Comic Review: Bill and Ted Are Doomed #1

Bill and Ted Are Doomed #1

Dark Horse Comics

Writer: Evan Dorkin

Artist: Roger Langridge

In this prequel series to the new Bill & Ted Face the Music film, we get to see what Bill and Ted have been up to since their adventures and journeys thirty years ago. Taking place several years after the events of 1991’s Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey, it quickly becomes clear that Bill and Ted didn’t rise straight to stardom like the films would lead you to believe. The year is 2000, and the dudes are broke and creatively drained. Frustrated with how their career is turning out, they hatch a plan to get them back on their feet.

If you are unfamiliar with the premise of the Bill & Ted franchise (or just don’t remember it, it’s been a little while), it’s quite simple. Bill and Ted are destined to write the song that will unite the world; one song that will have an unfathomable impact on society and change our way of life forever. Bill and Ted have traveled through time and have even returned from death to ensure that this future occurs. Now, after the craziness has died down, all they need to do is fulfill their destiny. However, it appears that it’s going to take some work.

Alongside them are the princesses, that they have since married and started families with, their robot clones, two alien inventors that share the name Station, and Death himself. (Most of these characters come from the second film, which is as creative and entertaining as it is strange.) Along with Bill and Ted’s musical quest, several other subplots are established for the other characters. Not only that, but someone or something is causing a fluctuation in time. This is being monitored by the citizens of the future, who are also concerned if Bill and Ted will fulfill the prophesy or not.

There is a lot going on in this issue, giving focus to characters that didn’t have their own subplots in the films. Although it is nice to see the whole cast of colorful characters getting attention, it will be hard to juggle this many stories. The characters are all very enjoyable so far at least, enough that I believe they can each hold their own side-stories. Bill and Ted are just as goofy as they were in the films, with the same surfer-dude lingo and unique vocabulary that make them so enjoyable in the movies.

The artwork here isn’t anything special, but it doesn’t need to be. Bill & Ted felt like a cartoon anyways, and they fit rather well in the cartoon style. Bill looks pretty faithful to Alex Winter’s character from the films, but Ted hardly resembles Keanu Reeves to me. I accept that it’s him because he’s next to Bill and he behaves the same say Ted would, but his appearance looks a little off. Rufus is a smaller character in the comics as well as the films, but even he’s drawn like a spot-on George Carlin. Despite that, the colors are bright and the expressions of the characters (even the robots) are full of personality.

All of the crazy characters from the Bill & Ted franchise make appearances in this issue and the humor and charm that makes these movies so beloved are still present in this comic. Odds are that nothing in here will prove necessary to bridge the gap between Bogus Journey and Face the Music, but it still stands as a fun addition in the extraordinary story of Wyld Stallyns.

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