Talking Cats, Zombies, and Mecha-Crabs: Who could ask for anything more?

 Ehmm Theory is a fun take on a classic story of self discovery. We meet Gabriel Ehmm on his way home to surprise his girlfriend with a new cat he just got for her.  But it’s Gabriel who is surprised when she is waiting for him with a gun and a pair of women’s underwear that she found in their room.  Needless to say, they don’t belong to her.  Before he can offer an explanation Gabriel is shot in the head by his girlfriend.  Gabriel’s death is not only surprising to watch unfold in the opening pages of the story but it’s hilarious as well.  It sets the tone that this is going to be a funny and unique comic right off the bat.

Later, Gabriel wakes up in some sort of purgatory where he and his cat, Mr. Whiskers, are greeted by a man who claims to be St. Peter.  To make things even weirder, Mr. Whiskers can now talk.   After experiencing a rather hilarious and weird intro to the story things start to come together.

While questions about his girlfriend (like where she got the gun and whose underwear she found) are swirling through Gabriel’s head, St. Peter explains that he and Mr. Whiskers now have a great quest ahead of them.  Although he is hesitant explain it in detail, he does drop the hint that the key to their quest will be finding Gabriel’s biological father, who he has little to no memory of.  Then they are off.  Gabriel and his new friend Mr. Whiskers are sent to a graveyard where the dead are rising to begin their quest.  Without hesitation Mr. Whiskers and Gabriel engage in some glorious zombie hunting.

Make no mistake, this action sequence and the ones that follow are awesome.  The art stands out during all the commotion.  During the second issue our heroes are up against a giant half mechanized crab that comes crawling out of the earth to put a stop to their quest. Don’t worry, its as every bit as awesome as it sounds and that’s because of the art.

When the earth collapses beneath their car and the first claw comes smashing through the road the art takes over and ramps up the intensity keeping you engaged from panel to panel, doing mecha-crab the justice it deserves.  The art style is perfect for the comic.  Its colorful and detailed so you really do get the most out of the action scenes.  It’s also grounded, it looks a lot like many traditional comics and this is a good thing. The same way the story takes a traditional tale of self discovery and drops you into a completely new setting, the art makes you feel comfortable by looking like a traditional comic. But then as you turn the pages a mechanized crab will come from the ground and do battle with a talking cat.

The premise, and the way it’s presented and written make this comic a fun and exciting read.  Because it’s a classic story told with a more humorous tone everything feels fresh, but familiar enough to accept all of the weird and outlandish elements that bring into the tale. Which is probably the book’s greatest strength.  As the story goes on we learn there is a lot more the world and life after death then we thought.  Gabriel continues to find clues bringing him closer to his father and whatever it was that he was researching.

I loved reading Ehmm Theory and I can’t wait to see where it’s going.  If you want something fresh and exciting this is a great place to start!