Shirtless Bear-Fighter returns in an unheralded, and frankly unnecessary, sequel. Bear puns abound as Shirtless battles still more bears including a bear god and an evil clone, and finds out who his real parents were. Yay…?
The first book was original and fun because it was so strange - it definitely didn’t need a sequel which just does all the same jokey things the first book does but in a more forced and decidedly unfunny way. Worse, it makes a bunch of ‘80s action movie references and thinks it’s being hilarious. I couldn’t have been more uninterested with this comic.
The puns are annoying and come at you thick and fast throughout: Bearmuda, The Fuzz: Counterbearror Operations, Subear Max Prison, the Yakuma, Bearth, and so on. It’s unbearable - gah, it’s got me doing it now!
Jody LeHeup throws in reference after reference - there’s a Power Rangers Megazord-esque fight, Mr Beeyagi (like the Karate Kid character but in bee form), multiverse versions of Shirtless, the Self-Care Bears - and yet the story feels oddly empty and flat. It’s like nothing’s really happening because nothing really is - it’s just a lot of noise to fill an unengaging and pointless story.
Who really wanted to know Shirtless’ origin story (which is derivative of Hellboy’s)? Exactly. And the attempts at emotion amidst all this campy nonsense plain didn’t work. The feeble story gurns its way to a predictable and laugh-free conclusion.
Oy, this was bad. Shirtless Bear-Fighter works fine as a standalone but beyond that it’s tedious as it’s the same dull jokes over and over. Volume 2 was nothing but sheer boredom to get through.
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