from Mars: In-Depth: BM Comics: Review Part 1--Story and Writing

        To me, the most important part of any creative venture, be it comic book, animated series, or movie, is the writing that goes into it. Everything else, from art to props to music to costumes to whatever, is simply that: everything else. If the story is good enough, then I should be able to enjoy it blindfolded with earplugs (how, exactly, I'd enjoy it, I don't know, but don't stop me now, I'm on a roll). So if it seems like I'm being harsher on this part of the Biker Mice comic, it's only because in my heart, story comes first. Keep that in mind as you're reading this.
        Writing chores for the Biker Mice comic books were handled by series creator Rick Ungar and series writer/story editor Bob Forward (who is responsible for some of the best episodes, including "Rock & Ride!" and "Once Upon a Time On Mars"). The brief creator write-ups in issue #2 suggest that Ungar alone would be scripting the series after issue three. Frankly, I'd prefer that Forward stayed on and Ungar left, since Forward wrote actual episodes.
        Biker Mice from Mars 1-3 adapts "Rock & Ride!" to the printed page. As one would expect, the plotline is essentially the same: Throttle, Modo, and Vinnie crash-land in Chicago, meet Charley, fight Greasepit, confront Limburger, and take out the X-Terminator before settling down in the Quigley Field Scoreboard. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? In fact, if you were to page through all three issues without reading the word balloons, you would probably think that the comic book "Rock & Ride!" was identical to the animated version.
        And you would be very, very wrong. While Ungar and Forward are telling essentially the same story on paper that they told in ink and paint, it comes out vastly different. Overall, the story has a grimmer, rougher feel than the animated version. It's more violent, there's a great deal less humor, and the characters, particularly the Biker Mice, behave in and act in ways that are extremely at odds with their animated personas.
        First, the violence. Freed from the constraints of syndicated television, Ungar and Forward can do all kinds of fun stuff that they couldn't do in the animated series. For one, as Forward says in the write-up in issue #2, "we get to use real guns." And they do. The youth Vinnie finds attacking the hot dog vendor in issue #1 is wielding a real pistol, the sort that shoots bullets, instead of a crowbar. Later, when the mice attack Limburger Tower (issue #3), Limburger's goons are using hot lead. The mice, Karbunkle, and the X-Terminator still pack their usual laser weaponry, but with an attitude. When Modo fires on an oncoming goon, his arm cannon is bare inches from the vehicle when he blasts it. In a flashback in issue #3, Karbunkle uses a laser pistol to blast Modo's right arm clean off (definitely a different version than in the animation). Dunno, I was satisfied with lasers, but okay. At any rate, it's a definite step toward realism. Plus, we're seeing the consequences of gun violence, which should make parents and educators and just about every politician happy.
        Physical violence is more prominent as well. More kicks and punches are thrown, and the characters are much more aggressive as a whole. For example, when the Biker Mice arrive at Quigley Field, they're threatened by men wielding clubs, guns, and other weapons (although they look like popsicles; more on that in the art section of the review). A big change from the welcome they received in the animated series, when they were cheered by the entire crowd! In another instance, Charley tries to attack Greasepit with a wrench after he gets free of her car-lift. And instead of Throttle using his tail to pull Limburger's mask off, Modo actually knocks Limburger down and tears the mask off his face. Even in places where a character did use a punch or a kick in the animated version, it's amplified here. For example, instead of knocking the gun out of the boy's hand at Quigley Field, Vinnie sort of punches it out, knocking the kid down in the process. Later, Vinnie doesn't just push Greasepit out of the Last Chance Garage--he kicks him out, and hard! If you like violence, then you'll like this aspect of the comics. Personally, I've got no problem with it. I like watching a good fist fight.
        Much of the dialogue in the comics mimics "Rock & Ride!", with some lines being lifted straight from the script; for example, the beginning of the Charley-Greasepit dialogue at the Last Chance. Character speech patterns remain the same (Modo even says "Toodles!"), although Limburger doesn't seem to be as eloquent, and uses a more understandable vocabulary (does that mean that the cartoon shot for a more intelligent audience? What does that say about the average comic book reader?). In a nice touch, Ungar and Forward deliberately try to imitate speech by cutting the ends off certain words and writing others phonetically. The mice often say "ya" instead of "you," and "hanging" is written "hangin'."
        Unfortunately, the banter between the characters, particularly that of Vinnie and Charley, is either missing or has been changed in such a way that it no longer works as well as the original lines did. Compare the "saving Charley from the giant mousetrap" scene. Aside from being a terrific action sequence, it also helps set up the Vinnie-Charley dynamic we've all come to know and love. Here's the dialogue from the animated version:

