- Salty Roos #1
- Blue Roo Comics
- Created by Erick Anderson
- Written by Jon Parrish
- Illustrated by Diego Toro
- Colors by Kote Carvajal
- Letters by Cristian Docolomansky
- Edited by Nicole D’Andria
Once upon a time, there were three Aussie surfer bros… and three kangaroos. One crazy random happenstance later and they were mysteriously merged into a band of action-seekers, transformed into the heroes we need but definitely don’t deserve. The Salty Roos!
The brainchild of creator Erick Anderson, and as of issue 1 written by Jon Parrish, & illustrated by Diego Toro, this comic is a ton of fun. Where the zero issue took a much more cartoonish approach, the main series picks up a more dynamic style and settles into a great theme. Like the Scoobies of old, the Roos are roving adventurers in search of a good time, some tasty waves, & just maybe a mystery or two to solve.
Getting that spirit right is a balancing act over a giant pit of angry snakes while dealing with a 30-mile-an-hour crosswind. You go too goofy and you’ve got a book for kids aged in the single digits. Too far the other direction and you’ve got Frank Miller doing TMNT (which, admittedly, is a comic I’d read in a hot second). Writer Jon Parrish keeps Salty Roos in the sweet spot, keeping the pace fast, entertaining, and open to a wider audience. The story is fun without leaning into camp, and the characters are given their own thing to make them stand out.
The artistic team of Diego Toro (illustration) & Kote Carvajal (colors) keeps that balancing act going, and I love the change in style from issue 0, which was much more suited to a comic aimed at a younger audience. Without being too “edgy”, Toro builds the characters up to more heroic proportions, and the action benefits from that. Carvajal keeps the colors bright, nothing too dark or grim, once again in line with the tone being set by the rest of the creative team.
I was just getting heavy into comic collecting when the Heroes in a Half Shell were coming onto the scene. I remember the flood of imitation titles, as well as the deliberate lampoons of the fad (* I hold Boris the Bear, from up-and-coming publisher Dark Horse Comics, as my personal favorite). If the Salty Roos had been around, they could have given the Black Belt Hamsters a serious run for their money. Fans of light-hearted action with crazy left-of-center characters should absolutely take a look at Salty Roos.
Final Score: 10/13
