Muppet King Arthur Chapter Three Review

Title: Muppet King Arthur, Chapter Three Written By: Paul Benjamin and Patrick Storck Artist: James Silvani Colors: Eric Cobain Letterer: Deron Bennett Assistant Editor: Jason Long Editor: Aaron Sparrow Designer: Erika Terriquez Cover: David Petersen Publisher: Boom Kids! Pages: 22 Synopsis: (from the publisher trade) A Tale of Chivalry, adventure, chickens, and magic!  The tale of King Arthur has been told many times over the centuries, but never before has it included robots, knock-knock jokes, and boomerang fish!  The Muppets bring you this beloved classic in their signature style, adding twists and turns to the quest for the Holy Grail that would make a sane driver pull over and ask for directions!  Will the Frog King save his beloved England from the curmudgeonly Sam of Eagle?  Will the Lady of the Lake get back on the festival circuit?  Will they find a carpenter capable of making a round table?  Find out in MUPPET KING ARTHUR!

More Muppets!

Warning For Spoilers and General Silliness

Kermit: It's the Muppet Show with our very special rendition of King Arthur!  YAAAAY!

It's time to play the music,

It's time to light the lights,

It's time meet the Muppets

On the Muppet Show Tonight!

It's time to put on makeup

It's time to dress up right

It's time to get things started

Why don't you get things started

Starring

 Kermit the Frog as King Arthur

Miss Piggy as Morgana Le Fay
Gonzo the Great as Sir Lancelot Du Lac
Camilla the Chicken as Lady Guinevere
Animal as Sir Gawain
Robin the Frog as Sir Mordred

Fozzie Bear as Sir Percival

Rowlf the Dog as Merlin the Magician, PHD (Prestidigitating Hound Dog)

Sam Eagle as Sir Sam of Eagle

Statler and Waldorf as Ye Olde People Who Heckle from the Balcony that's always there

Rizzo as Sir Rizzo 

Sweetums as Sir Sweetums
Honeydew and Beaker as Sir Honeydew and Squire Beaker
Link Hogthrob as Sir Hogthrob
Dr. Teeth as the Auctioneer of East Bay
Scooter as Scooter of Arimathea
Pepe the King Prawn as the Fisher King Prawn

It's time to get things started

On the most sensational, 

inspirational, celebrational, Muppetational

This is what we call the Muppet Show!

Last time on Muppet King Arthur, Kermit!Arthur hosted Camelot's Got Talent to find the four greatest knights in the land and invite them to join him at the Septagonal Table.  Rolf!Merlin introduced Kermit!Arthur  to Camilla!Guinevere and Miss Piggy!Morgana Le Fay's jealously ran rampant.  Lancelot!Gonzo, Sir Hogthrob, Sir Honeydew, and Animal!Gawain were selected to join the Septagonal Table along with Fozzie!Percival, Sir Sweetums and Kermit!Arthur.  Kermit!Arthur's nephew Robin!Mordred came to visit.  Sir Sam of Eagle attempted a coup and was catapulted out of Camelot and Sir Rizzo was knighted for his bravery.  And this review was overtaken by the running gag of the Snouths and Mahna Mahna--

Mahna Mahna: Mahna Mahna!

Snouths: Doo Dooo Doo Doo Doo!

No!  No more running gag!  You're not in this chapter!

We begin in Camelot where, well, um... Where the Knights of the Septagonal Table seem to be having a grand old time, but I'm thinking Kermit!Arthur was hoping his kingship would be a bit more... well... neat. 

 

And Kermit!Arthur has had it with all this sitting around and feasting, let me tell you.  I mean, they worked so hard to put on Camelot's Got Talent catapult Sir Sam of Eagle over the wall unite the kingdom.  They forged the Septagonal as a symbol of glory, not of gluttony!  They need to do something useful and productive now or else Animal!Gawain is probably going to eat that symbol of glory.  

A noble quest for his noble knights, Kermit!Arthur decides.  But a quest for what, Sir Sweetums wonders.

Statler: Hey Knight!  We've got a quest for you!

Waldorf: You could go after the holy grail of time management!

::guffaw guffaw::

It' wouldn't really be a Muppet review without them, would it?

Anyways, the Knights out the Septagonal Table throw out ideas.  Animal!Gawain wants WO-MAN!  Sir Honeydew wants volunteers for his next experiment.  Gonzo!Lancelot wants help finding his keys.  Sir Hogthrob would kill for a decent Reuben sandwich.  It's Robin!Mordred (OMG!  Robin!Mordred!  He's so cute and tiny and adorable and sweet and moremoremore!) who suggests a quest for the Holy Grail.  All it takes is the mention that Grail can heal any injury or illness and Kermit!Arthur and the Knights of the Septagonal Table are all on board.  

The Knights of the Septagonal Table eventually break Kermit!Arthur down and he agrees that Robin!Mordred can come along on the quest.  The knights set out, following the conveniently packed map for the century lost relic.

Meanwhile, back at Camelot, Miss Piggy!Morgana Le Fay is snooping around looking for Kermit!Arthur.  Beauregard informs her that Kermit!Arthur and the knights have gone on a quest looking for the Holy Veil (whoops).  Miss Piggy!Morgana Le Fay, thinking that it's a veil for Kermit!Arthur's marriage to Camilla!Guinevere, loses it.  She storms out after making a veiled threat against Arthur and the Knights.

