Honestly, what could possibly go wrong with a little trip inside the Sanctum Santorum?  Your Major Spoilers review of Jeff The Land Shark #1 from Marvel Comics awaits!

JEFF THE LAND SHARK #1

Writer: Kelly Thompson
Artist: Tokitokoro
Colorist: Jim Campbell
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Editor: Jordan D. White
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: June 18th, 2025

Previously in Jeff The Land Shark: Originally created by M.O.D.O.K., Jeff was adopted by Gwenpool and quickly became a beloved member of the super-hero community.  Whether he’s hanging out with superheroes, or off on his own adventures, Jeff is everyone’s favorite tiny-toothed troublemaker.

SNAKES AND SHADOWS

Jeff The Land Shark #1 kicks off with Jeff enjoying a lovely day in the park when he notices Doctor Strange heading off from The Sanctum Santorum.  Thinking quickly, Jeff sneaks into the house to explore.  He’s met by the snakes Aleister and Anton, who follow him around trying to dissuade him from messing with the various artifacts and magical items in the mansion.  After a tussle, the trio accidentally unleash a shadow demon who promptly snatches Jeff’s shadow.  Not taking the theft lightly, Jeff leaps after the demon through a portal, which shoots him back outside and into the arms of everyone’s favorite Merc With A Mouth.

JUST GOOD GOOFY FUN

Jeff The Land Shark #1 is exactly what you would expect from a title featuring a character that doesn’t speak, acts like a puppy, came from M.O.D.O.K., whose first adventures were with Gwenpool, and is a shark with four legs. It’s silly and is all about Jeff causing mischief and finding himself in positions where he can look cute.  It’s definitely shallow in terms of storytelling, but that’s not to say it’s poorly written, it actually does some really interesting stuff.  For example, it does away with any narration boxes, and lets Aleister and Anton take on the role of narrator, which opens things up for humor that feels in-universe and not just commentary from the writer. The pacing hits a snag when Deadpool shows up, like most cameos by him, the focus of the comic suddenly becomes about how grating he can be. Other than that, though, this issue moves along quickly and frenetically in an enjoyable way and should be a fun read for younger readers.  It was surprising that this is an ongoing story and not just a one and done, so it’ll be interesting to see if this sort of tone and pace can be kept.

PRETTY BUT CLUTTERED

Panel to panel, Jeff the Land Shark #1 has an adorable cartoonish look that dances a bit between children’s book and a chibi anime, also the sequence where they are transported to what looks like a universe made inside a kid’s doodle notebook is great.  The problem is that there’s a whole lot of those panels.  Every page feels packed to the gills (pun intended) with panels and a lot of the motion is depicted via ghost images rather than just implying the motion which muddies things and makes it hard to tell exactly what’s going on.

BOTTOM LINE:  A GOOD PICK UP, ESPECIALLY FOR YOUNGER AUDIENCES

Jeff The Land Shark #1 might struggle to hold the attention of older readers or audiences who didn’t come to this after being introduced to Jeff via Marvel Rivals, but that’s okay because this doesn’t come off like it’s written for those readers anyways.  The focus here is all about the hijinks and goofiness of the character, but it does show some restraint and isn’t just a thousand disconnected jokes.  The art is cute and colorful but can get crowded at times making it hard to tell what’s going on, but it hits when it really needs to.  4 out of 5 stars.