The Muppets are the latest Disney property to head to Dynamite Entertainment, with the publisher soliciting a new series, The Muppets Noir, written and illustrated by Roger Langridge. Debuting in February, just in time for the 50th anniversary of The Muppet Show later next year, the comic is a detective movie parody that sees Kermit gain a new, hardboiled alter-ego, after being knocked out cold while preparing to tape an episode.
The synopsis reads, “The show is about to begin at the famous Muppet Theatre, and the regular pre-curtain chaos has the troupe’s stalwart MC, Kermit the Frog, coming apart at the seams. In an attempt to de-stress, he settles down to read a few pages of a favorite old detective novel – only to get kayoed by an errant brick to the bean, leaving him laid out backstage as his co-stars try to coax him back to consciousness.
But unbeknownst to them, Kermit has taken up the hard-boiled mantle of his fictional hero to walk the darkened streets of Dreamland, righting wrongs and cracking cases under the concealing cover of night. Flip Minnow, P.I., has no time for song and dance – not if he’s going to solve the baffling mystery of the Snoozing Sleuth!”
The book marks the first Muppets comic book since a brief run at Marvel in 2012, shortly after the license was transferred from BOOM! Studios. Langridge previously created several Muppets comics at BOOM!, and for Disney Adventures magazine, before it was cancelled in 2007. In the meantime, Oni Press had acquired the rights to Sesame Street, while last month, Marvel released a line of Muppets parody variant covers to celebrate 70 years since Jim Henson created them for the sketch comedy show Sam and Friends.
Incidentally, a Muppets spin on the detective genre has been a popular subject for some time, with many fans having proposed a crossover with the Benoit Blanc/Knives Out films (the latest entry of which, Wake Up Dead Man, releases on Netflix this Friday.) Netflix joined in the fun by releasing a crossover with Sesame Street last week, which technically counts as a Muppets team-up.
Muppets Noir will be released with main cover art by Langridge, and variants by Declan Shalvey, as well as in blind bags, which’ll have a new original cover, textless variants, and more. You can check those out below in the meantime, along with a preview in the PDF of Dynamite’s February solicits.
