Boris the Bear
Dark Horse #'s 1-12
Date - 1986

Redeeming Qualities

Mike Richardson and James Dean Smith weave a cute tale about a toy bear.   They use all the tricks in comic book art.   The characters know they are in a comic, they jump between panels and use the white space to grab objects.   This is an excellently done book that had (and still does) many imitators and wannabees.

This book may sound cheap or childish, but is very inteligent and well drawn.   This is one of the 1st Dark Horse series, ( I think #1 is the 2nd DH book ever).   Clean use of panels and art mixed with the words to create a very fluent and easy reading comic.   At a HIGH of $2.00 an issue, you don’t have much to lose to try this book.

Plot Synopsis

Boris the Bear is about a Comic Book loving, soft, but not cuddly, little bear.   He lives in a world where comic characters (among other fictional characters) exist.   You have to put yourself in the time period when this book came out: everybody was knocking off the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with their own animal fighter book, Marvel created the New Universe and DC had Crisis going on.

Issue # 1 introduces Boris, his friend Dave, Dave’s Friend Steve and Dave’s Dad.   Boris loves his comics, and loves to go to the comic stores, but he hates what he sees there, tons of cheep mutant critter books.   So Boris, in his unique style of total violence wipes out the mutant critters.   This is a classic issue that set the tone for the series.

In issue # 2 Boris deals with the Transformers in the same manner and is confronted by the "Corporation" (marvel) (#3) and is attacked by knock off’s of marvel characters.   # 4 is Boris’s origin and in # 5 Boris is visited by Dump Thing, who is made up of all the thrown out Mutant Critter books.   Boris confronts the Bat Characters is Issue # 6 and confuses everyone to who exists and doesn’t know that crisis is over.   Boris then goes on the help the Elves from elf quest (#7) to regain their lands from pist off smurfs (and they have a good reason to be mad).   #8 features the return of all the offed critters and they make their peace with Boris.   #9 and #10 Boris helps a GI Joe who wants to quit the military and is chased by every cheap Joe (including David Letterman) and a Rambo knock off.   #11 Boris is still ridding the world of cheap knock off’s, this time of the Wild Cats.   # 12 ends the Dark Horse Run and is a story of Boris’s Birthday party.

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