AAOG Community Shout Out

Are you looking for a new series to start your morning with? Well, do I have the comic for you! Meet The Breakfast Bunch, a new comic written and created by Ryan Little. The story follows a group of cereal mascots, or “Breakers,” given the task to find the legendary treasure known as the Perfectly Balanced Breakfast as a dangerous foe rises up to steal this treasure. So sit down and grab a bowl of your favorite cereal, here is my spoiler-free review of the first issue of The Breakfast Bunch.

Right at the beginning, the reader is made aware of the threat that the characters will be facing. From what the reader is being told, a blight is ruining the crops that are grown to make each type and brand of cereal, and our heroes must find the three magic items that create “The Perfectly Balanced Breakfast” to defeat the blight and restore balance to the kingdom. As previously mentioned, the characters are mascots (known as Breakers) of their cereal brand and their cereal contains a different kind of magic, depending on which breaker’s cereal is being consumed. Just one bite of their cereal and BAM!! The consumer gains a portion of that magical power. While there are many different Breakers, the story focuses on three (so far): Commodore Crackle, Midknight, and Fortu-Nat. Commodore seems to be the leader of the group, given that she was given the task by her master Honey before they parted ways. She’s also charming, headstrong, and helps new Breakers with finding themselves while they start creating their brand of cereal. With Midknight’s character, he’s the mascot of the last homegrown cereal and from the looks of it, he’s still trying to figure out how to put that special magic into his cereal. Fortunately, he’s had Commodore teaching him how to get there. Despite the small setbacks, he has plenty of confidence in his abilities and doesn’t let anything bring him down. As for Fortu-Nat, it’s a bit tricky figuring out her character, given that she was introduced near the end of the first issue. She has a bit of a mischievous rogue-like side to her, but not to the point where she’s a villain. Other than the main protagonists, I love the villain of this story. While he’s only had a small amount of “screentime,” the evil that the heroes will face made a strong enough impression on me. From the few pages he’s shown up in, this villain is going to be a looming shadow throughout the series. He hasn’t even been addressed by a given name and he’s done more than enough to prove that he can back up his words. Along with destroying the crops, he’s also stolen boxes of cereals (along with the mascots) in order to have more power and claim the three relics for himself. I can’t wait to see how much trouble he’ll give our heroes. What I also love is how the story makes sure to give some attention to the real world, given that it seems to affect the Breakers’ strength and ability to keep on existing. At least, that’s what I’m understanding from the explanation (I could be wrong). Which brings up the question: what happens to a breaker if their cereal is discontinued? Given how severe the results could be, I can’t wait to see where that could come into play.

Along with the story, writing, and characters, it didn’t take long for me to fall in love with the art style. The art style has a cartoonish feel to it, but not to where it becomes distracting during the serious moments. It’s an art style that both older and younger audiences would enjoy. Honestly, the cover left me unprepared for what was in store for me, which is a good thing. At first, I thought it was going to be a goofy fantasy adventure story, but after the first few pages, I knew that there was much more to the bigger picture. While there are moments where the characters are smiley and goofy, the writer doesn’t hold back when things have to get serious, especially at the beginning. Like the perfect breakfast, the different shades of colors (bright and dark) are perfectly balanced and complement each other. Even the characters, with their different designs, to go with their cereal brand, help balance each other out. 

After reading all of this, the big question that’s popped into your brain is “That’s nice and all, but where can I read this comic that you’re reviewing and praising?” Unfortunately, at this time only the first 16 pages of The Breakfast Bunch can be read on its Kickstarter page, which made it past the original (big congrats on the achievement). In other words, I don’t know if it’ll be available in stores for those that want to read the story but were unable to support the Kickstarter. However, I’ll be keeping an eye out for any news of future releases of the series. The second I see and/or hear any news, I’ll be sure to re-tweet it online for anyone that is interested. For those that are interested in a taste of the adventure, here is a link to the Kickstarter page HERE

You can also follow Ryan Little on Twitter @PlasticSwordPrs for any updates on upcoming projects.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Need coverage? Please send an email to Allagesofhr@gmail.com

Tracy Preston is a contributing writer at All Ages of Geek. You can follow her/him/them on Twitter @CuriousCat_13 and Instagram @curiouscat_13.