Comic: "Kling Klang Klatch"
Published by: Dark Horse Comics
Written by: Ian McDonald
Artist: David Lyttleton

Reviewer: The Leader
Posted: 8/31/2010

Plot: A hardboiled detective tries to solve a grizzly (puntastic) murder, but ends up finding himself in the middle of a conspiracy involving Panda abortionists, organ trade, and young love.

Review: "Heartbreak and psoriasis. It's all heartbreak and psoriasis, I tell you.... Twenty years on the mean streets of Pandatown, and what do they give me? A Transformerbot car..." These are the first words spoken to the reader by Inspector McBear, introducing us to a glorious and magical world where the spirits of all of the world's most beloved toys go when their owners stop playing with them. Despite their cuddly appearance, however, the denizens of this world face the very same problems that society at large faces: War, refugees, racism, exploitation and murder to name a few. While such a concept may seem like it would be forced with over-dramatic scenes of violence and hilariously adorable scenes of kinky sex acts, Kling Klang Klash is more subtle- sort of.

There is grittiness squeezed into every panel but it comes off as more of a parody of grandiose thrillers rather than an honest attempt at being edgy (or rather, as in Spawn's case, an honest attempt at taking itself seriously.) Parody or otherwise, this comic still manages to be disturbing thanks in large part to David Lyttleton's artwork. Within the pages of Kling Klang Klatch, Lyttleton managed to take the basic form of the teddy bear and turn it into something very ugly. Even the more normal looking bears are creepy, with large, staring eyes which seem to be looking into your very soul. The other denizens of the city, Bimbie-Dolls, Raggy Dolls, Mucho-Macho Men and Transformerbots all receive the same treatment.

Really, the toy thing is Kling Klang Klatch's gimmick. McDonald and Lyttleton took the fun, cute things in life and put them in the morbid situations that are normally relegated to films like Taxi Driver and Se7en. If it weren't for the toys, this would be a run of the mill detective story with the obligatory plot twists and turns. The setting and characters are what make this comic interesting, not because of the quality of the writing, but because of how strange the entire concept is.

You can get a used copy relatively cheap on Amazon and I'd say it was worth the price of a couple bucks but shipping has become such a bitch these days so only shelve out the dough if you like comic books that no one has heard of or just really want to know what the reproductive organs of a deceased panda showgirl look like on the inside.

Scratch that. Buy it if you're the kind of person who reads I-Mockery.com. Don't if you're more of an Esquire type or are just a regular old-fashioned ponce.

Overall rating:
(Scored on a 0.5 - 5 pickles rating: 0.5 being the worst and 5 being the best)