Bechelli, Corey – Willy Wonka: Candyman

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Willy Wonka: Candyman (written by Scott Oliver) Now Available! $.50

In case you were wondering, yes, this is one of those books that you can judge from the cover. If lookig at that doesn’t make you intensely curious at least to see what it’s all about, you’ve obviously never seen Willy Wonka (the one with Gene Wilder, I have no idea about the new one). It’s sort of a prelude to the happenings of the movie, except, of course, for the fact that the creators intended for none of this to be the backstory of the man. Wonka in this mini is a slave trader (the Oompa Loompas), a drug user, and someone who has no problem doing experiments on children. He gets close to his dream of making a candy that makes children addicted while also keeping them perfectly quiet and pliable, and that’s where things get dicey with the President. Any more than that and it’s just ruined, but the ending dovetails nicely into the start of the movie, and the real reason he offered the tour. This was originally a 24 hour comic that was apparently finished in the time allowed, but then Corey inked it days later, so I guess technically it can’t be considered a 24 hour comic. And if you’ve ever lost even a little bit of sleep thinking about such things, I am deeply sorry. The point is that it’s a little sloppier than your average mini as a result, but all that does is make Wonka seem more unhinged and manic. There’s also a genuinely unique and interesting story here, which is always nice when it comes to the 24 hour books, as some of them tend to be… well, less than completely thought out. No problem with that here, I recommend this completely to the people who grew up on this movie, although the people who didn’t may end up being a bit lost…