So one of the main characters in this issue – a girl named Tannis – complains about not being rescued by something from Tetris, since she knows that game. Not so sure how that’d work out, but hey, at least we’re referencing different games.
So, the premise of Game Boy becomes readily apparent here; this Herman fellow frees up Tatanga and crew to wreck havoc in different locations and some other character releases Mario in another Game Boy so that he can save the day. We’re on a plane this time around. Our main protagonist is the aforementioned Tannis. And now we sort of see what we’re dealing with here; it’s mostly Super Mario Land elements and not much else, but invading real world settings and even trashing a Disney ride in the process. Again, there’s not much to the story. Humans and Mario help each other out, push Tatanga back into Videoland or whatever the case may be, and ol’ Herman scurries off to another gig of failure.
It’s lightweight storytelling, but to be fair and in a rare positive to the series in general, you’re getting a full issue worth of story divided into two chapters, as opposed to the other books where they gave you two short stories and a couple extras. It’s worth noting that one of the many artists to contribute to Game Boy’s artistic efforts (not featured here, though) is one Gray Morrow, the one name I recognize from the menagerie of artists working on this thing because he would do some of the MMPR comics from Hamilton Comics. In fairness, the way that the humans are depicted in these books don’t vary too much and there are so many people on art duties that him skipping out on this issue is not even a factor.
Game Boy #2 feels like a rehash of what came before and pretty much cements the gimmick of this series.
dtm666 