Review: The Treasure of Peg-Leg Wilson #1

Last month, The Muppet Show Comic Book ended forever. Until this month. This month, The Muppet Show Comic Book: The Treasure of Peg-Leg Wilson begins its four-issue run with a brand-new #1 issue. It's written and drawn by Muppet comics superhero Roger Langridge, and as its name suggests, the story arc is about the Muppets searching for a pirate’s buried treasure in the Muppet Theater. The Muppets haven't seen this much booty in years!

Issue #1 has a lovely cover A:


But cover B is truly fantastic:


If I weren’t already buying the Muppet Show comics every month, that cover would definitely pull me in. What the heck is going on with Animal?! (Also: Did he tie that tie himself?) Animal's seeming identity crisis is the ongoing mystery in this, part one of the story, which is called "Animal, Vegetable, Mineral."


There are a few ongoing storylines here, which is probably for the best... There are still three issues after this one, so it's best not to rush any of them. In story A, Scooter finds a treasure map. Some rats overhear him talking about it, and they want the treasure for themselves, so they start digging.

In story B, Animal is just not himself. He's wearing a suit, and correcting people's grammar... and worst of all, he's drumming like a wuss, which greatly worries the other members of the Electric Mayhem. How will it affect the band's big number in the show? Each issue of the original four-issue run of The Muppet Show Comic Book focused on one character, telling "Kermit's Story" and "Fozzie's Story" and so on, and it looks like this subplot is essentially going to be "Animal's Story" stretched over four issues.

In story C, Kermit is acting pretty strange himself.


"Sweaty orange guy." I love that. I have a pretty good idea what's going on with Kermit based on cover images that have been released for future issues, but I won't speculate here, in case a) You haven't seen them yet, and b) I turn out to be wrong.

As for the onstage acts, this issue has the most consistently entertaining batch since the previous issue #1. There's a Muppet Sports sketch, with a Louis Kazagger who somehow looks more like Howard Cosell than the puppet Kazagger. The sport in question is long-distance toast-hurling, which is bloody brilliant.

There's a Swedish Chef bit that's only one page, but which is sublime in its brevity. And it has an explosion.

Also: Pigs in Space, Fozzie, a musical number about the sinking of the Lusitania starring two obscure characters, and more. And all of it is entertaining and Muppety.

I guess this review is going to be shorter than usual, but I really have nothing negative to say about this issue. The ongoing plots are all funny and intriguing, and while they're all left "To Be Continued," there is a conflict that's resolved by the end of the issue, so there's some sense of closure. The treasure itself actually doesn't play much of a part... All we find out about it is that it exists, and Scooter and the rats want it, but I have no doubt it'll be satisfyingly fleshed out in later issues. I can't wait for the next one!

Oh, and more thing: For those of you playing the "Which new character would be performed by which Muppeteer?" game, I just want to say that "Ninja Rogers" in this issue would totally be a Jerry Nelson character.



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