buck. Thompson drew a few issues of Star Wars Republic for Dark Horse and his art captures the essence of Buckaroo Banzai and supporting cast. Peter Weller stared in the original and his likeness is lent to the comic, Thompson manages to catch all the nuances of Weller’s face and demeanor when drawing Buck. Moonstone is a publisher that I follow from time to time, mainly because they have aquired some cool properties, the main one being Kolchack: The Nightstalker, which I have been a fan of since I first saw when I was a lad. I know Moonstone has passion for their work, the stuff they’ve done with Kolchack, leads me to believe that Buckaroo Banzai will rock out!
There are many aspects that I saw in other creations that I first noticed in Buckaroo Banzai. The hero who carries a guitar and a samurai sword gives glimpses of another popular cult movie, Six String Samurai, so if you enjoy weirdness mixed into your coolness try out Buckaroo Banzai: The Comic