Review: ‘Wacky Raceland’ #5: Origin-Palooza

A bad batch of mutated mushrooms sends our antiheroes on a white-knuckle trip down memory lane. Flashes of repressed recollections bubble to the surface of the Racers’ fevered brains, and these tantalizing tidbits suggest a single point of origin: a high-tech facility from hell known as the Butcher Shop! Against the advice of the omnipresent Announcer, the Racers roar towards the facility. But will they find answers…or death?

Writing

This issue finally decides to shift into gear. Writer Ken Pontac is finally getting to the point and addressing the overarching story which is taking place amid this crazy world. Unfortunately, he is using it as an opportunity to work in as many origin stories as possible. The Ant Hill Mob, The Slag Brothers, and Muttley all have their origins tied to this mysterious facility known as the Butcher Shop where all manner of scientific experiments took place. It’s a decent concept and all but the big reveal at the end is pretty obvious and doesn’t deliver the punch needed for true drama. The story is finally starting to get decent, but there’s still a hint of there not being anything of substance coming from this book down the line.

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Artwork

Artist Leonardo Manco delivers the usual bit of dark images which have become synonymous with this series. They are detailed and impressive to look at, but seem to lack any of the more powerful scenes which came in the previous issues. Even the random monsters which sprout from the ground seem a little too repetitive of what we have already seen too many times before in this series.

Conclusion

There doesn’t seem to be any mention of issue seven anywhere on DC’s website. Hopefully they just haven’t taken the time to update it as of yet and the series hasn’t been cancelled. With all that has been set up in this issue, issue six will show if this series will be worth checking out, or if it will crash and burn off the track.

Anthony Wendel
Anthony Wendelhttp://www.thegiganticproject.com
Anthony is a geek through and through who still looks forward to new releases, sneak peeks, Giant Monsters, and robots of all shapes and sizes. He loves animation of all shapes and sizes. He has a distinct apprehension for trolling and clips shows. His books, The Handbook for Surviving A Giant Monster Attack and Santa Claus Conquers Manos: The Hands of Fate are available on Amazon.