Another 90s classic brought back to life in comic book form. Welcome to Dexter’s Lab, the story of a young boy genius with a hidden lab under his family’s suburban home. His plans are brilliant, and his inventions amazing. His only challenge is the incessant, inevitable meddling of his ditzy older sister, Deedee who somehow manages to always make his efforts blow up in his face. Enjoy Derek Fridolf’s adaptation of Dexter’s Lab, brought to you by those lovely folks at IDW comics.
I enjoyed this short read. I have reviewed many cartoon-based comics this past year, and I have noticed a trend in which quite a few of the attempts to translate shows to comic form fall a bit flat, largely due to the difficulty in keeping a cohesive plot over several issues. I am happy to say that Dexter’s Lab doesn’t have that problem. It does a good job of capturing the condensed humor in the original 10 minute shorts that aired on Cartoon Network, while incorporating enough new material that the old formula doesn’t get stale. The conflict is the same: his older sister DeeDee is causing issues and wreaking havoc with his inventions. Dexter tries to solve the problem with yet another new invention, but not everything goes according to plan. If you were a fan of the cartoon, you should remember that despite Dexter’s genius, his solutions are not foolproof. I loved the cover art for the issue as well. Get ready for some nostalgia, and a dose of classic CN splashed across the pages.