Todd is a normal boy with a strange life. He has parents who treat him like hired help. Bigger kids pick on him at school. In the end, though, he just wants everyone to be happy. People may be more receptive to Todd if he didn’t have to go through life with a bag over his head.
The first thing one might notice about Todd, the Ugliest Kid on Earth #1 is on the credits page, where the creators give a special thanks to director Todd Solondz. For anyone who is familiar with Solondz’s dark, humorous films, this creates something of an expectation of what might be coming. Thankfully, creators M.K. Perker and Ken Kristensen more than deliver on that expectation. The first issue of Todd, The Ugliest Kid on Earth is, quite simply, hilarious. Todd is a good kid in a world of terrible people. The characters are filthy, rude, and generally not nice people. The way they treat Todd would be awful if he didn’t take it so well. The reader can’t see his face under the paper bag he wears, but it’s hard to imagine Todd with anything other than a perpetual smile.
The first issue is packed with action and story, but it never feels rushed. Perker and Kristensen introduce a number of characters, always giving the reader a strong feel for each of their personalities within a few panels of their appearance. The inhabitants of Todd’s world include a bully whose main source of joy is making Todd’s life a living hell, a detective obsessed with making a name for himself by solving a string of killings, and a literal axe murderer who may be the nicest person Todd encounters in the whole issue. These feel like characters you’ve met before, but they’re presented in an entirely fresh way.
Perker and Kristensen co-plotted the book, with Kristensen scripting and Perker handling the art, and they have a clear vision for the world they’ve created. Kristensen’s dialogue is completely straight; the jokes delivered deadpan like it’s nothing. Likewise, Perker’s art reinforces the tone of the book. The settings are familiar and the characters are unique, with their own distinct body language and facial features exaggerated just enough that it’s not distracting. Even Todd is very emotive, despite the bag hiding everything on his face but his eyes. That said, none of the characters feels like they’re mugging for a camera – this is just how they are, this is the way they talk and act, and they just happen to be unintentionally funny. Under a less-skilled creative team the whole thing could easily have fallen flat, but Kristensen and Perker pull it off exceptionally well.
Todd, the Ugliest Kid on Earth #1 is an excellent comic. Perker and Kristensen’s humor is smart and laugh-out-loud funny, and the ending is sure to leave you both satisfied and wanting more. Issue #1 is a very, very strong start.