Comics: Mighty Mouse Trade Paperback (#1-5) - Reviewed




Written by Sholly Fisch and drawn by Igor Lima, the story begins with a young teenager, Joey, who is drawing cartoons of his favorite superhero, Mighty Mouse. Collecting the first five issues of the new series from Dynamite, the trade paperback provides us with the typical story of the unpopular nerd who is bullied at school and finds strength and solace in his imagination. Joey’s preoccupation with Mighty Mouse is a clear reflection of his sense of powerlessness, as he sees arrogant punks at school pick on him and other students. Joey’s power fantasy, however, eventually becomes a reality, as the world of Mighty Mouse begins to merge into his dimension, thereby setting the rest of the self-contained story into motion. 

Mighty Mouse ends up christening his new found partner as “Joey Justice”, when the two team up to defeat a threat from Mighty Mouse’s world. By the end of the tale, both characters are changed by each other for the better, and the ending brings everything full circle, as we see Joey’s character fulfill his arc in a very satisfying fashion. 

The writing is straightforward and to the point, without much fluff, which is a good thing. The art is great in most counts, although some pages are clearly drawn better than others. The balance between the animated world of Mighty Mouse and the “real” world of Joey is handled quite well for the most part. In addition, the regular non-animated art betrays a clear influence by the work of the legendary Jerry Ordway (although not quite as good). In the final pages, we are also treated to variant covers by the likes of Neal Adams, Alex Ross, J. Bone, Yale Stewart, and Anthony Marques. 

All in all, we have a nice moral of defending the weak against those who abuse their power and engage in bullying. The story itself is not very deep or sophisticated, but it’s definitely an upbeat yarn, especially for younger audiences who value the power of imagination. 

-Berk Koca