REVIEW -- Invasion from Planet Wrestletopia - Issues #1-6

When a disgruntled professional wrestler declares himself "Galactic Champion of the Universe," Earth is invaded by a planet of wrestling aliens who view it as an act of war! Invasion from Planet Wrestletopia is a 6-part action/comedy comic mini-series.

I was approached by the kind folks behind Suspicious Behavior Production on Twitter with an advanced copy of this mini-series for reviewing several months ago. I would have written this review sooner, but life hit me and my family like piledriver into the canvas with my mother being rushed to the hospital and her condition worsening over the course of the last two and a half months until her untimely demise at the end of May 2020. In that regard, I humbly dedicate this review to her memory since she knew how much I adored the sport of professional wrestling (oftentimes encouraging me to splurge on myself and see the local wrestling events in my area when they were touring nearby and paying for it when I couldn't afford to myself) and I thank the folks at SBP for their patience with me during this time before I share my thoughts on their mini-series. I also have to thank them for giving me my smile back as I read this mini-series from start to finish.

About the Creators

Invasion from Planet Wrestletopia was written and created by Ed Kuehnel & Matt Entin of Suspicious Behavior Productions, the production company they founded in order to waste money. (Their words not mine...) Suspicious Behavior Production's social media is here: Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Facebook.

Suspicious Behavior Productions is the publishing home of writers Matt Entin and Ed Kuehnel.

Matt and Ed are award-winning video game industry veterans, having written on such titles as Valiant Hearts: The Great War, Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude, and Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle. They also co-wrote the comedy-slasher film, Lumberjack Man.

Invasion from Planet Wrestletopia is their first comic series.

Artist: Kendall Goode 4-6, Dan Schkade 1-3 (Inks on #3 by David Hahn)

Colorist: Jio Butler 5-6, Jason Lewis 4, Marissa Louise 1-3

Letterer: Sal Cipriano 4-6, A Larger World Studios 1-3

Production/Design: Conley Presler & Jimmy Presler

The Verdict:

For those who don't know, when I usually review/critique something for this blog, I lay out my thoughts under the heading of "The Verdict" before ending with some "Closing Thoughts" and my final assessment of "Watch It/Play It (when usually reviewing TV shows, films, or video games) or Don't Bother?". I'm going to keep that same format for this comic book mini-series as this is the first of its kind that I have had a the pleasure of reviewing.

For this review, I'm going to share my thoughts on each issue individually - hoping to keep the spoilers to a minimum - before giving my closing thoughts on the mini-series as a whole and giving my final assessment.

IFPW #1: Date With Destiny!

A slow burn to start things off as we're introduced to this fictional - yet somewhat familiar - world of professional wrestling. Savvy wrestling fans will catch a lot of the references with the naming conventions but it's not so much over casual fans and newcomers' heads that they would feel lost getting into the swing of things.

Simply put, this is a story about a man, "Rock 'n' Roll" Rory Landell, with aspirations for greatness and who can't identify with that? He was promised the world in a sense (namely the world title) and the promoter went back on his word, so Rory took his ball and went home. That wasn't before making the claim that he was the "galactic" champion. I had to chuckle at that remark a bit, knowing that WWE currently has their own "Universal" champion these days as silly as that sounds. For here though, it works for the realm of comic books, which by chance catches the attention of aliens.

The "Will you stop!" reference to the late great commentary team of Bobby "The Brain" Hennan and Gorilla Monsoon definitely made me smile, along with the mock newspaper clipping of an article discussing how a bear (Kodiak Jack) could potentially be a World Champion. That's something so absurd, yet within the realm of craziness in the world of professional wrestling that I'm surprised Vince McMahon himself hasn't tried that after all of these years.

IFPW #2: Two Worlds Enter, One Leaves!

I popped for the interruption of the news with a chair shot to the head of the news reporter from MANIFEST DESTINY. His speech reminded me of my favorite episode of Dexter's Laboratory's Dial M For Monkey titled "Rasslor" that featured an intergalactic champion from the cosmos looking for worthy challengers that summoned all of the heroes of Earth to face him in a wrestling match. The icing on the cake was that Rasslor was voiced by the late "Macho Man" Randy Savage. Manifest Destiny's speech gave me the same vibes as Rasslor's declaration of war in that very same episode.

The simultaneous attacks around the world by intergalactic superpowered aliens doing various wrestling moves on the world's armies was a nice touch. I enjoyed seeing the reactions from the onlookers and various wrestling moves on display.

This issue ended with another newspaper clipping of an article discussing how Sir Cecil Steedmont, the interviewer that Rory spoke to where he made his claim of being the galactic champion, was trying to work the shoot interview into an angle for heel heat onto himself. Steedmont claimed that he hypnotized Rory into making those bizarre claims via his manager being under his own employ for his own devious means. This is another fine example of classic wrestling of keeping the gimmick(s) alive and not trying to let anyone outside of the business know that any of this was a work.

