Review: The Treasure of Peg-Leg Wilson #2

Published: August 25, 2009

Categories: Reviews

Issue #1 – Issue #2 – Issue #3 – Issue #4

The Muppet Show Comic Book: The Treasure of Peg-Leg Wilson #2 will hit comic book stores this Wednesday, August 26th. As we’ve come to expect, writer & artist Roger Langridge has once again written and artisted a very entertaining comic.

Unlike the first four-issue Muppet Show series, Peg-Leg Wilson contains several ongoing stories, so we get a recap on this issue’s first page. It’s delivered in song by this banjo-picking Muppet, whom the Muppet wiki refers to as “Hillbilly Singer,” and his presence here nicely fulfills the obscure character quota for this issue.

So Kermit is still acting suspiciously un-Kermit-like, and in this issue we find out why. What’s less clear is which version of Kermit Miss Piggy would prefer.

By the way, who do you think that Muppet girl on the right is supposed to be? I don’t recognize her as a puppet ever seen on The Muppet Show.

Then there’s Animal, who’s also acting strangely… Last month it was revealed that Muppet Labs is behind his personality shift, but this month his Electric Mayhem bandmates try to bring the old Animal back. They miss their old insane, feral, dangerous pal (Who wouldn’t?), and they miss his drumming skills even more, so they hire a hypnotist named Creepy McBoo to snap him out of his well-behaved stupor.

Creepy McBoo! If there’s one thing Langridge is good at, it’s silly names (see also last issue’s Ninja Rogers). As for this month’s obligatory “Which performer would play which character?” game, I’m hearing Steve Whitmire for this guy. Like, you know that “Girlfriend of the Whirling Dervish” song in the Marty Feldman episode? That’s the voice I’m hearing. Which is a very important point in this review, so I’m glad I made that clear.

Elsewhere, we have a musical number that offers a clever variation on “Mahna Mahna” which I will not spoil…

I really like the way Langridge draws Mahna Mahna. He’s a crazy-lookin’ character to begin with, so he’s a good fit for Langridge’s style. Other bits include a Bear on Patrol sketch, a Muppet Labs scene, and a page of “Scooter, Boy Detective,” which feels like an onstage segment of the show but really carries forward the backstage plots.

Speaking of the backstage plots, this issue seems to devote more space to them than any previous issue. It works well… The onstage and backstage goings-on were often similarly tied together on the Muppet Show TV series. The plot I haven’t mentioned yet is the whole “buried treasure” thing, which really doesn’t move forward in this issue despite the fact that the whole miniseries is named after it. There’s still treasure in the theater, and Rizzo and his rat buddies are still looking for it. It looks like more will happen with that story next issue, though.

I do hope that issue #3 has a few more “onstage” bits that stand independent of the storylines, but as with last month’s review, I don’t really have any complaints about this issue. I don’t think it made me laugh quite as much as Peg-Leg #1, but your mileage may vary. Oh, and here’s one other thing I wanted to mention… There’s a reference in this issue to “Rainbow Connection” being 30 years old. So if there was any doubt, this comic book definitely takes place right now, and not in the 1970s. I like the idea that the Muppets have been doing this show continuously for the past few decades… or did they stop for a while and then return to it? Either way, it’s always fun to see these talented entertainers putting on a show.