(Vinnie catches Charley)
VINNIE: Gotcha, sweetheart! Have I got style, or what?
CHARLEY: (wafting a hand in front of her face) What you got is bad breath! You been eatin' onions again, huh?
VINNIE: (sighing) The story of my life. No appreciation!

And here's the comic book version. Picking up where Charley is flying through the air after Modo blasted the trap out from under her:

CHARLEY: You call this a rescue?!
VINNIE: You ain't see the big finish yet, sweetheart! Featuring you--
(he blasts off into the air toward her)
VINNIE: --but starring me!
(he catches her)
VINNIE: Excellent save, Vinnie! Am I awesome, or what?
CHARLEY: I was going to thank you, but you seem to be doing a fine job on your own!

The second version, aside from being a little wordy, puts a lot more emphasis on Vinnie's egotism than the love-hate relationship that's obviously being developed in the first version. The fact that Charley was thinking about thanking Vinnie suggests a real change in her character, into one a little less combative than she is in the animated series.
Which leads to a major problem overall of the writing: dialogue and characterization. The mice's personalities aren't as strong or apparent as they are in the animated series, even when you look just at "Rock & Ride!" For one, they often end up saying things that are totally out of character for them. In one instance, as the mice's ship is going down, Modo shouts, "Whoa! Imminent destruction! What a rush!" You know whose line that's supposed to be? Vinnie's. Modo enjoys the excitement of a biker's life, but he wouldn't get as big a charge out of an upcoming crash-landing as Vinnie would. That's a pretty obvious example. Here's a more subtle one. After Greasepit captures Charley at the Last Chance, he calls her a bimbo, and the following dialogue takes place:

VINNIE: Not this guy again!
THROTTLE: Let the lady go, oil-breath!
MODO: Yeah! Before we have t'give ya a lesson in manners!
THROTTLE: That's right! Callin' women bimbos isn't exactly politically correct around here, is it?