IFPW #3: Two Peas In A Pot!

I got a kick out of the United Nations meeting where each country was nominating their own native wrestlers and/or tag teams until a brawl broke out. The line from the newscaster made it priceless, “We’re all screwed…”

Interesting twist that Macho, who was with Rory and his manager, was trained by his mentor to fight against the forces of darkness. At this point, the narrative was going into the realm of mystique that drew me to Lucha Underground's storytelling (a lucha libre promotion that combined both comic book-style fantasy narratives with Hollywood film noir to their action and presentation) and I loved it even more.

The promoter working out his own shady dealings with Destiny’s cohorts is the type of swerve that totally works in wrestling with all of the heels ready to stab each other in the back at a moment’s notice to pick up the spoils. In this case, this guy is just looking out for himself of course when it comes to global conquest.

I loved the cut-out “trading cards”/wrestler bio cards at the end of this issue. I wish this was shown at the end of the first issue for we could have known a bit more about the wrestlers and/or their gimmicks starting out, but this is still cool nonetheless.

The advert for the music album was a riot too, parodying Shawn Michaels’ nude shoot with the WWF Championship.

IFPW #4: Road Games!

Out of the first four issues thus far, this was my favorite issue to date from the sheer amount of references and callbacks to beloved wrestling fandom from over the years. It wasn’t limited to the gas station going by the name of Big Poppa’s Pump (obviously referencing “Big Poppa Pump” Scott Steiner) to the 3-D boys playing a wrestling game on a video game console that closely resembles a Nintendo 64 (home of a lot of nostalgic wrestling titles of old, such as WWF No Mercy, WCW/nWo Revenge/ WCW/nWo World Tour, or even WWF Attitude) and even the “Bingo Hall of Fame” reference got me to chuckle. It’s stuff like this that shows me that the minds behind this comic have nothing but absolute love for old school “rasslin’”.

That’s not to mention that any ECW fan can tell you that the 3-D boys themselves are a parody/homage of the Dudley Boyz (or Team 3D in their TNA/IMPACT Wrestling days) in a sense. I thought visually their designs borrowed a bit from 3 Minute Warning too, but that’s just my opinion.

Issue #4's ending advert is for "doomsday essentials" provided by the American Wrestling Federation. At this point of the mini-series, I'm anxious to see what crazy ad that the creators are going to plug into the end of each new issue. It's like the mystery prize at the bottom of cereal box or Cracker Jacks. Each of the products are modeled by more wrestlers I wish we got to see in this series up to this point - Count Von Grimsbane, Vixen, and Dark Covenant. Holy crap, their designs are awesome!

IFPW #5: Show-Me State of Mind!

This chapter continues from the previous cliffhanger with Drasin asking Rory to throw the match with Manifest Destiny by no-showing Galact-O-Massacre for his own personal benefit. Rory is smart enough to know that this isn't as simple as working a crowd of fans with the entire planet at stake. That precious World title reign that eluded him was within his grasp if he complied. Rory couldn't bring himself to forsake his planet just for fame and fortune. Drasin had no qualms about casting Rory away like yesterday's garbage as a result, seemingly to a fiery grave. Rory dodged death's bullet once again and met with his mentor's (Chief Don Thunder Snake) former tag team partner, Jay Warcloud.

The scene that followed reminded me of the shaman who Spike Spiegel would visit regularly in the anime, Cowboy Bebop. Spike would get his fortune read to eerie to grim, vague results every chance he had the opportunity to visit. Those fortunes would always apply as a sense of foreshadowing to the plot of the current events of that particular episode. Here, Warcloud would drug Rory with some peyote, a psychoactive hallucinogenic. In these delusions/hallucinations, Rory is forced to face his past and confront those "horrors" in the wrestling ring of his own mental anguish that he has been bottling up within all of this time. He finally comes to grips with reality as he's reunited with his friends as they hitch a ride on a passing train.

They weren't alone as Drasin's newfound friends sent their own underlings (led by Dominatress and her "Freak" in tow) to hunt Rory down since they weren't convinced of his untimely demise earlier in this issue. Rory and his friends held their own against these alien wrestlers, but the issue comes to a close as Dominatress tackles Rory's manager (Don) seemingly off of the train.

This issue's ending advert was for karate lessons from Don Fong Wong from his youth. I got a good chuckle at the line about the video cassette being "considered so dangerous, it's already banned in thirty-six countries". It's stuff like that which makes me enjoy good parodies like TMNT (2012)'s Chris Bradford cartoon parodies in that cartoon and the Death Kung Do stuff from Cartoon Network's Regular Show. At $5.95 plus $3.75 shipping and handling, is there a way that I can still snag one of those tapes?

