Bermuda

Bobby and Andi Randolph were flying out to their wealthy dad’s research platform in the South Atlantic, when a mysterious storm causes their plane to crash.  When Bobby wakes up he’s on an island and in the process of being rescued by a take-charge girl by the name of Bermuda before the magic-wielding sea creatures known as Mers get their hands on him.  From there, it’s one crazy encounter after another with a giant chameleon known as Kammo, the mysterious tribe of bat-people known as the Vers, the scurvy inhabitants of Piratetown, and more as he tries to rescue his sister.  Which is something that he’d better do soon because the Mers are planning to use her blood and their magic to not only conquer this island, but our world as well!

This miniseries comes to us courtesy of writer John Layman and artist Nick Bradshaw, and it’s definitely more of a showcase for the latter than the former.  That’s because the main thrust of the story is how Layman comes up with some kind of insane thing for Bradshaw to draw on every page.  A massive fight in a pirate bar!  A giant chameleon descending on a cobbled-together shipwreck hideout!  Mer-men magic breaching the border between worlds!  It’s all glorious to behold as Bradshaw invests an impressive amount of detail and personality throughout the length of the story.  Which is still fine as while Layman doesn’t get to show off the demented logic that defines his best work, he still crafts a breezily entertaining yarn that will likely make a good gift to my older nice (but not my younger one – she’s terrified of spiders).  It’s also entertaining enough to give me hope that we’ll get to see Bradshaw draw the samurai Layman talks about in his introduction in a potential follow-up to this story.