And we’ll finisher our Art Baltazar/Franco day by talking about Superman Family Adventures #1. There’s really not too much to talk about with this, as it was a collection of gag strips involving the Superman characters in the style of Tiny Titans.
That means if you are not looking for silly super hero stuff you can skip reading this. But if you are looking for a bunch of jokes about the concept of Superman and his history, then you will enjoy this.
So I guess you can see that I’m on a bit of an Art Baltazar and Franco kick. Tiny Titans/Little Archie #3. It’s more silly fun, putting together the pint-sized heroes of the DC Universe in Riverdale.
It’s extremely silly from beginning to end. The sillier parts included Jughead and Cyborg challenging each other to an eating contest, Veronica falling for Robin, and Batman assuming that Archie was the Joker’s son, due to his garish hair and outfit.
You can read a preview of the first act here.
This was a quick read, but when isn’t Tiny Titans? Issue #33 pays tribute to everyone’s favorite sidekick Robin! Thanks to Jason Todd and Tim Drake showing up in town, everyone get’s their own Robin or even Batgirl suit!
It’s very silly, as you would expect from Franco and Art Baltazar, with the highlight being Robin and Jason both being mad that everyone gets to be Robin, and them creating their new costumed identities of Nightwing and Red Hood. This book made me so happy over the years. It’s a shame that newspapers as a medium is on life support; this would have made a great daily strip.
Tiny Titans made its debut in 2008, and it soon became one of my favorite comic books of all time. The series goes beyond being a children’s book–its flat out hysterical.
Cartoonists Art Baltazar and Franco (Aureliani…it seems he doesn’t like using his last name) have re-envisioned the entire DCU, well mostly the Teen Titans characters, as kids attending an elementary school together. The lead villain is Deathstroke the Terminator, who has been turned into an over-bearing principal. Appearances from other characters include Darkseid, Blue Beetle and even some of the various multi-colored lanterns.
Art and Franco have come up with a winning formula. The writing is silly, making the book completely kid friendly. But the writing doesn’t pander to children, making the book enjoyable for adults as well.
Best of all is the art. It is extremely stylized and unique, but completely expressive. Many of the stories are short, only a few pages. It reminds me more of a collection of cartoon strips then the prototypical comic.
And did I mention that their art is completely cute and silly?
If you enjoy Tiny Titans as much as I do, make sure you check out Art and Franco’s other creator-owned. project Patrick the Wolf Boy. You don’t need a description; the title is exactly what you get. The book is written and drawn in the same style as Tiny Titans. They also work on DC’s all ages Captain Marvel and Young Justice books.
Make sure you check out Art and Franco’s websites. There you can find artwork, interviews and other fun stuff.
As the Tiny Titans put it, “AWE YEAH!”
Ridiculously Awesome 