Written by: Joshua Fialkov
Art by: Tony Fleecs
Publisher: Oni Press
The first issue of Jeff Steinberg: Champion of Earth was a huge sleeper hit for me. I laughed a lot, fell in love with some characters (sorta), and in general, appreciated this strange combination of Idiocracy meets Independence Day. Also, Obama showed up and was super funny.
Issue #2 continues where we left off, and it’s still good, but it sadly isn’t as great as the first.
See, Issue #1 gave us a good look at our champion of Earth and how no one really likes or respects him. His girlfriend is a [redacted for language], his friends think he’s an idiot (though in their defense he is), and his job sucks. He’s a bit of a loser, honestly. I feel sorry for him, but I also like that he’s this big underdog that has the whole world in his hands. You know, like God but with more eating glue and pizza at the same time.
What Issue #2 does is double down on all that information. Jeff forgoes his awesome robot training to fix his relationship problems back on Earth, and in doing so realizes that no one likes him. Actually, instead of no one liking him, people are rioting and demanding his head because if he dies, then maybe the aliens won’t blow Earth up.
The problem here is twofold. First, the issue isn’t as funny because it’s covering the same beats as the first, and second, the issue is covering the same beats as the first. I really don’t need another nine pages of Jeff being a loser on Earth. I got my fill of that in the 50-page first issue.
That being said, there are still plenty of laughs to be had here. The beginning few pages are great, and the girl alien from the first issue getting an official introduction. Her name is Cleompa. She’s got a snarky, dry sense of humor, and she’s realizes that Jeff is a total idiot and is more than willing to mess with him.
And hell, Jeff’s relationship problems, while predictable, are still fairly entertaining. They also get wrapped up by the end of the issue meaning our next installment will have us moving forward. This is good, because we’ve now been promised robot battles. I have a feeling Joshua Fialkov is going to do something really crazy with those.
On the art front, all the praise I gave Tony Fleecs for the first issue applies here. His style works so well with this comic, and everything just feels right. His art really helps sell the jokes.
One could argue that retreading old ground was a necessary evil for JS:CoE to officially move forward. I won’t be making that argument, but I’ll acknowledge that it exists. Regardless, this issue is still pretty funny and with it out of the way, we’ll hopefully be diving into some very crazy, very uncharted territory next month.
