Review: Care Bears #1

Care Bears was a bit out of my decades as a kid, I’m not gonna lie. Granted, my elder half siblings did manage to save charming video tapes of the old animations that at least gave me some semblance of an inkling about what was actually spoken about in this title. To be fair, I will actively admit to you all…I did the Google. I did it hard. Let me share, before we delve into the pages and review a bit too much, what exactly a Whiffle is, for your reading experience. A Whiffle, it seems, is a small brightly colored creature that lives in Silver Lining and often needs a Care Bear to basically look after it.

That being said, we’re free to jump right into this IDW release. If you’re someone who has children who want to dip into the world of comic reading or just a fan of nostalgia from the 80’s, then this might be right up your alley. Granted things may have shifted slightly from the original. It seems the central underlying issue of this (no repetition intended) issue is conflict. Matthew Erman and Nadia Shammas do a fantastic job of writing each bear according to their namesake; cheery, fun, sometimes grumpy. While the Whiffles, who clearly are less evolved in their speech, are just as whimsical while retaining a more simplistic speech pattern than the Care Bears. It doesn’t detract from the ability to understand the central themes and – in truth – if being read to or by younger readers, you could actually aliken the Whiffles to smaller children to help illustrate points and teach lessons.

The art, by Agnes Garbowska, and colors by Silvana Brys are just what you’d expect for this title. Fun, wide eyed and bright. They’re sweet and unassuming, almost innocent in their doe eyed ways. Meant to echo the exuberance of youth and the traits that we, as people, might be defined by. The colors are fresh and vivid. Lots of pastels that become almost neon with their luminosity. Either way, the art and colors fit perfectly into the world. Even the gently rounded caps of the bubble letters by Christa Miesner interject in some pages in ways similar to watching a cartoon. In essence, the entirety of this issue is perfection in its harmony.

Outside of the ongoing central conflict, the gang’s interaction with Bluster and Robbie also allow adults to touch on deeper thematic issues. Such as how sometimes they way that we see ourselves on the inside might not always reflect that which others see on the outside. This 4 out of 5 star title allows us to confront so many issues that might be important to kids growing up these days while not really intruding upon our adult sensibilities if we’re merely reading for our own enjoyment.

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

(W) Matthew Erman, Nadia Shammas (A/CA) Agnes Garbowska

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Gwen Dylan Stacy
Pastel dream darkened around the edges. Poor man's Jessica Henwick. Proficient in goober. Cosplayer.
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