Comic of the Week: “Jeff the Land Shark” #1

While Marvel Rivals introduced many to Jeff the Land Shark, comic readers who’ve enjoyed Kelly Thompson’s works have been fans since his debut in “West Coast Avengers.” Now, after spending time in the pages of “Deadpool,” the “It’s Jeff” Infinity Comic, and more, Jeff the Land Shark has his own mini-series, and it’s G33k-HQ’s Comic of the Week.

“Jeff the Land Shark” is written by Kelly Thompson, who first blessed the pages of Marvel Comics with everyone’s favorite land shark. It’s illustrated by Tokitokoro, with colors by Jim Campbell, and its main cover is drawn by Gurihiru (with several alternate covers from different artists available).

So, what exactly is the plot of “Jeff the Land Shark?” While digital comics like “It’s Jeff” give us snapshots of Jeff’s life as he travels around the Marvel Universe, having fun and maybe getting into trouble, “Jeff the Land Shark” takes that idea and turns one of his escapades into a full story. In this case, it begins with Jeff sneaking into Dr. Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum, and the plot is driven by the consequences that follow.

After Jeff’s mischief makes him the target of a shadow demon, he’s got to chase down the fiend to recover his shadow before it’s too late. So it’s pretty low-stakes as far as comic stories go, but still a personal stake for Jeff, and it gives readers a reason to follow him as he chases his stolen shadow across the Marvel Universe.

This comic also differentiates itself from “It’s Jeff” by giving characters dialogue (outside of Jeff, of course, who continues to communicate in “mrrrs,” “grrrs,” and “pffts”), rather than relying solely on visual storytelling. This allows writer Kelly Thompson to provide snarky commentary and a bit of exposition from characters like Anton and Aleister (two ghostly snakes that inhabit the Sanctum Sanctorum), as well as plenty of chatter from Deadpool. This keeps the comic’s atmosphere light and helps the story flow while giving Jeff other characters to bounce off of.

Of course, that’s not to say the visuals take a backseat, as most of Jeff’s adventure is shown through the artwork. As a non-speaking character, Jeff’s expressions and body language are essential for portraying his thoughts and personality.

Artist Tokitokoro does an excellent job of setting the atmosphere of the comic and bringing Jeff’s personality out through the artwork. The character design leans more toward the adorable aspects of Jeff, making him more round and with a bit of an anime style to his expressions, which makes it all the more enjoyable. Tokitoro’s style leans to the cartoonish side, which works perfectly for the character and comic, and still captures the human character designs nicely.

Additionally, Tokitokoro’s artwork makes full use of panel sizing and spacing to control the flow of the comic. The panels are positioned and adjusted to move with the action on the page, like when a bouncing basket is captured in motion by tilting the panels it flies through, or a tilting table flips from one panel to another. While this can make the scenes hectic (and therefore a little harder to follow) at first glance, the way they contribute to the storytelling becomes clear and impactful when viewing each page as a whole.

Jim Campbell’s colors complement Tokitokoro’s artwork wonderfully, adding cheery bright colors to the already cartoon-like art. There’s just enough variety in the lighting and shadows to add volume to the characters, while maintaining the light shades and bright colors throughout the issue. It keeps the atmosphere light and joyful, while making every page visually engaging, especially when we get little colorful alterations to the backgrounds.

Campbell’s color work also brings out the shadows further, letting the grey and black contrast with the overall lightness of the setting without compromising the tone.

Whether you’ve been a fan of Jeff the Land Shark since he first appeared in “West Coast Avengers” or a new fan who uses him as your Marvel Rivals main, “Jeff the Land Shark” #1 is an absolute delight. Kelly Thompson is in top form, bringing us all the mischief and mayhem we’ve come to expect from Jeff in a fun-to-follow story, while Tokitokoro’s artwork and Jim Campbell’s colors bring it to life delightfully. The visual and narrative storytelling are top-notch, and it’s a purely fun comic to read.

If you like entertaining, lighthearted comics with clever dialogue, delightful visuals, and a fun cast, you’ll love “Jeff the Land Shark.” And if you don’t… then I’m sorry someone hurt you so badly.