Oct
21
2014
0

Dexter’s Laboratory TP Volume 1 Dee’s Day Review

Written by: Derek Fridolfs

Art by: Ryan Jampole

Publisher: IDW

Dee’s Day is a pretty nice little comic that feels a lot like a single episode of Dexter’s Laboratory which is a great thing. The pacing is quick, it wastes no time in setting up its story, and it manages to pack a whole lot of heart into its pages.

The story deals with the traditional setup of Dexter wanting to build inventions, Dee Dee getting in his way, and Dexter desperately seeking a way to get her to stay out of his lab. This time around, Dexter creates a wonderful wish machine and ends up wishing that he were an only child. Sure enough, his wish comes true and he finds himself living in a world in which he has no pesky sister and all the time in the world to devote to science. However, things backfire when he begins to realize that Dee Dee was the source of his inspiration and seeking to keep her out led to many of his more absurd creations.

The rest of the comic is all about Dexter seeking to get Dee Dee back, which ends up with him ultimately having to get her out of her own sort of fantasy world she now inhabits. Full of puppies, flowers, and unicorns; her world is everything Dexter hates, which may turn out to be his toughest challenge yet.

Ryan Jampole’s artwork is essentially identical to the cartoon’s (IDW has consistently been nailing this with all of its cartoon-based comics) and he also throws in some rather neat panels that are nice little nods to some of us older fans. While traveling between dimensions to search for Dee Dee, Dexter stumbles into a certain other Cartoon Network world. And when Dexter has to slip into Dee Dee’s castle, he dons a disguise that’s straight out of a certain episode in which Dexter loses his intelligence. Jampole also does a really great job designing Dee Dee’s world and it’s glaringly and wonderfully girly.

Derek Fridolfs’ really does write a great story, and Dee’s Day manages to pack in all the right life lessons within its pages. Besides being a pretty interesting story over all, the narrative really exists to hammer in the idea that family is a “can’t live with them, can’t live without them” thing and I even feel comfortable with recommending this to parents with children who may not quite get along. But along with the message that family is important, even if they sometimes annoy you, Fridolfs also gives us the message that its ok to have secret passions and that family exists there to support you in your endeavors to break out from the norm. The ending to this comic has to be one of the cutest and most touching things I’ve seen lately, and it was a really great thing to see with characters that most of us have grown up with.

Dee’s Day wasn’t the most action oriented comic but it was a really nice exploration on the relationship that Dee Dee and Dexter have. Less giant fighting robots and more things that make you go “awwwww”; but the story was presented so strongly that even the most cold-hearted of Dexter’s Lab fans will probably end up loving this comic. It’s a cute story that fleshes out some of our most loved characters and that’s always a win in my book.