Waldorf: How long did it take you to think of that one?

Statler: Less time than it takes her to come up with our banter!

::guffaw guffaw::

While Miss Piggy!Morgana Le Fay gets ready for her big number, Kermit!Arthur and the Knights arrive at the East Bay Auctioneer House.  Kermit!Arthur informs the E. Bay Auctioneer that they're in the market for a Holy Grail, but unfortunately the Auctioneer has already sold it to Scooter of Arimathea.  The knights ride off in search of Scooter of Arimathea, and Miss Piggy!Morgana Le Fay meets them on the road, warning of them of an approaching dragon.  Kermit!Arthur ignores her warning and they ride on-- right into an enormous green dragon!

The knights fight on valiantly as Waldorf and Statler heckle them from the balcony of a tree branch (it's always there).  Finally, Sir Honeydrew pulls forth his lightning bazooka and destroys the dragon-- incinerating it in a puff of pink smoke.  

Pink smoke?  Kermit!Arthur is immediately suspicious and confronts Miss Piggy!Morgana Le Fay about the dragon, which she casually admits to conjuring to force him to return to Camelot and do kingly things.  This upsets Kermit!Arthur greatly and he threatens to go through with the arranged marriage to Camilla!Guinevere.  Miss Piggy!Morgana Le Fay states that she already knew he was intending to do that because of his quest for the Holy Veil, which causes Kermit!Arthur to break down into laughter.  He tells her that they're on the quest for the Holy Grail and the two part ways without resolving anything.

Statler: Since when to the pig and the frog ever resolve anything before the end?

Waldorf: Well, how else do you expect the audience to forget that this subplot occurs in every show?

::guffaw guffaw::

Kermit!Arthur and the knights continue on to Sir Sam of Eagle's place, which looks suspiciously like the White House.  Percival!Fozzie takes out Sir Sam's guards with his rubber-chicken club and a knock-knock joke.  Sir Sam admits to hosting Scooter of Arimathea for the knight, but that he left earlier in the morning.  Kermit!Arthur and the knights continue on, but they're so preoccupied that they don't notice that Robin!Mordred has turned back to Sir Sam's castle.

Within moments, the knights descend on Scooter of Arimathea.  Only he doesn't have the Grail.  He has delivered it to its rightful purchaser in that cave up there.  The knights enter the cave, weave their way through the maze of tunnels and finally!  The Holy Grail is theirs for the taking!

... or not.

Pepe the Fisher King has made the Holy Grail his own and isn't much inclined to part with it.  Kermit!Arthur is forced to parlay with Pepe the Fisher King in order to strike a bargain which, a day later, includes at least visitation rights to the grail, chocolate brunches every Sunday and a pony.  But, despite the concessions, this is a victory none-the-less.  Kermit!Arthur rides triumphantly back to Camelot with the Grail and Pepe the Fisher King in tow.  But wait!  What's this?

Robin!Mordred had taken over Camelot with the help of Sir Sam of Eagle and Professor Phineas A. Plot's clockwork knights!  He's upset that Kermit!Arthur treats him like a little kid-- a background character only good for one liners and gags.  And Robin!Mordred isn't having it anymore.  He's the star now.  And Kermit!Arthur's going to have to think fast if he's going to beat him.

Waldorf: They've ended it on a cliffhanger!

Statler: Those fiends!  Now we'll have to come back again if we want to know the ending!

Waldorf: Well, that's simple enough fix.  We just won't come back!

::guffaw guffaw::

So, the humor wasn't as tight in this chapter.  And I expect at least one Monty Python joke in anything humorous dealing with the Holy Grail and I didn't get it.  The addition of Pepe the Fisher King was great as was Frozzie!Percival's knock knock joke, but it just didn't have anything as memorable as say, the running gag from the last one or Miss Piggy!Morgana Le Fay turning Kermit!Arthur into a chicken or the entertaining Camelot's got talent contestants of the last issue.  

However, I am really really happy with how Robin!Mordred's arc is being handled.  Too often Mordred is evil and soulless and his very valid issues with Arthur are glossed over or presented as non-issues.  Even without the son aspect wrapped up into this, Benjamin and Storck very deftly navigate a character until he has a purpose in text and turn it into a character who is angry about being ignored and puts his foot down about it.  So, I am very excited to see what happens next issue and how all this is resolved.  And because it's the Muppets, I'm very hopeful for a happy ending for all of the characters.  Even poor Sam Eagle who I really think has gotten the short end of characterization in this book.  

Like last issue, the art-- especially the texture and coloring, is perfect.  These look like Muppets and the expressions, especially Beaker's, are absolutely perfect.  

Statler: Hey Knight!

You guys still here?  I thought the cliffhanger would have cleared out by now. 

Waldorf: When we gonna get the last one of these?

No promises guys.  I'm trying to get through The Once and Future King first.   

Statler: How about you give us a once and future curtain call!

::guffaw guffaw::

Till next time, folks!

Disclaimer- I do not own the Muppets, especially not Waldorf and Statler.  Their heckling bits were only included because it seemed like the thing to do in a Muppet review.  Especially since I absolutely adored this book.  I make no money off this blog.