Traction Man Meets Turbodog (review)

It’s the return of Traction Man (from Traction Man Is Here!, BCCB 5/05), boys and girls! Previously, Traction Man, an action figure belonging to a young boy, thwarted his archenemies with the help of his faithful companion, Scrubbing Brush; in this outing, the boy’s parents, offended by the mucky state of Scrubbing Brush, brazenly toss him into the garbage. This leaves Traction Man stuck with the boy’s new TurboDog^™ as his sidekick, but T-Dog proves a dismal failure as a boon companion for an adventurer, so Traction Man embarks on a dangerous mission to find and save his trusty discarded chum. Once again, Traction Man embraces his adventure with an endearing blend of doughtiness and flair, and the text is more affectionate homage to adventure serial than satire of it, while there’s genuine pathos in the near-doom of poor Scrubbing Brush. The imaginative reclassification of the household objects as strange creatures in a terrifying world (the underside of the sofa is a Western plain with cowboy dustmice and a Lone Sock, the sofa cushions meet at Grand Sofa Canyon) is clever and inclusive rather than patronizing, and the celebration of creative play over expensive gizmos will please traditionalists. Illustratively, Grey reprises the same style, her bouquet of colors in slightly subdued tones lending a certain dignity to the high-action comic panels; atmospherically, she’s raised the stakes, with the world inside the garbage can (“No one has ever returned alive from the Bin before”) a freaky habitat of sinister, animated rotting food emitting Gollumesque hisses. Whether old fans of Traction Man or newcomers to his heroic exploits, readers will revel in his triumph over both adult misunderstanding and nefarious opposition.