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Great, first my TV, now he’s invading my comic books too!

There are few comedians who take shameless self-promotion to the levels that Stephen Colbert seems to find necessary. I guess that probably explains why I find no surprise to see a comic book emblazoned with his name on the shelves. Much less, the fact that the comic portrays his lookalike – Tek Jansen – as a futuristic self-styled hero.  Stephen Colbert, after all, has made a career out of being a comedian who portrays something opposite of what he actually believes.

Stephen Colbert’s Tek Jansen #2 follows the plucky adventurer on a trip back to the academy as punishment (though he believes it to be a secret mission) after starting an intergalactic war.  He feels that the cadets’ training lacks bravery since they actually have lectures on surrendering.  Tek takes them into the ‘Antagoverse’ where evil duplicates exist of everyone.  He then leads the cadets into a brave battle full of carnage and random encounters with hot, blue-skinned babes all to retrieve an old trophy and teach the cadets the meaning of bravery during this time of war.

John Layman and Tom Peyer put together a reasonably ridiculous story.  Nothing surprising about it, it follows the Stephen Colbert route of immense self-delusion (his comedy persona) to a‘t’. It seems to take an almost ‘Stan Lee’ quality to the comedy, with a much more mature overtone.  Wordiness and ridiculous situations mix eloquently.  Presented visually with the art team of Robbi Rodriguez doing pencils and Pete Pantazis and Aurelio Alfonso handling the colors and you have a good art impact to go along with the wackiness.  Rodriguez does a good job with faces.  The constant contortions of Tek’s face as he blunders through the universe livens the book up quite a bit.

The book also contains a quick back up story that shows Tek and a random assassin dueling on a train.  A surprisingly good little story written by Jim Massey that could probably apply to any two characters in just about any comic book.  The ridiculousness of the whole story comes to a circle at the end though and puts a nice smile on your face.  Rodriguez once again pencils the story with Dave McCaig providing some nice even coloring to the chapter.

Honestly, if you are a fan of Stephen Colbert’s brand of comedy, you will probably enjoy this book.  Also, if you just like outright space-opera comedy, it should appeal to you as well.  However, if you are looking for a real super-hero style book, you should just pass this one up.  It is definitely a fun read, but certainly not going to be everyone’s mug of tea.

Stephen Colbert’s Tek Jansen #2
“Return To Space Academy”
Written By: John Layman & Tom Peyer
Illustrated by: Robbi Rodriguez
Colored by: Pete Pantazis & Aurelio Alfonso
Lettered by: Douglas E. Sherwood

“Danger Express to Doom”
Written by: Jim Massey
Illustrated by: Robbi Rodriguez
Colored by: Dave McCraig
Lettered by: Douglas E. Sherwood

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