Do you see the problem? It's that the last line should be Vinnie's. Throttle is the serious, to the point one; he gets the "oil-breath" line and leaves the excess dialogue to motormouth Vinnie. The interchangeability of the characters is obvious in the way dialogue is fragmented at times. For example, in issue three, Throttle says, "Bros, I think th' polite thing to do now is to drop a line to Mr. Limburger…" Vinnie concludes, "--concerning our imminent arrival!" Aside from the fact that "imminent" probably isn't in Vinnie's vocabulary, don't you think Throttle would have said the whole thing? Then, when Modo says as the mice climb down the building, "Y'know, bros, I did see a roof stairway up there," Throttle replies, "Aw, come on, Modo--" with Vinnie finishing, "Where's the fun in that?!" This time, the whole thing should have gone to Vinnie. Throttle probably would have said nothing in regards to Modo's line.
        Far worse, a lot of the humor and wit that made Biker Mice so endearing to so many of us fans is missing from the comic book version. The best we get is a few lame puns, like Vinnie saying that Greasepit, wrapped in steel-belted radials, looks a little "tire-d." In all fairness, some elements simply wouldn't translate as well to the printed page; for example, Vinnie and Modo's singing. And space concerns would call for a lot of the comedic banter to be dropped. But there's no reason why we have to miss so much of it, or why really great stuff, like the Charley-Vinnie rescue scene, had to be changed. I don't know about you, but I watched Biker Mice because it made me laugh, not because I was so incredibly impressed with how badass everybody was! If more emphasis had been put on the characterization instead of action, this would have been a much better read.
        Now, all that said, the story as presented in the comics does have some good points. First, it drops some interesting tidbits that we didn't get in the animated series. For example, when Vinnie races through the concourses of Quigley Field, he remarks, "Just like the mining tunnels back on Mars!" It's a small comment, but at the same time, it gives us a peak into what everyday life might have been like for the mice before the Plutarkian War, and maybe something of the mice's pasts as well (maybe they worked in those tunnels). Also, when Throttle is explaining the Plutarkian War, he declares, "The Freedom Fighters put up a serious resistance, but greed for the Plutarkian money divided our own people!" That's something that wasn't picked up in the animated series until "Once Upon a Time On Mars Part One," when it's revealed that the Martian government has been taking bribes from the fish-faces.
        Best of all, we get an alternate--and rather disturbing--version of how the mice were injured during the Plutarkian War. In this version, Throttle, Modo, and Vinnie are completely whole when they arrive at Karbunkle's vivisection lab. Not that they'll stay that way for long. Whereas Karbunkle's experiments in the animated version had a genuine purpose--creating an army of bionic slaves for the Plutarkians--in this version, they're simply to provide the mad scientist with sadistic pleasures. Vinnie is strapped down to a lab table, and as his bros watch, horrified, Karbunkle mutilates their bro's face with a variety of ghastly implements. While he's fully conscious. And Vinnie screams. A lot. I loved that! This Karbunkle is SCARY! This WAR is scary! One of the major problems I've always had with the animated version was that Throttle, Modo, and Vinnie rarely seemed to be war veterans. As for Modo's arm, the big gray-furred mouse manages to tear apart the cage holding himself and Throttle, but Karbunkle uses a laser pistol to blast his arm into shreds. They escape only when Throttle punches Karbunkle into the lab's reactor coolant pumps, causing the place to explode. I love the "Once Upon a Time On Mars" version of events, but this one is even better! Three cheers for sadistic Karbunkle!
        And as much as I've bitched about dialogue, there are some good lines. In reference to the cheering spectators that initially greets them at Quigley Field, Vinnie remarks, "Hey…Friendly crowd. Must'a heard about my first place finish in Motorcross Madness IV." Throttle spots the club-wielding goons approaching them and answers, "Those fellas get any friendlier and we'll be pushing up Plutarkian posies in center field!" Then, when Charley leaves the garage to pick up the missiles accidentally shot off Vinnie's bike, she tells the mice not to touch anything. From inside, one of them cries, "Charley girl! Don't ya trust us?", and then another bro says, "Say fellas, check out this cool red lever here!" Charley and Greasepit also have an amusing little exchange while the Biker Mice plot their strategy to rescue her.
        Things often get better with age, and it's quite possible that the writing of the series might have improved the longer the series went on. There is a marked improvement between issues two and three. If nothing else, it might be worthwhile to continue reading just for more "Biker Mice" stories, particularly since editorial comment suggests that future issues would contain stories not seen in the animated series. Especially enticing is the promise that a three-part back-up story starting in issue #4 (which, to the best of my knowledge, was never published) featured "the Biker Mice ON Mars, before they hit our fair planet." That sounds like a prototype for "Once Upon a Time On Mars," doesn't it? And this was three years before that hit the air. Back in the first season, those of us hungry for Freedom Fighter action (like yours truly) would have killed to read something like that, no matter how bad it turned out to be.
        It's also important to remember that Ungar and Forward probably didn't get final say on their script. They were working with an editor, in this case Mort Todd. There's no way to know if Mort made a single change to the scripts turned into him. But the presence of a third party does suggest that some of the original dialogue might have been changed, or word balloons were moved without the writers' knowledge.
        In a special column at the end of issue #1, editor Mort Todd remarks that Rick Ungar and Bob Forward were picked to write the comic "to insure [sic] that the dudes translate directly from the screen to the page." Did it work? No. A lot of the charm of the series and its excellent characterization was lost as "Rock & Ride!" made its way to the printed page. However, there are some good parts to the comics version of "Biker Mice." The alternative perspective can be refreshing in some places.
        So, while the writing of the series wasn't exactly top-notch, it wasn't wretchedly awful. Unfortunately, the same can not be said of the art…

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