I guess Good Ol' Don was the Chuck Norris of his day...

If that advert wasn't a good enough note to end on, we get another in the form of an event flyer for Jay Warcloud & Chief Don Thunder Snake defending their Great Plains Tag Team Championships against the unlikely team of Dragon Iwasa and Bodyguard #2.

IFPW 6: Galact-O-Massacre!

The final issue of this mini-series is a 47-page "megaextravaganza" as described on the front page. That paddled length is more than welcome here as it gives the artists and writers to dedicate to all of the in-ring action in this monumental main event - in more ways than one.

The entire issue details the entire match between Rory Landell and Manifest Destiny. We're treated to the return of Leo Sullivan and "Mondo" Larry Hondo on commentary for this issue's event and I couldn't be happier to read their banter. The images of the world's leaders in attendance got a good laugh from me as well while I was simultaneously amazed that the artists even snuck in a "Tupac Is Still Alive" crowd sign too.

The story picks up from issue five's cliffhanger. I don't want to spoil the details, but things aren't looking too good for Rory and his friends. Swerves galore in this finale that get Rory out of the kettle into the fryer finally in his match against Manifest Destiny. This moment wouldn't be complete with a pre-match promo from Rory and that definitely delivered in all of its '80s goodness.

The bulk of this 47-page finale is dedicated to this colossal encounter for the ages and I loved every panel of it. From this issue alone, you could tell that the folks at Suspicious Behavior Productions have nothing but the utmost respect, love, and admiration for old school "rasslin'". If you can't see that at this point of this mini-series, I just don't know what else to tell you. From the narrative to the gorgeous artistic storytelling from panel to panel, I found myself glued to the action as if this match was the high-profile main event of any wrestling promotion - past or present.

The way how the match with the fate of Earth on the line ends is a testament to fine storytelling where it comes to professional wrestling when it is done right. I don't doubt for an instant that SBP understands this this crucial fact with how they played out the finish of this match along with the events that transpired after the final decision.

This final issue ends with a series of mock fan letters sent in and replied to by one half of this mini-series' commentary team in hilarious fashion, along with two analysts going back and forth questioning the whereabouts of Rory Landell during the events of the story leading up to his climatic match with Manifest Destiny. These two sections serve as the icing on the cake that was the hilarious banter between the commentary duo throughout this lengthy issue and it was the final "feel good" moment of this mini-series.

Closing Thoughts

Invasion From Planet Wrestletopia is a story primarily about Rory Landell's road to redemption from his own mistakes and shortcomings throughout his life as he hopes to claim the fame and glory that has eluded him for so long in his wrestling career. You don't have to be a fan of professional wrestling to identify and relate with the story of wanting to turn your life around for the better. Who hasn't made mistakes in the course of their lives? Who hasn't had dreams of fame and fortune? Who hasn't fallen on their faces throughout their lives at some point or another? It's a story that anyone can relate to - not limited to just fans of professional wrestling. Sure, there's hardcore and much more savvy and detail-oriented wrestling fans that could dissect every issue of this mini-series and point out every reference and call back to wrestling's fabled past and would enjoy every second of it. The truth of the matter is that this is a story that can be enjoyed by all. It's a classic story of good versus evil, with an unlikely hero finding the courage within himself to answer that call to fight to protect everything that he loves and holds dear.

If I had any major complaint about this mini-series, it's that we had to wait until the final issue to get a full match, but in hindsight, that anticipation of that match is what kept me coming back for more and when it finally happened, it delivered above and beyond my expectations. So, on second thought, maybe that wasn't such a bad thing after all.

Even though the story wraps up with a satisfying conclusion, I wouldn't mind seeing more adventures/stories within this universe. The folks at Suspicious Behavior Productions have launched a Kickstarter to collect the Invasion From Planet Wrestletopia mini-series into a print edition (or trade) on Tuesday, May 25th at approximately 8 a.m. EST. The mini-series itself definitely won me over as a fan. I wish these guys nothing but the best with a successful Kickstarter to bring this story to print. I'm definitely going to back their kickstarter for I can own a physical copy of this story. There's a severe lack of wrestling oriented comics on the market these days and it's even rarer to find good ones. Fortunately, Invasion From Planet Wrestletopia fits the bill on both of those qualifications, so there's no worries in that regard.

Read It or Don't Bother?

If you're a fan of professional wrestling - past or present - definitely give this a shot. For non-wrestling fans, I think that the traditional comic book fan in your life may leave them a little skeptical at first, but there's enough intrigue to keep them glued from start to finish, especially with the plot comparable to similar galactic threats like Marvel Comics' Grandmaster or "The Champion of the Universe" himself, Tryco Slatterus. Rory isn't the best human being, but you can't help but want to see him turn his life around and finally become that champion that he always saw himself as by the time the story comes to an end.