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Statler: A Muppet Show comic book! Oh no, they're back to corrupt a whole new medium.
Waldorf: Why's it called a medium?
Statler: 'Cause it's rarely well done! Hoho!
— the first issue

The Muppet Show Comic Book, published by Boom! Kids, is, well, Exactly What It Says on the Tin: a Comic-Book Adaptation of The Muppet Show. It was launched in November, 2009. It is written and (usually) drawn by Roger Langridge, who had originally wanted to draw Muppet Show comics for Disney Adventures after Disney bought the franchise. Disney Adventures got cancelled before they could run any of Langridge's material (with the exception of a one-page short starring Fozzie Bear in their final issue), but the people at Boom! Studios hired him to do a Muppet Show comic book as part of their new Disney-based imprint of kids' comics.

Unfortunately, as of 2011, the comic is now on hiatus due to Disney's acquisition of Marvel Comics. The fourth and final story arc (Four Seasons, which Boom was about to publish before scrapping the series) was published by Marvel in 2012.

Spinning off from the main comic was Muppet Classics, a series of four-issue miniseries adapting famous stories and fairy tales. Five miniseries were published and completed prior to Boom losing the license, consisting of adaptations of Robin Hood, Peter Pan, King Arthur, Snow White and Sherlock Holmes.

In 2014, an omnibus was published collecting the entirety of the comic (the initial four-issue miniseries, the Treasure of Peg-Leg Wilson miniseries, all 12 issues of the main series, the four-issue The Muppets series published by Marvel when Boom lost the license and the Muppet strips Langridge originally made for Disney Adventures).


Tropes:

