Hey, everyone. “Moriarty” here.

It’s no secret at this point that I am a fan of the work that Doug TenNapel does. When I learned last week that Sam Raimi was going to produce MONSTER ZOO for Paramount, I realized that I needed to finally read the galleys for the graphic novel that I’ve had on my desk for a few weeks now. You know how it is when you’ve got something to read or watch that you’re really looking forward to, but you want to savor it so you put it off looking for the right moment?

Yeah, well, that moment seems to present itself less and less often these days, so today, I had two screenings to attend, and I took MONSTER ZOO with me to read between them. Turns out, it’s so much fun that I blew through it twice. Appropriately, here are two cover images I’ve found online while looking tonight:

Once again, TenNapel tells a very simple story that works because of the strength of his characterizations, the immediacy of the story, and the sheer imagination on display.

This time, he’s telling the story of the Ungabe idol, uncovered in Africa after hundreds and hundreds of years in the ground. The Ungabe is home to a vengeful animal spirit, a curse, and sure enough, the idol is sent States-side to help boost attendance at the rapidly failing Los Angeles zoo. What no one except for one creepy “Witch Lady” realizes is that the Ungabe curse is real, and unless gawky teen Ty and his best buddy Carpo can figure out a way of stopping the impending “animal Apocalypse,” the zoo is going to be ground zero for the end of the world.

I love the art in this one. There are some really crazy monster designs, and as aways, TenNapel accomplishes a whole lot with each drawing. I love the sense of anarchy at the edge of the frames here. Something about TenNapel’s sense of humor and the way he stages a joke reminds me a lot of the early, early, early days of MAD, when it was more of a comic book than a magazine. There’s a lovely teen story that plays out here, and if you’re one of those people who resents the fact that TenNapel occasionally inserts his own religious sensibilities into his books (I don’t mind at all, personally), there’s really only one line in this whole story that does that, and even so, it’s pretty subtle.

Eco-horror is about to be a big trend in film, and MONSTER ZOO manages to tell a good story about what will happen to us if we continue to abuse this planet, but without becoming just another lecture. TenNapel makes sure that, above all else, he entertains with this one.

I have to admit... I wasn’t crazy about BLACK CHERRY, one of his more recent books, and I didn’t read PLINK until it had already been out for a while. But MONSTER ZOO represents TenNapel at his very best, and if you’ve enjoyed books like CREATURE TECH, TOMMYSAURUS REX, or IRON WEST, then I’m willing to bet you’ll dig the heck out of this one as well.

Let’s check out some art from the book:

I’ll be back tomorrow with a number of reviews for movies opening this weekend as well as one more thing I love, rounding out the first week of this new series here on the site.

Drew McWeeny, Los Angeles