Comics Review: Bob’s Burgers Ongoing #2

Spoilers Below:

“Tina’s Erotic Friend Fiction Presents: Jungle Tina”

In a King Kong-like spoof, Tina was an elusive jungle girl brought to America by explorer Jimmy Jr. However, she didn’t take too kindly to being put on display in front of audiences like an animal (though I assume she disproved of the animals being put on display as well) and returned home. An exiled Jimmy Jr. came back for her, beginning their love affair together.

“Louise’s Unsolved Mysteries & Curious Curiosities”

An observant Louise discovered that one of the Wonder Wharf rides could stop time, and attempted to use it to obtain a giant stuffed animal prize – with some help from Tina and Gene.

“Gene’s Rhymey Rhymes That Could One Day Be Songs: The Kids, the Witch, and the Coat Closet”

In this The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe spoof, the Belcher kids ventured to a faraway land (located within a closet) and helped the locals defeat a witch. It rhymed.

Best Bits:

1) Baby Tina is adorable, especially when she says: “Uhhhh…”

2) Tina’s excuse/apology/compliment: “Sorry you all bought tickets to this and dressed up. You look really nice.”

3) The jungle animals’ consensus on Jimmy Jr.: “Most of them give you about a week.”

4) Louise’s simile: “But things don’t match all the time. Like Dad’s socks. Or any of Dad’s clothes.”

5) A rhyme about a Dancing with the Stars parody: “And that’s pretty cool,” the kids exchanged glances. “But there’s a show on tonight, where sad stars learn fun dances.”

6) Tina’s pep talk before battle: “So just do your best and we should be good.”

Oftentimes in comics, the longest stories are the worst, and the ones with the most potential are all-too-brief. Not here. “Jungle Tina” was by far the best story, and thankfully it took up about half of the issue.

What it comes down to for this segment, was Tina at her best. She had each and every personality trait that makes her so lovable, and they all fit nicely within the story. Just look at the Best Bits for examples of what this means.

Aside from her always-cute baby look popping up, she also showed that kindness that sums up her character, even in a time of distress. As #2 illustrates, an embarrassed and betrayed Tina still found the time to both apologize to her audience, and compliment them on their appearance.

And for such a nice person, she’s still completely honest, as #3 shows. She is head-over-heels for Jimmy Jr., but doesn’t lie to him when giving the animals’ opinions about him.

Of course there was plenty of butt-loving (nickel for every time, right?) too. I have to give the Bob’s Burgers folks a lot of credit for accurately portraying a teenager’s awkward, budding sexuality, without making it dirty. She lusts after boys for their appearances, and in the show even hints that she would like to see them sans pants, but then makes it all about the butts. Nothing off-putting or inappropriate, just some booty ogling.

Also, I always appreciate a Zeke inclusion, especially when the immature boy breaks character, like responding to an emotional Tina comment about Jimmy Jr. (“I should have listened to my heart instead of listening to your butt,”) with the line, “So true.”

This installment was so amusing that I even managed to move past a puzzlement. (How did one of the apes get glasses?!)

Even in the second segment, Louise’s Curiosities, Tina had a good moment, and it was all visual: “You saw time stop? Did it look like this?” she said, staying perfectly still.

Also, I always appreciate Tina & Gene’s willingness to participate in whatever scheme their sister has cooked up. They’ll poke fun, correct her, and sometimes disagree altogether, but they always end up helping. And Mickey was there too! Although Jimmy Jr., Zeke, Andy & Ollie, and the kids’ other classmates get a lot of the attention when one thinks of the Belcher children’s friends, Mickey could also be included in this group. Sure, he’s an adult (and a con man too), but he’s loyal to them and always there for assistance.

This second segment definitely had potential and was heading toward being a well-rounded, quality episode – but there was no ending. I’m not being a critic here and saying that there was a bad ending, there just wasn’t one. The kids were on the ride/time-stopper, they made the leap toward the goal object, and then the next story started. It didn’t even say, “The End,” so I honestly believe the conclusion might be missing.

So regardless of whether this was supposed to be a cliffhanger, or a sudden stop, or some printing error that the publishers hoped we wouldn’t notice (a la the children’s book in Elf) I felt gypped.

The last story was a lot like Gene’s in Issue #1. It was cute, brief (although longer than last time), rhymed – and added up to a pretty entertaining bit. It was definitely funnier this time, and the rhymes were more complex and detailed, so that counts for something.

Is it bad that my favorite part of this one was also Tina?

In the end, this issue was pretty solid. It started off strong, had a good middle story, and ended with a decent finale – but I still can’t help but feel robbed. This month’s comic was light on the literature to begin with (especially for $4), so the abrupt ending of the middle plot really rubbed me the wrong way, and the score suffered a tiny bit accordingly.