  • Actually Not a Vampire: The first part of the Muppet Mash arc revolves around the other Muppets thinking that Gonzo has become a vampire when he starts demonstrating vampire-like traits and habits. By the end of the issue, it turns out that he isn't a vampire and gives an explanation for all the supposed signs of his vampirism, such as his aversion to the Swedish Chef's garlic steak being because he's on a vegetarian diet and avoiding sunlight because he experienced a bad sunburn during his vacation.
  • Alternate Species Counterpart: In Four Seasons issue #2 "Summer", the characters at the Whatnot Theater troupe are counterparts to the Muppets, with the host being Dermot the Dog. Other Whatnots including Miss Tiggy (a tiger), Bonzo the Great (a monkey), Dr. Tongue (as opposed to Dr. Teeth), and Vegetable (a giant carrot who plays the spoons).
  • Bad Santa: The "Winter" issue of the Four Seasons arc features a burglar dressed as Santa Claus robbing Sam the Eagle.
  • Brick Joke: One in at least every book.
  • Calvinball: The events in Family Reunion are all planned out by a pair of celestial beings resembling Statler and Waldorf as part of some weird chess game they're playing.
  • Christmas Episode: The final issue of the Four Seasons arc has the Muppets celebrating Christmas.
  • Crowd Song:
    • This happens near the end of every issue, usually signifying the end of the main plot point of that issue. Yes, they sing in a comic book, why do you ask?
    • "On The Road Part One: Watch That Tiger" features a glorious parody of the opening theme, reworked to allow for the fact they're performing in a field. "It's time to hitch the wagons/It's time to pick a site..."
  • Dartboard of Hate: Miss Piggy throws darts at a dartboard with Madame Rhonda's picture attached to it by the end of her spotlight issue in the original four-issue miniseries.
  • A Day in the Limelight: Statler and Waldorf have gotten one for an issue.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Kermit
    Kermit: Very good, nice job everybody! Lose the wanton violence and we might just make it!
  • Depending on the Artist: Writer Roger Langridge usually does the art, but sometimes he hands it over to Amy Mebberson. It's been suggested that Langridge draws the characters, and Mebberson draws the puppets.
  • Gem-Encrusted: At one point in the Treasure of Peg-Leg Wilson miniseries, Miss Piggy puts on so much jewelry, when she falls over she can't get back up.
  • Heroic BSoD: Kermit gets this when he finds out the tree he was born in was torn down.
  • Inexplicably Identical Individuals: Since it wouldn't be The Muppet Show without them, versions of Statler and Waldorf keep showing up even when the show goes on tour. And then there's the aforementioned celestial beings...
  • Interspecies Romance: The "Spring" issue of the Four Seasons arc has Animal fall for a gorilla named Meredith.
  • Jekyll & Hyde: Played with in #8 and 10 of the ongoing. In #8, the Muppets begin to think that Gonzo is a vampire, but it turns out to be one big misunderstanding, sorted out during a Crowd Song, no less. In #10, the guest star that night is living legend Howlin' Jack Talbot, much to the delight of house band The Electric Mayhem. Unfortunately, whenever Howlin' Jack gets up to sing, he soon rushes off-stage, and a Big Friendly Dog soon rushes onstage. The Muppets soon put two and two together and make "Werewolf", and ask The Lonesome Stranger if they could borrow his silver bullets. Again, it's one big misunderstanding, as it turns out that the dog is Jack's (his name is Wuffles and he's a Peruvian wolfhound), and the reason he kept rushing backstage was he kept forgetting his lines, because he's getting on in years. Everyone gets together for a rendition of "The Monster Munch" (a parody of "The Monster Mash") and have a good laugh at the idea of Howlin' Jack being a werewolf. And then Kermit and Scooter see two big dogs running away from the theatre, under a full moon... They decide not to mention it to the others, because as Kermit points out: "After all, a man's earned the right to forget to mention a few minor details when he's a living legend."
  • "Kick Me" Prank: Skeeter at one point plays a prank on Miss Piggy by putting a sign reading "wide load" on her back in the Family Reunion arc.
  • Jumping Out of a Cake: In the first issue of the original Meet the Muppets miniseries, one of the other Muppets' attempts at cheering up a homesick Kermit the Frog involves Miss Piggy jumping out of a cake.
  • Leaning on the Fourth Wall: It's The Muppets. What did you expect?
  • "Metaphor" Is My Middle Name: Fozzie's issue in the Meet the Muppets miniseries has Gonzo claim that "overconfidence" and "reckless" are two of his middle names.
  • Mirror Routine: Kermit and his impersonator Kismet.
    Kismet: (to the reader) You know, I always wanted to do that.
  • Mythology Gag:
    • Adult Skeeter wears green and white striped stockings, similar to the green and white striped socks that Nanny wore.
    • In #1 of the first miniseries, janitor Beauregarde meets George, the janitor from the first season
  • Oddball Doppelgänger: The Summer issue of the Four Seasons arc has Fozzie agree to a gig at the Whatnot Theater, where he meets bizarre counterparts to himself and the other Muppets (e.g. Ozzy Bear, Dermot the Dog, Miss Tiggy, Doctor Tongue, a carrot version of Animal who is obsessed with spoons rather than drums).
  • Phony Psychic: Miss Piggy's issue in the original four-issue miniseries involves Miss Piggy being duped by Madame Rhonda, an illegitimate medium who tells her that she will lose something "precious and green". Miss Piggy thinks Madame Rhonda is talking about Kermit, but Madame Rhonda was really talking about the money she was pilfering from Miss Piggy.
  • Poor Communication Kills: Or Leads to Hilarity Ensuing... in #7 of the ongoing, Fozzie reveals that he hasn't told his mother that he's a comedian, but the BlatantLie that he's The Watson to an in-universe Sherlock Holmes Expy. Now his mother's coming to visit, and she's bringing one of Fozzie's old childhood girl friends, who's single... Luckily, Skeeter's more than happy to help out, quickly making things worse. Fortunately, it all gets resolved; Ma Bear's not happy that her son lied to her, but is happy that he's doing what he loves. It doesn't hurt that the childhood friend is quite the looker... for a bear. Sadly Skeeter has to finish her archaeology degree. Or does she? In a letter she claims she's been on all kind of wild adventures working for a Government Agency of Fiction. Fozzie bemoans the fact that she didn't learn her lesson from his foolishness and the others sadly agree. At the very end of the comic it turns out her letter was one big Cassandra Truth, and she's keeping back all the weird stuff...
  • Re-Cut: The preview issue that was released at San Diego Comic Con 2008 and included in the trade paperback collection of the "Meet the Muppets" miniseries consisted of Muppet strips that Roger Langridge had originally made for Disney Adventures. As detailed on his blog, Roger Langrige's main story of Sweetums trying to perform in the show to impress his mother added a scene of Sweetums singing a parody of James Blunt's "You're Beautiful" without his permission. The trade paperback version also replaced a cameo by Bert in the Muppet Ballroom strip with an appearance by Dr. Teeth.
  • Retcon: Remember when Gonzo was revealed to be an alien? Yeah, that never happened. He's an artist.
  • Shout-Out:
  • Subverted Rhyme Every Occasion:
    • One of the Muppet strips that was originally intended for Disney Adventures before being included in the San Diego Comic Con 2008 preview issue, the trade paperback collection of the "Meet the Muppets" miniseries and the omnibus collection of the entire comic has a scene where Sweetums serenades to a Bound and Gagged Miss Piggy.
    Sweetums: Me live in dumb old hut
    And shirt am torn and cut—
    But nothing so ace as your fat old face
    And pimples on your—
    • Rizzo the Rat writes a poem to Gonzo in the "Winter" issue of the Four Seasons arc to express his anger at Gonzo's latest stunt destroying the refrigerator.
    Rizzo: Roses are brown...
    So is a nut.
    Gonzo the Great is a pain in the...
  • Ten Paces and Turn: Mercilessly spoofed in #9 when Statler and Waldorf fight over the newest guest star; firstly, they're doing it with rotten tomatoes. Secondly, the woman doesn't want either of them, Pops' the happy winner. Thirdly, the guest star is older than she looks. A lot older.
  • Uncanny Family Resemblance: Beauregard and his cousin Mo.
  • Writing Around Trademarks: Because the publisher was unsure if having the comic book license of The Muppets enabled them to use elements from Muppet Babies (1984), Skeeter is never called by name. She's referred to as "Scooter's Sister", Scooter calls her "Sis", Gonzo calls her "Whatshername", and Andy and Randy call her "the genius" (because she can work a doorknob). Fozzie begins to say her name at one point but is interrupted. The name "Skeeter" only appears on the last two pages of issue #7.


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