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Mr. Scootles Book 1

By Al Kratina
October 12, 2006 - 00:00

The tension between the world of the adult and the world of children is one of the great dichotomies of the creative arts. In the pantheon of literary conflicts, it stands proudly alongside man versus nature, person versus self, and Zakk Wylde from Black Label Society versus Dave Mustaine circa Peace Sells... But No One's Buying.  The blending of the two worlds has informed and inspired many great works in all arts, and send many middle aged men to short stints in medium security prisons. R. Kelly home videos aside, many artists have chosen to explore this tension in their work, be it Nabokov's Lolita or Pete Townshend's computer, and the world of comics and animation is no exception. From the earliest days of the medium, work has been created that toyed with the mingling of the adult with the childish, the young with the old, from early pornographic shorts like 1930's Everready to the more mainstream work of Tex Avery. More recently, films like Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, and Cool World , as well as that tattoo my drug-dealing downstairs neighbor has on her inner thigh of Minnie Mouse going down on Mickey, have gone the same route. H.C. Noel's Mr. Scootles explores the same themes, albeit more clumsily, but the same fascination with the subject matter exists.

The premise of Mr. Scootles is interesting, but though there's a lot of potential in the idea, the first issue comes across as a little muddled. Jason, a young animation student at the Drumheller Art Institute discovers a film can containing a long-thought-lost reel of animated character Mr. Scootles. Watching this film with his girlfriend somehow brings Mr. Scootles to life in a limbo-like world where cartoon characters and people who really like Terry Pratchett's Small Gods go where they die. Simultaneously, one of Jason's professors is trying to open up a portal to hell by caving in young women's heads and arranging them in poses based on Blue Oyster Cult album covers. How these two plot lines connect is not explored, and while a little bit of mystery is always a good thing, not enough information is revealed about the Hellmouth, Mr. Scootles, or his black ink limbo land to give the reader much to latch on to.  On the plus side, the dialogue is very naturalistic and un-contrived, but a side-effect of that is that it lacks a little pep. The black and white art, however, is perfectly suited to the story, with a cartoonish, Mickey Mouse-feel to Mr. Scootles and a sketchier, more adult feel to the characters in the 'real world'.

There are elements to like here, and a lot of room to grow, but the first issue leaves something to be desired. It doesn't feel cohesive, and the fine line between intriguing ambiguity and confusion has been crossed on the wrong side. The reader doesn't feel hooked by the story, merely the premise. There's not enough momentum established in the first issue to keep things going into the second, and despite the inherent tension in the adult/child conflict, the book never really rises above the same initial shock gained from hearing Bumblebee swear in the Transformers  movie. But there’s hope yet. While the first issue of Mr. Scootles isn't a success, there's enough potential inherent in the premise, the conceit, and the story to indicated that there may be hope for the title in the future, that it will grow into something that explores the mingling of the two worlds in more depth, without sending me to Folsom.

 

Rating: 6 out of 10

 

Last Updated: November 29, 2025 - 16:51