Field Tripping is the all-ages comic from ComiXology here to ask: wasn’t the Magic School Bus an awful idea and probably, definitely, child endangerment? And are those kids messed up now? Co-Writers James Asmus and Jim Festante have teamed up with artist José García and letterer Ryan Ferrier to bring you the answers in a wild ride of a miniseries.
Here’s the set up: “When a flighty teacher with a mysterious bus takes her young students on field trips into parallel dimensions to illustrate different lessons, she fails to realize that it’s a horribly dangerous idea and that children break everything they touch. The machine breaks and leaves them stranded, jumping between bizarre worlds but never seemingly able to go back to their own.”
Still stranded in a parallel dimension seven years later, those kids are now teens. Although their ages may be different, the gang never really grew up mentally thanks to their being ripped out of everything they once found familiar. That’s all going to have to change when “a surprise vendetta” disrupts their typical routines.
Field Tripping will follow the kids in a world-hopping adventure, discovering all sorts of oddities. It’s more than appropriate for the writing team that brought us titles like The End Times of Bram & Ben, and Rick and Morty Presents Mr. Meeseeks. Asmus says that the series will use these extra-dimensional extracurriculars to explore what it’s really like to be a middle-schooler; a world where anxiety lurks behind every corner in every form and you can’t help wanting to grow up, even though you never want to get old. He says “The book is bonkers, subversive, sci-fi comedy.”
García says his work on interiors puts all the wackiness front and center; “The art is super detailed and colorful so even if you only see just one glimpse of the world, looking at the details of the environment, the clothing and design of the characters in it, you know there’s so much story behind it.”
Field Tripping is the latest in an ever-expanding line-up from ComiXology Originals, including last week’s debut of Breaklands. Like all comics released under the banner, Field Tripping is available for free to ComiXology Unlimited subscribers, Amazon Prime members and Kindle Unlimited readers. Otherwise, it runs $2.99 an issue. The madness begins when Field Tripping hits cyber shelves this Wednesday, September 11 – and don’t forget to scroll down for a first peek at what to expect from this bonkers comic.
