Ever wonder about what Wall-E’s life was like prior to the events of the hit Pixar film? Well, Boom! Kids is giving you the chance to get a glimpse into Wall-E’s world before Eve! Follow Wall-E and his fellow surviving bots as they attempt to complete their programming, and Wall-E finds some neat stuff!
Title: Wall-E #0
Written by: J. Torres
Art by: Morgan Luthi
Covers: Morgan Luthi
The Boom Kids line from Boom Studios has been publishing some great all ages books aimed at younger readers. The latest offering, Wall-E #0 is no exception, but it may be one of the most unique titles in the line.
Our story begins on a sunny morning much like any other on the abandoned planet of Earth. Wall-E rolls out of his storage container with his fellow bots and from the earliest panels, we can tell that not all is well with Wall-E’s fellow workers. While Wall-E seems to be fully functioning with little to no wear, the others have various issues, from damaged bodies, to lopsided eyes. But one thing is clear; Wall-E has already developed a personality and feelings, something the other two surviving bots seemed to have missed.
While the others attempt to complete their primary programming, Wall-E takes a moment to bring a little humor into the day. “TA-DAH!†he exclaims as he dons an orange road cone as a hat. But the other two bots do not seem to notice. In fact, it seems that one has already suffered from a serious malfunction. Despite Wall-E’s best efforts, no amount of prodding or poking can get the bot to move, much less recharge his battery. This sad, battered little Waste Allocation Loader Lifter Earth Class has loaded and lifted his last scoop of garbage. All our Wall-E’s attention does is manage to make one of his eyes accidentally fall off, which, after a few comical panels, is finally collected by our Wall-E for future use.
What follows is a great little story where we have Wall-E continues his duties, while still picking up the odd piece of junk here and there that catches his imagination. Be it an ancient egg-beater to a strand of Christmas lights, Wall-E proves himself to be move of a collector/scavenger than anything. This issue catches the feeling of the first part of the movie, and at the end of the issue you actually find yourself feeling sorry for little Wall-E.
Writer J. Torres and artist Morgan Luthi have done something really amazing here. They have managed to take the feel of the movie, which worked primarily on character body language (for the first part) and translated it to a two-dimensional form and make it just as enjoyable. There are no sentences longer that 1 word throughout, and the longest word/expression (besides EEEEEEEEEE!) is “Whoaaaaa!†You quickly find yourself hearing the little voices/effects in your head take on the ones from the movie. To keep a 22 page story going with only using monosyllabic phrases, and actually tell a story, is a testament to the partnership between Torres and Luthi. I’m not sure if Torres writes in a panel by panel style or in a plot style, but either way, it works. Luthi manages to get expression out of each of the individual Wall-E units that just makes their intentions clear. You know simply by looking at the panel that one of the robots is close to shutting down, and that Wall-E is trying to make the best of a bad situation. It is almost like watching a silent movie on paper, and getting the whole story. I was so drawn in by the portrayal of Wall-E, that when he scavenges a part off one of his non-functioning brethren, I actually was a little appalled. I mean, they had managed to give the character that much emotion without ever saying a word.
Is it short? Yeah. Even at 22 pages, you can zip through it pretty quick. But give it a couple of reads. The more you read through it, the more you get some of the underlying theme. It is very subtle, and as with most stories you can read stuff into it that the original creators never intended. But that is the beauty of the story; you can make it your own. I got something different than the next guy would get, and so it goes.
And this book has an additional value, it actually appeals to its target audience. I took time to let my niece, who is 8 or 9, read it, and her first words (besides a few laughs throughout) was, “Awww, that was cute!†When I showed it to my 19 month old daughter, she was not to interested until the second time through, when I started making the noises in my Wall-E voice; then she thought it was the greatest thing ever! Okay, that example may have been a little biased….
The point is, it is a great little book, especially if you are a fan of the movie. That being said, there was one little thing that bothered me: Luthi presented some great art, but when I first read it through, I thought there were three units besides Wall-E. On a second reading, I realized it was just two others. It was honestly just a little thing that just bugged me, and was only a blip on the radar. I am curious to see what form the next issues will take, because there is only so much that you can do with no real dialogue and one character. Will we see even further into Wall-E’s past to his creation and first deployment? Will we see some examples of his time with Eve, or even see something in the future after the movie? I look forward to seeing in the next issue.
I’m giving Wall-E #0 4.5 out of 5 stars.
